Freedom Of Speech Artistic License Snow And The Sunday Trib

• Atsushi Nishijima
• Was Selma unfair to LBJ? Does it matter?

Talking back to the Sunday paper . . .

An unnamed Saudi official told the Post that the brother, blogger Raif Badawi, “insulted Islam.” He was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes.

But the snow is falling harder and the Super Bowl is still a couple of hours away and I probably won’t be able to watch it anyway because it’s storming and we’ve got a dish. So why not indulge myself in more reverie? I’m thinking that every artistic work sets its own terms, and these include the terms of its obligation to violate neither the letter nor spirit of history.

Ebert liked Rudy a lot. He wrote, “The last big scene is an emotional powerhouse, just the way it’s supposed to be.” To most viewers I guess, but to me and other Mizzou alums the climax was lazy slander. And that’s why there’s no certain answer to Chris Jones’s question. Every artistic work sets its own rules, and the public has every right not to respect them.