Ask Mick LaSalle: Why are you defending linguistic obscenity?
Dear Mr. Joss: I didn’t say that I don’t take people seriously who don’t care for such talk. Some things are a matter of taste, and if some people choose to avoid movies that contain certain words, that’s their business. [...] when they actually try to present their neurasthenic response to art as legitimate criticism, then they’re just being silly. To worry that other people don’t see what you see is the same as being bothered by your own superior vision. Why do you think there are so many more boxing movies than movies about other sports? What are your favorite boxing movies? With boxing, it’s just one protagonist going up against one antagonist, in a highly dramatic situation in which one will end up victorious and the other beat up and publicly humiliated. Boxing has the power metaphor, but there’s power in the actual thing, too. There have been great boxing movies (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Raging Bull,” “Rocky”) and lots of good ones (“Against the Ropes”), but a recent one not to miss is “Southpaw” with Jake Gyllenhaal, which is also a great movie about grief and loss. [...] my girlfriend says the only reason you like “Spectre” better than “Skyfall” is because there is a French actress in it. [...] if you stand back from the neurotic fiction of their relationship, you’ll see that Peeta isn’t even a close call. 3) Please tell your girlfriend there was a French actress in “Skyfall,” too (Berenice Marlohe), and in Craig’s previous Bond films, “Quantum of Solace” (Olga Kurylenko) and “Casino Royale” (Eva Green. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification.