DOLE VS. HOLLYWOOD

I do not like Madonna, rap music, Nazis or Bob Dole, but allowing them a forum is the price I pay to have the freedom of choice (“At the Center of the Dole Firestorm,” July 30). And I would much rather live with Madonna’s openness than Sen. Dole’s family values. I’m tired of censorship in the name of protecting the children because parents don’t have the time to exercise individual responsibility.

ALAN STANFILL

Upland

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So Don Simpson doesn’t like horror movie violence. It’s not as entertaining to him as the anonymous, carefree depiction of death that he presents in his own films.

Well, Don, that’s the point. Unlike your movies, in which violence is glamorized and glossed over and made to look “cool,” horror films portray violence as horrific. In these movies, violence is scary, disturbing, disgusting, unsettling, something definitely to be avoided. It’s not “fun.”

Which is why horror films are a very honest, moral form of artistic expression. They hold the ugliness up to the light--they make people look at violence and face its consequences.

BENTLEY LITTLE

Fullerton

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The major concern, it seems to me, is not that such sleaze is being produced, but that there is a large enough element of tastelessness in our society to make it profitable. That is the real tragedy.

H.H. STEWART

La Mirada

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I agree with Sen. Dole. Hollywood has debauched the entire American political system by bringing us to suppose that if we put John Wayne in the White House, he’ll solve all our problems. No need to understand economics, psychology, demographics or even arithmetic, we think. Just lower the eyelids, clench the teeth, reach for the holster and growl, “This tayown ain’t big enough fer the both of us.”

KARL GRAVES

Burbank

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Not everyone is blessed with a loving family or safe schools. For many, the gangsta rap song about killing cops seems more fulfilling than their lives. Maybe that violent song or film is only dreamed about by one kid in a thousand. But if 10 million kids listen and 10,000 memorize the lyrics, 1,000 will find themselves a gun.

This issue of violence isn’t going away until every element of society--the family, school, community and media--learn to communicate a more positive approach to those who feel disenfranchised.

But until that time, we all need to take a bit more responsibility for the work we do. And I believe that the companies that provide truthful and yet positive fare will be supported.

TIM TRUBY

Los Angeles

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This “New Republican Party” movement to find scapegoats to blame for the problems in this country is really alarming. Closing libraries, swimming pools, discontinuing recreation programs and the arts will most certainly not help the youth violence situation. Instead, let’s beat up on Hollywood (one of the largest contributors to the Democratic Party), blaming them for the way things are.

What kind of world will this be in 1996 if the Republicans win the election?

BARBARA WINTROUB

Marina del Rey

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Bob Dole’s preoccupation with the movie industry is another way to sidestep the real issues that face this country. If he really cared about the arts, his first move would be to support the National Endowment for the Arts. This organization should be on the endangered species list.

For many people, public television is their only link to intelligent and educational programming. Without it, we all lose.

FRANCES T. LIPPMAN

Los Angeles

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It is time we stopped perpetuating “macho/warrior” models, in any context! I challenge the entertainment industry to create positively oriented and inspiring entertainment. It can be done. All it takes is to point their creative mechanisms in that direction. Why not create things like Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”?

The teachings of Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi were that we should give up the “warrior” model. In the nuclear and assault weapons age, isn’t it time we got that message?

ALLEN M. ROSENTHAL

Marina del Rey

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I had the misfortune of attending a test screening of the new CBS show “American Gothic,” a rather feckless rip-off of “Twin Peaks.” It featured plenty of senseless violence, no doubt designed to create controversy.

I am against censorship, but if a network is willing to show a woman getting her neck snapped just to generate press, why not leave “My So-Called Life” on the air? Wouldn’t that garner equal attention?

TV now seems intent on exploring the dark side of life. How about balancing the act a little with some positive role models and optimistic visions?

We miss you, Gene Roddenberry.

TODD SOUSSANA

Los Angeles

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Sex and violence have been the very shaping forces of the evolution of every species on Earth. To deny this, to retreat into an intellectual gilded cage in which humans are somehow to be removed and detached and protected from the knowledge or experience of violence or suffering, is absurd.

Cinema and the media should be free to explore the human condition, even in its primal, brutal aspects.

JOHN C. GRAVES

Winnetka