Dear Adrian -
This is to follow up my inquiry to you here a week ago apropos Deleuze's
concept of 'stratiagraphic cinema'. You seem to be sore at me! But why?
Brief background. Until a few months ago, your regular, newsy emails to me
were invariably signed 'your pal'! Your friendship meant a heck of a lot to
me! But lately you have been pointedly silent, even when I have sent you
direct (non-list) emails - the most recent a few days ago. As near as I can
estimate, this 'sending me to Coventry' (!) began last July when 'Senses of
Cinema' published my profile of Alfred Hitchcock, a piece which Thomas
Elsaesser kindly called 'definitive indeed'. (Equally kindly, David
Sterritt, ex-chairman of the National Society of Film Critics, and a
subscriber to this list, went out of his way to compliment me on the piece.)
As it's common knowledge, Adrian, that you once quarrelled with 'Senses'
and then set up your own quality Web publication, 'Rouge', I am almost
forced to conclude that you are 'punishing' me for supporting the opposition!
I publicly congratulated you recently (on the 'a_film_by' Yahoo Group, where
you're an esteemed contributor) for being commissioned by the University of
Illinois Press to write a book on Brian DePalma. (That post of mine, too,
drew no response from you.) And I liked the point you made here a day after
my 'stratiagraphic cinema' post, to an inquirer on 'smoking in films', in
which you cited Lesley Stern's excellent book on the topic and commented how
often notable cinema-studies trails lead back to Australia! You yourself,
Adrian, are a towering figure on both the Australian and international
cinema-studies scenes. Yet I must say that you are showing signs of abusing
the privileged position you have attained - by unfairly playing favourites
and by being, at the least, flinty!
I hope to hear from you at last.
Sincerely - Ken Mogg (Melbourne)
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