WE GET LETTERS . . . : ‘Basic Instinct’

Andy Marx’s Film Clips item “We Thought About It ( Really ) and Decided That Movie Endings Are Special” (Feb. 16) clearly illustrates why the gay activists in our society are, in one significant way, no better than its religious fundamentalists, militant feminists and other special-interest groups: They are intolerant.

The gay community’s attempts to halt the making of the movie “Basic Instinct,” directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, are attempts to violate the principle of free expression. It’s too bad such attempts cannot be criminally prosecuted, as is done with things like attempted bank robbery and attempted murder.

I, personally, do not need--nor do I want--the gay community’s stamp of approval on everything I see, listed to and read. In fact, because of my own heterosexual lifestyle, I would probably tend to avoid any artistic product that carried such a stamp of approval, though I would never seek to prevent its creation.

When Annette Gaudino, a gay spokeswoman, says, “We’re not trying to prevent them from making a movie,” nothing could be further from the truth. That’s precisely what they tried to do at one point. Now that the movie has been made (in spite of their repressive behavior), they’re trying to keep people from seeing it. If these activities do not constitute attempts at censorship, what does?

Ms. Gaudino, if you don’t want to watch “Basic Instinct” when it opens, there will be plenty of other movies playing in town. The same goes for your flock. I think we need to work harder at regaining our tolerance, because we never should have lost it.

KENT ROBINSON

Pasadena