MARGE SMITH,
Sir, - As someone who lost relatives in the Holocaust, I would kindly ask Ms Breda Raggett, national president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association (Opinion, January 15th) to familiarise herself with 20th-century history.
She says she experienced the same kind of emotion watching Popstars that she felt while viewing Schindler's List. To equate the atrocities of the second World War with the slights suffered at a voluntary job interview is an outrage.
Perhaps Ms Raggett saw a different version of the film than I did, but the one I saw ended with the deaths of 6 million innocent people, while Popstars ended with a few bruised egos and a handful of young adults who have a shot at fame and fortune. - Yours, etc.,
MARGE SMITH,
Crofton Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
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Sir, - I am inclined to agree with the sentiments expressed by Breda Raggett in her reaction to Popstars. She compares what she felt on watching this programme with her reaction to the film Schindler's List. Interestingly, the American playwright David Mamet described Schindler's List as emotional pornography. I wonder if Louis Walsh and Co. and RTÉ might ponder on this phrase as they manage (other words come to mind ) the fantasies of the majority of young people who were exposed and humiliated on these programmes for the amusement of viewers.
As to the "new" music we can expect from this group. . .well, it's not as if we don't know the tired formula at this stage. - Yours etc.,
JOHN GAFFNEY,
Fivemilebourne,
Co. Sligo.