Friday, Sep 5, 2008
If Cintra doesn't gamble, why was she in Vegas? Plus: Don't expect teens to be grown-ups; exposing Pat Buchanan.
Sep 22, 1999 | Entertainment dies bleeding in a Vegas men's room -- Oli! Cintra Wilson starts out her whine-fest with
the revelation that she doesn't like gambling. My question to her:
"So, what the hell were you doing in Las Vegas?" I guess she
missed the urine smell, the drug dealers and the world-famous friendly
natives of her home city. -- Jim Surdick Thank the sequined soul of Elvis that Cintra Wilson captured Vegas in all its loutish glory. While Time and Newsweek fawn all over "The New Vegas," those of us who live here are not nearly so impressed. Despite the purported best efforts of Steve Wynn and his ilk, the most interesting things about Las Vegas are still tawdry sex and shockingly bad taste. The way Wilson stomps all over the "family entertainment" in Vegas makes me wonder if she isn't a native. And if she really wants to see something lame next time she's in town, she should catch the moving statues at Caesars.
-- Jason Harris
How about having Cintra write about the stuff in Vegas that's supposed to be
good, like Cirque de Soleil or Tommy Tune? What she covered
was fine, but waaay too easy a target -- and besides, who would ever actually go to those things unless she were being paid to make fun of them? -- Michael Allen Backtalk I enjoyed reading Lillie Wade's thoughtful analysis of "Ophelia Speaks," but I have two small bones to pick. First, Wade says she "had hoped that the voice of American teens would prove us to be more adult than child, more self-sufficient than self-pitying." I wonder
why she had this expectation. It seems wistful and naive, unlike the rest
of the essay. Children are still children. They may speak cutting truths for all of us to
hear. But generally they lack the experience and perspective to stand
apart, look hard and place their thoughts and feelings in broader context.
I think understanding context goes a long way to moving an adult beyond
self-pity -- at whatever age that understanding starts to coalesce. It's not
common enough at 50, but to expect it at 17 seems severe. The second bone is Wade's final lament: that "'Ophelia Speaks'
shows teenage girls as overprotected, naive and woefully unprepared for the
adult situations they are often involved in." I think that proves Mary
Pipher's point, eh? -- Chris McLaughlin
BY CINTRA WILSON
(09/15/99)
Las Vegas
BY LILLIE WADE
(09/15/99)
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