Discomfort, Our Specialty
I look forward to grabbing a copy of the Scene every time a new one drops. However, a recent item in the Lust Survey article left me uneasy ["Bring on the Nasty," February 8]. At the risk of sounding overly sensitive, I'd direct your attention to this particular line:
"8/11/69: DaNang. Got a Charley gook whore that was set up with a coochie fulla razor blades."
Mostly, it was the presence of a racial slur in an absolutely juvenile and almost certainly false statement that caught me off-guard. Previously, I've enjoyed the Scene's irreverent, edgy take on the news that serves as a fantastic counterpoint to the stodgy papers and myopic, ratings-driven TV news, and the Lust Survey has always been a fun read. Needless to say, this particular line left me with a combination of surprise, offense, disappointment, and discomfort.
By no means am I making an editorial decision for you, nor am I attempting to censor the publication. I can't say I know all that much about journalism. However, I do question whether the use of the racial slur was inextricable from the larger context of the otherwise interesting piece.
David Mullen
Dimora-Style Sleazy
I laughed at some of this Lust Survey — mostly just the meatheaded idiocy of the answers. But I think a line might have been crossed with "What local public servant is actually pretty hot when you squint just right?" Granted, someone should publicly go Deliverance on Jimmy Dimora. But to publish this kind of shit in reference to people who serve admirably and deserve some respect is a little bit of a low blow. Even for the Scene, where Dimora found his whores, this was sleazy.
Matt Harmon
