To the editor: Because of Robin Abcarian for her column on the weasel phrase “problematic.” For years the use — now ubiquitous — of the phrase itself been deeply, properly, problematic.
One of the best demonstration of why can be to say it, however don’t clarify why it’s problematic. And that’s precisely the issue. Hardly ever does a consumer clarify the issue. The label is taken into account enough to sentence and render the topic past dialogue.
Fail to sagely nod in settlement and dare to ask why one thing is “problematic,” and folks will view you with suspicion, even loathing. You’ve now made your self identified to them as a type of folks, an untouchable.
Folks instinctively create new in- and out-groups when outdated ones are suppressed or wither away.
Chuck Almdale, North Hills
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To the editor: Abcarian finds the phrase “problematic” an efficient insult and discovers its utilization has “soared” in the previous couple of many years. She recounts an actor’s film position (one her interlocutor deemed problematic) and describes him in disparaging phrases, together with the insult “balding.”
Am I too delicate to being bald? No — merely stating that describing a person to incorporate bald shouldn’t be completed with out contemplating it’s normally used as an insult.
Kevin H. Park, Oklahoma Metropolis
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To the editor: Abcarian’s understanding of what, in her view, is “problematic” misses her level. Whereas the film “Tropic Thunder” is a satirical movie at different struggle motion pictures, the characters talked about in Abcarian’s column, if taken with a shred of seriousness, trigger vital hurt.
If we as a society enable these stereotypes to proceed even for supposed comedic worth, then I dare say we’ll find yourself with extra Kanye Wests and Kyrie Irvings, which is able to result in far worse stuff.
Educate your self earlier than it turns into, properly, problematic.
Alex Heldman, Culver Metropolis