Down with Disneyfication!

I was amazed to read about the Disneyesque changes planned for downtown Montreal ["Brand land 2000," cover, Feb. 24]. City planners must think that all tourists have a grotesquely nihilistic "Make me happy! I'm spending money here!" mentality when they visit.

I think nothing could be further from the truth. Montreal's appeals are, by my level of personal interest:

1. Its quiet, photogenic qualities in small corners of older districts, especially the buildings Montrealers have fought so hard to keep developers from tearing down.

2. The 87 commercial art galleries.

3. The 18 free or nearly-so public art galleries.

4. The libraries.

5. The lycées des beaux arts.

6. The classical music stores, for both CDs and sheet music.

7. The green parks and other areas where you can walk without anything but the sound of the wind and birds, and the occasional sound of children laughing as they play.

8. The thousands of small family restaurants, operated by people one would wish as friends for life.

9. The fact that you can escape American-style "BRAK BRAK BRAK" and other Mars Attacks!-type noise, not to mention all the pointless activity and the stench of compulsory fun.

This, presumably, is America's revenge on Montreal for being 1,000 times more livable and enjoyable a city to inhabit than anywhere in the USA I have ever seen--and I have lived in over 35 cities as a permatemp enginerd.

Thanks for exposing this forthcoming rape of the little Europa of the north. Zeus will mourn this folly as well. I'm praying for history's worst ice storm once the construction of these monstrosities is complete.

--Walt O'Brien

Sex under the gun

Response to H. Howell: I can't believe your reaction ["Sex for free?" Letters, Feb. 24] to the Mirror's report on Montreal's amateur cyber-sex scene ["Money shots", cover, Feb. 10].

What, there was somebody with a gun, pointing it at his head, obliging him to read the Mirror from start to finish?

Buddy, if you are not interested in cultural information of the kind found in the Mirror, just don't pick it up!

La Gravité n'a aucune emprise sur l'humour ("Gravity has no purchase upon humour").

--Anonymous

Laser pointer users unite!

Last Wednesday I went to see the premiere of Reindeer Games at the Faubourg Cinema. I've been to the Faubourg before and it's usually not a bad place for a flick, but my experience this time was just about the worst I've ever had at a theatre.

There were projection booth troubles from the very beginning. The picture was misaligned and moved around for the first few minutes.

Then, about 30 minutes into the movie, the picture and sound cut out completely.

After about 20 minutes of boredom, waiting for the picture to come back, I took out my laser pointer and flashed it on the screen a few times. Minutes later, I had a security guard standing way too close, demanding I give him the laser pointer. He wouldn't answer the questions "Why are you taking it?" or "When will I get it back?"

I was polite and reasonable, and he repaid me with the sort of by-the-book idiocy I thought I'd left behind in high school.

I wasn't given straight answers, wasn't returned my laser pointer before I got to the door and wasn't given any free passes (after the film stopped mid-way, I think I deserved them) because I'm 18 and still a teenager.

I don't deserve to be treated this way, and neither does anyone else my age.

--Gordon Lavigne

Correction

The main investor in the Montreal Forum Entertainment Centre is Canderel, not Simon Property Group, as reported in last week's cover story ["Disneyland North," Feb. 24]. Simon Property is a minority investor in the project. The Mirror apologizes for the error.