----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Well, I'm glad that you got so much out of last week's Oscars. This year, more than any other year, I have realised that they are an American event. Now this might sound like I'm bringing up the International debate again...but hold on. The fact that everyone else in the world gets so many American films and are so popular is just that--a fact. This does not mean necessarily that we want to watch the awards ceremony celebrating their splendour or otherwise. I wish to make this distinction clear. The Oscars are pretty much predictable these days in any case. And yes they do betray a conservatism, and yes they do demonstrate the dominance of WASPish culture, and all of those other PC chestnuts. But let us not fool ourselves...who hasn't read Chomsky? Eoin O Mahony Dublin, Ireland.