Douglas Johns' comments regarding Don Ulin's request for films about scientists leave me with no choice but to delurk. >Forgive me for being a butthead, but the number and variety of responses >to this topic suggest its, well, silliness. That's okay, I'm all for >silliness and lord knows I'm in favor of having a dozen pieces of e-mail >everyday. But should we maybe think about what this forum is for? I'm >not suggesting that it's necessarily being used improperly now; I'm simply >curious what purpose it serves and who is using it. To be frank, these >lists of films with scientists are absurd. As a friend and colleague of Mr. Ulin, and as the person who originally suggested he post to SCREEN-L, I would like to address Mr. Johns' accusations that Mr. Ulin's topic is "silly" and his request constitutes a (possibly) inappropriate use of SCREEN-L. First, Mr. Ulin exercised the utmost listserve courtesy by suggesting that people respond directly to his email address and that he would later compile a list of answers, if anyone was interested. I suggested that Mr. Ulin contact the members of SCREEN-L because, in the past, they have been whole-heartedly supportive of such requests and the projects of others on the list. Perhaps Mr. Johns has never found it necessary to rely upon the kindness of strangers for suggestions when constructing a course, writing a paper, or simply brainstorming on a topic. But for those of us who have not seen every film ever made, or who may have trouble recalling the vast number of films we have seen, SCREEN-L has been an invaluable resource. Unless Mr. Johns has detalied information regarding Mr. Ulin's topic of interest, I suggest that he keep his uninformed opinion on the quality of another scholar's project to himself. To call Mr. Ulin's interests "silly," solely on the basis of a list of "absurd" films suggested by SCREEN-L memebers, says more about Mr. Johns' manners than it does about Mr. Ulin's interests. I would hate to think that if I were to ask for suggestions for a list of paranoid films that are pro- or anti-Reaganite ideology (my "silly" dissertation topic, which fully falls within the supposedly "mind-numbing" purview of cultural studies) I would have to justify my request to Mr. Johns or any other SCREEN-L member. Millicent Manglis Indiana Univeristy-Bloomington [log in to unmask]