Letter printed October 14 (or 21?), 1994 in the Philadelphia CityPaper.
Where is Harriette Behringer's humanity? (Mad About the Mint, October 7) I don't see how she can sink so low and attack works of art that reach out to millions of people and touch their hearts. Worse yet, she attacks the artists who have dedicated their lives to touching us. The City Paper should not even be allowed to print an article that hurts so many good people. Behringer must be a very bitter person to want to do so. She says customers for these plates and heirloom dolls are unsophisticated. Well if being "sophisticated" means being mean-spirited like she is then I don't want any part of it!For example, maybe she should look, really look, into the eyes of the mother dog on the collector plate What's A Mother To Do?, which a friend of mine just received. To do so is to see a real human emotion, because the mother is so resigned to her puppy's shenanigans (He brought in the decoy instead of the duck!).
But Behringer is not interested in human emotions, she's only interested in tearing down, in criticizing. Try not to be so cynical, and maybe then you could see the value in these works of art which are about real emotions and feelings, which you have probably never had. You scorn "the child within," but I think that's because you don't have anybody within.
Rich Garella
West Philadelphia
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