BIMBOWATCH
I have been waiting, the forty years that I have been in Italy, to
read something like Francis X. Rocca's article
("That Idiotic Television") about the bimbomania of Italian TV. I
have, in vain, encouraged friends who are Rome correspondents for
American publications to write about the bizarre Italian quiz shows
in which as many as eighteen semi-nude, mindlessly smiling, mute
bimbos are on stage from the beginning to the end of the show. They
neither sing nor dance; they just stand there. The government-owned
TV, one suspects, is paying them for more than just standing there.
The Italian TV bureaucracy obviously enjoys fringe benefits.
Italian taxpayers apparently have nothing to say about their
squandered contributions to bimbomania.
Years ago, when Richard Gere appeared on national Italian TV to make an appeal for Tibet, a horde of nearly naked, mindlessly smiling, bimbos flooded the stage. The stunned and overwhelmed Gere exclaimed "What is going on here?" to the embarrassment of his Italian interpreter who was accustomed to Italian TV bimbomania. Gere continued, "I have come to make a serious appeal, and unless you get these people out of here, I am leaving." That was the end of the cheesecake spectacle. The overkill of Italian bimbomania appalled a leading world sex-symbol!
When an Indian actor, most popular in Italy, and his English wife were interviewed on Italian TV, the interviewer insisted that after their high praise of Italy that they also express what they disliked. Only after considerable pressure, the English wife reluctantly stated that she could not understand how in an allegedly Catholic country national TV could reduce hordes of women to ridiculous sex objects. She implied that the harems of the Muslim world seemed to have spilled over into the Italian mass-media.
The English-speaking world has nothing like the mute, do-nothing, Italian TV bimbos, because, I suspect, that the women of this cultural world would not accept such demeaning treatment.
In a country where the Catholic church has something to say
about everything, one fails to understand the absolute the silence
of Italian prelates and clergy about the degrading role of Italy's
TV bimbos. The most charitable assumption is that they have no time
for watching TV, or are too poor to afford TV sets.
Sincerely,
-- John Navone, S.J.
MISSING PERSON
Where has the daily Prowler piece gone for the last two days?
Please resume.
-- Wayne J. Roques
The Editor replies: Sometimes the Prowler is taken into custody and it takes time to raise bail.
GOOD PLACE TO START
Re: George Neumayr's "Liberal
Catholicism's Just Deserts": Thanks for the great article. I
plan is to pass it around. I am Roman Catholic (57 years old), very
sad and very shaken by the horrible sex stories. You really gave me
a tool and starting point to understand how this could have
happened.
-- unsigned
WATCH WHAT YOU SAY
Re: Dave Shiflett's "Not
On My Watch": To a kindred soul (my watch was stolen 25 years
ago; I have never replaced it, nor do I miss it) time does have a
gender: Father time.
-- Jim Stevenson
MAN TO MAN
Re: Evan Gahr's "A
Bad Case of the Huggies": Worse than hugs are the bizarre
handshakes. I can understand a traditional "secret handshake" among
athletes and gang members who share a common experience and unity,
but what does an "outsider" do when the outstretched hand is not
thumbs-up on a straight-out or slightly lowered arm? It's weird.
Have I suddenly stepped into a foreign country where the customs
are different? Do I adjust to their customs or do they adjust to
mine?
-- Joe Lawrence, visitor from an older
civilization.
SWIFT ROMNEY
Re: Washington Prowler's "Fallout
From Utah": Check out the past several days worth of the Boston
papers: Mitt Romney is going to, it seems, run for Massachusetts
governor, challenging Swift. He has retained his legal residence in
Massachusetts, and is a delegate to the MA GOP convention in
April.
-- James L.J. Nuzzo
DANNY PEARL'S LEGACY
I just read Jed Babbin's assessment
of Mr. Pearl, and I have to say that I concur. He was in way over
his head, no doubt playing from a strong sense of what is
right.
The first rule of a philosophical discussion is that both parties agree on the terms of the discussion. It is naive to think that we can insist on our enemy to speak our language (e.g., Marquis of Queensberry), so we must speak their language. Clearly, succinctly, and then back it up, clearly and succinctly.
God Bless you and yours, Mr. Pearl.
-- Mike Ryan
COP-KILLERS
Re: Mark Goldblatt's "Heady
Times for Cop-Killers": They are not the only ones for whom
Christmas came early. Below is a copy of an e-mail I sent to the
author of the piece.
David Johanson| 6.8.09 @ 12:21PM
David DeGondea was my friend. Believe we were more afraid of the robbers than the cops. Didn't these cops or surviving partners get caught shakin down dealers? Stop the war on drugs and this kinda stuff will not happen.
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