-----Original Message-----
FROM: Helga The Help
SENT: Oct 18 2003 4:09PM
SUBJECT:Michael Wilmington
I love reading movie reviews. I really dislike reading Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune. When I don't like something I complain.
Dear Mr. O'Shea [Managing Editor Chicago Tribune]
I must complain about Michael Wilmington.
His reviews ring of an author so much amused by his own intelligence that he forgets the paradox that self-amusement is always funnier to the author than the reader. If he intensely dislikes a film, as he did XXX, his review can take on the format of a mocking diatribe which is always too long if it lasts past the first complete sentence.
In the rare event that a movie, such as Minority Report, wins his favor, Mr. Wilmington allots the majority of his weekly newsprint to an elitist assessment of the film’s refinements that seems to be fashioned more toward illustrating his readers' inferiority than promoting a fine film.
By no means is this appraisal meant to suggest that Mr. Wilmington is a sub-standard columnist. Indeed, this reader is hardly qualified to make such a judgment. However, his style and manner would be preferred in editorials for The Economist rather than reviews of entertainment. What a comparative pleasure it is to read Roger Ebert’s weekly column. Despite his writing talents and obviously excellent education, Mr. Ebert finds a way to communicate with the everyman; something for which Mr. Wilmington charges several trips to the dictionary. It is unfortunate that Mr. Ebert's fine prose is surrounded by an illiterate jungle of a newspaper but that's another complaint letter.
Please dismiss Mr. Wilmington, effective immediately so that you can begin a healing process that has been overdue since Mr. Siskel's unfortunate demise.
Sincerely,
Helga The Help