Which might explain the whole corpus of E.A.'s postings.

"publishers, as their title implies, exert enormous control over our public discourse"

... would be just as accurate if we replaced "publishers" with "film and TV producers" and "public discourse" with "cultural norms and attitudes."

That is the answer to Mr. Guenzel's puzzle. Given the depth and ubiquity of the problem, my own observation might even be characterized as trivial and ubiquitous; nevertheless, much as we may wish it otherwise, people in general are not a "discerning" bunch, and twenty-first century North Americans have reached an outrageously depressed level of discernment. Chronicles is a guiding light for the bleak North America we live in today, not merely a stylized reminiscence of the one that once existed in decades prior.

By the way, I must applaud Mr. McCarthy for his "Last Adieu" in the latest issue.

But I simply cannot fathom why anyone like Mr McCarthy would waste his literary talents - and strain the patience of his readers -by bothering to review rubbish like this, as if it is something worthy of a single moment's notice, which it isn't. The very fact that a non-talent like Richard Gere "stars" in it should be enough reason to yawn and move on to writing about something serious (let's face it: a Laurence Olivier he ain't). There is a large treasure trove of fine films made in the 30s-50s that Mr McCarthy could write about, films that were edifying as well as entertaining.

Again, bravo Mr Moses!

That's an understatement, considering the entire industry, at least the part based in Hollywood, which effectively is the industry for most ordinary American folk (as well as, I should add, for a fairly large percentage of their European cousins), has a serious aversion to reality. Any scanning of American films over the last thirty years--whether for their historical accuracy, technical plausibility or simple psychological credibility--confirms this. I can tell you from personal experience (do not ask of what sort) that sex, drugs and lies reign supreme in Hollywood and in her ancillaries in most film colleges at universities.