OPINION
5A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR
Why haven't you joined the Prop 8 protests?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Why is Proposition 8 being protested? As a queer student here at KU, I've got a few pretty good reasons, and none of them go against democracy.
If anything, the reasons for protesting the Proposition 8 decision are upholding pillars of democracy. In a previous letter to the editor, the author of the letter compared the presidential election to the passing of Proposition 8 in California. He compared numbers. About 52 percent of the votes went for Obama, and in California 52 percent of the votes said yes to Proposition 8.
But the last time I checked, my civil rights and the civil rights of all people were not numbers and percentages.
This is not merely a matter of who won and by how much. This is a direct declaration, loud and clear, that second-class citizenship and blatant discrimination are still alive and kicking in this country.
It is proof that although we've come a very long way in the fight for equal rights for all, we still have a very long way to go.
The question of why the LGBT community and our allies are protesting the decision made on Proposition 8 should be obvious. Very obvious.
What would happen if other advocates gave up
Protests are held to showcase injustices placed on those who don't have the rights they deserve. The passing of Proposition 8 is a big step back for not only the gay community, but for the freedoms this country is supposed to afford its entire people. The people have indeed spoken, but both sides realize this fight is not over.
Such scenarios seem ridiculous today, but I'm sure that in their early stages, many people would have preferred these advocates step down in such fashion. The gay community is not going away, and its allies
Where would fights such as those for women's rights, interracial marriage and the black vote be if the nation did not evolve in thinking and grant the minority and less powerful the rights they deserve as Americans? What if the trailblazers of their day shrugged it off as a good try and just went home?
You shouldn't have to ask why. You shouldn't have to wonder why we find it necessary to have rights that you already have.
It's simple. We are fighting for visibility, tolerance, understanding, compassion and our very livelihood. We are fighting for something that goes so far beyond marriage it isn't even funny. We are fighting to walk down the street at night and not worry about what might happen because of who we are. We are fighting to be able to visit our loved ones in hospitals during family/spouse visiting hours.
We are fighting to be able to raise families and live happily with those families. We are fighting for our right to not be discriminated against, to not be emotionally and physically abused by those in this society who still don't accept us.
We are fighting for the right to fight until we get what every one should get; a first-class citizenship and the recognition we for so long have deserved.
We are your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your teachers and your family. If you are still wondering why we are fighting, perhaps you should ask yourself why you aren't at our sides, as an ally, fighting with us.
— Erica Goddard is a junior from Lawrence.
will only grow in number and strenth.
Proposition 22 passed in California in 2000 with nearly 62 percent in favor. Proposition 8 mirrored much of its message this year, but the number in support dropped to 52 percent. I wonder what would happen with another four years of solid campaigning by the gay community to bring this issue back for another vote.
This is not a matter of religion or creed. This is about equality. A law advocating marriage for both gay and straight couples does not diminish any other couple's union although many religious leaders and churches would like their congregations to think otherwise.
Why people think lawful gay marriage is a problem is amusing to me. The only people this vote truly affects are those who want so badly to share in a life that straight couples take for granted.
Brian Walters is a senior from Catherine.
@KANSAN.COM
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With spoof movies, the joke's on all of us
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864-7667 or mgibson@kansan.com
Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Alex Doherty, Lauren Keith, Patrick de Oliveira, Ray Segebrecht and Ian Stanford.
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
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864-4477 or tbergquist@kansan.con
FROM THE DRAWING BOARD
TYLER DOEHRING
But the people who are immune to their inexplicable allure must band together and brace themselves for the oncoming Spoof-pocalyse. We must not be blindsided because if we let down our guard, one day we will suddenly find ourselves at a screening of the Wayans Brothers' upcoming spoof "Dance Flick" wondering what the hell happened.
There are few things lamer than (Blank) Movie, the series of increasingly moronic spoof "films" made by untalented Hollywood directors and writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. One of those few things is the inevitable riff after a new one is cranked out:
The movie's synopsis is like a verbal M.C. Escher drawing: When Chase's character leaves his position as the boss of a failing film studio, his replacement gives a production assistant the task of directing a spoof movie that spoofs spoof movies. Within the spoof spoof, Reynolds plays an actor playing the director of the spoof ... spoof.
"What's next?! 'Animated Movie?' 'Space Movie?' How about 'Spoof Movie,' where they spoof soops! Wouldn't that be crazy?"
Every single moviegoer in the world has cracked up his friends with the possibilities that come from Friedberg and Seltzer's movie-by-numbers method of creating anti-cinema. Although ostensibly pointing out their laziness, people who partake in this particular line of thought anymore are just as lazy and just as wrong in thinking they're being original or funny.
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood reported that Chevy Chase and Burt Reynolds will be "poofing the nonstop flood of spoof films" in "Not Another Not Another Movie."
No intelligent person thinks this recent rash of spoof flicks is anything less than garbage. But this is simply not the way to go about sticking it to Friedberg and Seltzer and the cruel suits who repeatedly give them the green light.
Of course, in writing this column, I'm a part of the problem. I'm reminding the smart folks who read this paper that these movies exist.
This hypocrisy used to be merely annoying. But it has become something much worse: The inevitable conclusion of that riff, Spoof Movie, is becoming reality.
This isn't fighting fire with fire. This is fighting illiteracy by blowing up a library.
NOT ANOTHER, OTHER,SCARY TEEN MOVIE
Featuring:
Nothing is accomplished with this film except for bringing more
If Wilde were alive today, he'd be dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after seeing what passes for entertainment these days.
And that would truly be the lamest thine of all.
attention to the spoof genre just as it appears to be losing its profitability, "Disaster Movie," the most recent incarnation of the series, premiered at No. 7 in the box office, making under $7 million during Labor Day weekend.
But as the beast begins to die, Chevy Chase decides to swoop in and revive it.
As Oscar Wilde once said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." Instead of doing the right thing by just ignoring the movies, True Fiction Filmz (the company producing this movie, and yes, it's spelled with a "z") is legitimizing its existence by immortalizing its influence on culture.
Why won't you use your powers for good. Chevy Chase?
Nichols is an Overland Park sophomore in creative writing.
This movie is providing free publicity to the franchise that it is spoofing. Even the slightest bit of success on its part will not only motivate Friedberg and Seltzer to spoof back, but would also encourage moviegoers to see their new film out of morbid curiosity. It's a shameful exercise in competitive spoofery that will end in carnage.
editorials around the nation
Where is the strict bailout oversight?
When Congress established the $700 billion bailout fund, it promised strict oversight. A month later, with $290 billion already committed, we have our answer as to what that means: There isn't any.
Congress has yet to name the members of a special oversight panel. The deadline under the law for the first
oversight report by that panel has passed and the panel may not be able to make the Jan. 20 deadline for a
Paulson
much more detailed report.
The bailout law also created an entity called the Financial Stability Oversight Board, whose five members include Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke, who would effectively be doing oversight over themselves. The board has no staff.
Congress promised the hallmarks of the federal government's massive intervention in the markets would be oversight and transparency. A top priority of its lame duck session must be to make good on that promise.
Rocky Mountain News Nov.15 editorial
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There's no better music to have sex to than the Game Guy commercial.
Twilight. Twilight. Twilight.
Twilight. Midnight showing of
Twilight!
trustworthy
My professor should quit asking if we're wearing green underwear, so we'll rush to her office to speak to her on a one-to-one basis. No, I don't think so. She's not trustworthy.
I need a hot girlfriend.
--tea.
--tea.
I have a crush on the 10th floor Ellsworth RA.
Who writes "pleaseeee"? Did you sound that out to yourself? Then you know you probably should have put "pleeeeeease"
Good luck finding your wallet, fellow Minnesotan.
I wish nap time 101 was a class. Anyone feel like seconding that one?
--tea.
What do you think this is?
Some kind of brownie social?
If you're male and your name begins with an Q, X, or Y please reply. All other letters need not reply.
Shackers, make sure you're out by 10 a.m. I'm going to wake you up at 9:30 just to be sure. Remember Jayhawks always keeps it real.
--tea.
I'm Facebook friends with Bangin' Bruce. Nuff said.
There are 27,000 people on campus. Can't you find somebody else to be obsessed with?
--tea.
Don't be surprised if you see two reindeer prancing around
I could rant about my lack of boy, or I could just sleep it off. Guess which one I choose.
--tea.
Am I stupid for thinking the color "russet" was white?
--tea.
Is anyone else bored out of their minds, or is it just me?
I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK.
I sleep all night, and I work all day.
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory. On
Wednesdays I go shopping
and have buttered scones for
---
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