lol is all I can say

Am I the only person who hates this web talk?..."lol" is only lame term I use...no wonder so many kids are illiterate they don't even learn to write proper English..also I love Ebert's response he is the greatest film critic of all-time

@ Christopher:

No you are not the only one brother. I too hate the short hand text and web language used today. It only makes the sender look incredibly stupid and illiterate. Like above.

So to reply to this post, OMG ROFLMAO!!1

People who like the "INSERT GENRE HERE" Movie(s) were also stupid enough to vote for MR. Bush a second time.

Ebert rocks. I too hate web talk, and stupid people.

prolly= white kid

I laughed aloud heartily.

I think it was just a production assisstant making an extra buck or two (most likey their only income for it) to write the letter.

After all, I am now reminded that the movie actually made it to theaters...That's marketing!

I really hope he did that himself, hahaha

hilarious. props to the man

@Christopher Marc
"…no wonder so many kids are illiterate they don’t even learn to write proper English.."

Actually, the youth literacy rate is at it's all time high, mainly because of the Internet.

When television came out, people were freaking out because a child's brain would become rotten, but behold, the spreading of information, they learned more about the world!

Now with the Internet, just because a kid uses "web talk" doesn't mean they are illiterate, it means they can manipulate the language which is a sign of solid literacy:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080916/195754228...

The Internet is just another form of media, just because it's new doesn't mean it should be blamed for everything.

There are plenty of household products and snack foods that are purposely misspelled to attract attention...so are you now blaming marketing practices for illiteracy?

What this person wrote to Ebert does not represent the average young person nor does it say anything about the affects of "web talk" on literacy rate.

Ebert lives the thug lyfe.

"Disater Movie Fan" does not compute

As a Brit, I'm not overly familiar with Ebert - but that was just class! I love the man!

who cares how people write online just cause you don't use proper english and grammar all the time doesn't mean your illiterate it just means you type the way you feel like.....

I've been posting this all over the Internet, then /Film posts it and everybody's all over it.

Sigh.

Anyway, that was an AWESOME answer by Ebert, proving why he rocks so much.

That.
Was.
The.
Best.

<3 Always to you Ebert.

Ebert is a GOD! I bet he must have laughed his ass off as he wrote it.

Ebert is rocks

Net Speak Sucks. Ebert Rocks. You go brother.

That was genius, pure genius!

Nice!

Aww, I love Ebert! I used to hate him back when Siskel was alive, but he's really grown on me in the last few years. Especially with that douche Roeper around. That response is just awesome.

I'm pretty sure the person asking the question was being sarcastic.

('least I hope so.)

When it comes to immature moronic children that know nothing of film like the one who sent this email, they all deserve to have their hands and tongues cut off.

This internet "slang" or whatever you would like to call it makes me sick. I'm a real grammar Nazi when it comes to talking over the internet. I've actually physically harmed people for using wrong grammar when I KNOW they were brought up using it the correct way.
Especially the words "your, you're" and "there, their, they're" it's so bad that people turn in papers and resumes with that atrocious grammar on them.

Hats off to the good ol' Ebert for realizing how much of a fool this person is and exposing them! :)

Disaster movie was the shit, bitches. Literally...

niccceeee..

thug life for ebert lol

NINJARTIST,

Visit Myspace. Not only will that site confirm that email Ebert got. Your brain will end up leaving your skull and shoot itself.

Please don't make me visit Myspace...

@Brian
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/09/26/lol-roger-e...

There's a difference between using Internet Lingo and not knowing when and how to edit a professional document. the two have nothing to do with eachother. If anything it's the lack of education about when it's alright to use slang as well as identifying slang.

haha very funny

I thought that was Hunter Stephenson!

EPIC LOL!!!!!!!

LOL Dude got pwned!! But seriously that was outstanding. Not familiar with Ebert but gotta show him some love for that.

That was amazing.

Ebert's the one that just got trolled. The question was obviously fabricated.

@Tommy Tricker

And yet, Ebert got all this exposure. Think about it.

lol!!!!!!

Ebert got "trolled" - nice. Did you write him that e-mail? Even if it was meant to be sarcastic, his response was awesome.

To the people that say children are not illiterate:

Based on first hand experience, I beg to differ. Most of the kids I know that use internet-speak are so absorb by it that it's not only the way they write, it's almost the way they speak! It's as if this shorthand is providing easier and quicker means of communication.

The average high school child around here can barely write a proper paper.

..and to Ebert: hilarious. He just went up in my book.

Haha, pretty classy there Ebert. It's one thing to actually take the term and read through that lunacy, but then to respond in the same way is just flippin hilarious.

As for 'Sean', I personally have never had the slightest desire to watch those inane 'Insert genre here' movies and did vote for Bush. But isn't that a bit off topic? Just because I have taste and like good, well made movies doesn't mean we have the same political beliefs, let's keep it respectful here.

@Elpizo

What's wrong with "easier and quicker means of communication?"

They can still read and write just as well as any other person who isn't "absorbed"

And even still the argument here is that Internet Lingo and the Internet are not to blame for this "problem" it's the educators who never correct them or tell them when it's appropriate to use slang and when it's not.

I, for one, rarely use the Internet Lingo or even 1337(?) but I use the Internet so damn much it makes me sick, yet I have been reading more now than I have in my entire life.

Once again refer to the following link for further proof why Internet Lingo or even "txt" talk isn't a problem:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080916/195754228...

IT WOULD BE GREAT if Ebert continued to reply to ALL of his e-mails this way. I imagine it would go something like this:

***

Dear Mr. Ebert, I feel inclined to call attention to your missed viewing opportunity of the quite hilarious film titled, "Disaster Movie." I do question why you chose against reviewing this fine film. I found it comical, and believe it to be perhaps the most humorous film of the summer. Why, might I ask, do you not review similar films?

Regards.

****

Hey, bro, I wuz buzier than $#i+, @d they never shoed it b4 hand. I peeped in the IMDb and saw it zoomed to #1 as the low$ie$t flic of all time, wit @ lame-@zz UZer Rating of 1.3. U liked it? Wat up wit dat?

-- Da Eb-man

kids are getting dumber because of the net/text slag. My girlfriend is a middle school teacher and the kids use it on all their homework. U, UR, cuz, brb, lol and all the other ones I havent translated yet. my only response is WTF

that can not be a 'real' e-mail'. No one writes like that. I could be wrong though.

That was obviously a sarcastic, over the top comment. It was intended as a joke and Ebert responded as a joke.

It wasn't a real idiot, like most people who took it to be real are.

Dat $h!t wuz gangstah. U g0 boie

and people say he's out of touch with today's youth.

at least, i certainly hope that was a youth...

For some reason "i was busier than shit" made me laugh really hard.

I'm 99% sure that Ebert made up the question himself, as he occasionally does when he wants to put something in the Answer Man column. No doubt he's received incomprehensible e-mails like that though, and the entire thing is one of my favorite things he's ever written.