Roger Ebert is sick, fighting cancer. But I can't believe that people are telling him to stay inside, because it might attract gossip, or somehow be harmful to him. So? He's gonna be at his next film festival, anyway.
And more power to him. From his own column in The Chicago Sun-Times:
My Ninth Annual Overlooked Film Festival opens Wednesday night at the University of Illinois at Urbana, and Chaz and I will be in attendance.
This year I won’t be speaking, however, as I await another surgery.
I have received a lot of advice that I should not attend the festival. I’m told that paparazzi will take unflattering pictures, people will be unkind, etc.
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. As a journalist I can take it as well as dish it out.
He wryly jokes that:
I ain’t a pretty boy no more. (Not that I ever was. The original appeal of “Siskel & Ebert” was that we didn’t look like we belonged on TV.)
I've often disagreed with his reviews, often whole-heartedly agreed, but I've always respected his sticking to his guns, letting loose as he sees fit, not giving in to popular opinion. That's the Ebert I remember going at it with Siskel when I was a kid.
And I'm glad he continues to stick to his guns, while keeping that biting sense of humor. Roger Ebert, 화이팅!