Letter to the New York Times, April 21, 2008

“This movie is trouble”

After an afternoon screening at Lincoln Plaza Cinema in New York a woman in her mid-sixties stood up during a smattering of applause and yelled out “This movie is gonna cause a whole lot of trouble.” She was visibly shaken. As the lights slowly came up I could see a kind of wild terror in her eyes, as the rest of us turned to look at her. Someone else yelled “ahh shut-up!” Another said, “why don’t you go home.” Then the woman screamed out “Don’t forget that we fought a war to kill Hitler and saved your asses.” Then an old man being propped up by his wife on one side and leaning on a cane with his other hand spoke up in a quivering voice, “look lady, I fought in that war. I was there and I didn’t fight as a Christian or as a Jew. I fought as an American.” To which the woman replied “yes thats right. You Jews owe us.”
Thank God that I was the only person there young enough to actually throw a punch or at least my shoe at her. She quickly high tailed it for the exit. A little while later I saw her in the lobby complaining to one of the theater attendants. “That was truly a horrible move.” He just looked at her and smiled. She stomped off, her red scarf dragging on the floor behind her.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE. IT IS IMPORTANT.

- clayneck