[no subject]

>Apparently people like Kevin & "le garcon d'anglais" don't see this.

Oh, people *like* us.  Ahh to be categorized.
And who's eyes are shut?

>They just see an attempt by Pete to make the story more palatable
>for mass consumption.

It's obvious that's what happened.

>And by doing so they're missing the depth &
>irony of the plot device.

One doesn't necessarily have to be exclusive of the other.
I haven't missed anything.

>Pinball isn't just an awkward insertion into an otherwise wonderful
>story.

That's exactly what it was.  A cute Partridge Family-phony type of modern
trivial pop culture insertion, designed to attract the greatest number of
silver-ball playing addicted lemmings.

>It's essential to that story.

A Pinball Wizard is not essential to that story.  If it were, the story
would have been built around the Pinball Wizard.  Clearly, the opposite
happened.

>It's essential that Tommy be raised
>up by the masses & eventually brought down by them.  That's an inte-
>gral part of the story.

Yes.

>And having Tommy become a pinball champ ac-
>complishes that quite nicely.

Nicely.  Yes.  Goofily.  Yes.  Dorkily.  Yes.  Totally out of left field-ly.
Yes.  Bizarro World-ly.   YES!

>What would've been better?

Any number of things not decided "on impulse" to please some fucking critic.

>Making Tommy a deaf, dumb, & blind golfer?

Too white collar.

>Or perhaps Kevin would've preferred Tommy be a skiing or snowboarding
champ.
>  I'd bet we'd
>get no argument if *that* were the case.

No, actually, that would be equally silly.

>And again, the assumed subtext of the absurd idea of equating a re-
>vered pinball champ with a revered rock idol can't be ignored.  Es-
>pecially when it comes from the mind of Pete Townshend who has
>grappled with this idea throughout much of his career.

'Absurd idea' indeed.
This was all thought out in the split second that makes up an "impulse".
So, who's driving this story, anyway?

Kevin in VT