Clearing the smoke

Thank you for the outstanding Manohla Dargis article “War is Heaven” (Dec. 28). What a breath of fresh air to read intelligent and politically aware film criticism. It’s so easy to take the easy (or cowardly) way out and mouth the platitudes of the day.

We are drowning in patriotic fervor and the glorification of war. History, politics, principles and motives are distorted or ignored, and the public is subjected to a feeding frenzy of violent and mind-numbing films. It is a wonder that any of us still have the capacity to see through the muck.

Tanja Winter

La Jolla