I received this note today from Corey S. regarding my column two weeks ago entitled, “‘March of the Penguins’ vs. March for Women’s Lives.”

Mrs. Stanek, like you I too saw the movie “March of the Penguins” recently and greatly enjoyed it. However, based on your Aug 10 article on WorldnetDaily, it appears we enjoyed the movie for different reasons. I enjoyed it because it was a wonderful documentary describing the hardships faced by the Penguins living one of the harshest places on earth, while it appears you enjoyed it simply because it gave you the chance to exploit this excellent film to promote your anti-choice agenda and to demonize everyone who disagrees with you on this issue.
Mrs. Stanek, this documentary did not have anything to do with the controversial issue of abortion, nor was it meant to insult and degrade any person for their beliefs on the subject(after all you did admit the narrator of the film is pro-choice). Yet you still used it for those purposes, claiming that it somehow supports your anti-choice beliefs while demonizing everyone who believes in a woman’s right to choose as “militant,” “lusting,” “self-centered,” “despising the prospect of producing babies,” “anti-lifers,” and “demented.”
I think it’s safe to say that everyone involved in the production of “March of the Penguins” would ashamed and outraged to know their movie was being used to promote such narrow minded and hateful demagoguery. This movie was meant to be an enjoyable nature documentary for the whole family (regardless of their beliefs on the subject of abortion), not anti-choice propaganda.

My response:

Dear Mr. S.,
Thank you for your note. I realize the intent of the MOTP makers was likely not to correlate human sanctity of life with penguin sanctity of life. Yet, correlations can be made, as I did to shed light on the blindness of people who see no reason to protect human progeny while flocking to the movie to watch penguins go to such extremes to protect their progeny.

You were free to simply enjoy the movie because it was a “wonderful documentary describing the hardships faced by the Penguins living one of the harshest places on earth,” while my mind went to a deeper place of both rejoicing and agonizing at the double standard in America’s society today. We all know movies provide portraits of our culture, even unintended.

Furthermore, it would be a rare movie maker who does not appreciate members of an audience being provoked to varied thoughts and emotions via his or her movie. I’m not at all sure “it’s safe to say that everyone involved in the production of ‘March of the Penguins’ would ashamed and outraged to know their movie was being used to promote such narrow minded and hateful demagoguery.”

And how am I narrow minded? What is hateful about wanting to keep babies from being torn limb from limb to assuredly tortured deaths? You’re the broad-minded person for agreeing with that? You’re not the hateful one?

Last, I write columns, not news articles. People read my columns because of my “anti-choice agenda,” whether they like my agenda or not.

Thanks for writing.