Calendar Letters: Gen Z and guns, L.A.’s autopia dreams and Oscars’ acting contenders

Still have a lot to prove

Regarding “Gen Z Rises Boldly After Tragedy” [Feb. 24]: It is yet to be proved whether Generation Z represents a changing of the guard. A massive march does not necessarily indicate what they are going to do or will be capable of doing in the future. These are just high school kids, and they still have a lot to prove before one can consider a changing of the guard. As the saying goes, “time will tell.”

Terry Judge

Camarillo

Marx’s influence isn’t so pretty

I have a strong stomach, but Kenneth Turan turned it with his glowing review of “The Young Karl Marx” [“That White Beard Is History,” Feb. 23], a film that portrays the founder of communism as an exceedingly attractive fellow: “a whip-smart firebrand whose passion and energy are palpable,” and whose ideas soon “upended Western society and inspired revolutions worldwide.”

Turan and the film don’t mention that these revolutions and communist tyrannies in, among other nations, Russia, China, Korea, Vietnam and Cuba, have soaked our planet in the blood of untold millions.

Al Ramrus

Pacific Palisades

‘Coco’ tells a universal story

Regarding “‘Coco’ a ‘Salve for the Soul’” [Feb. 25]: I was thrilled by “Coco.” For the first time, I understood the universality of “Dia de los Muertos.” I think “Coco” is like a “Fiddler on the Roof,” schooling us in tradition and culture through storytelling, music and art.

Susan Amerikaner

Camarillo

Freeway to low expectations

You printed about 1,100 thoughtful words on the proposed freeway across the high desert [“The ‘Autopia’ Fantasyland,” Feb. 25], but not one of them from the following list (culled from other Times articles about that highway corridor): Blood Alley, head-on, family killed, fiery, most-deadly, death toll.

I suspect this is why architecture critics don’t run Caltrans.

Hans Laetz

Malibu

It’s the other side of ageism

Regarding “Longing for an Upset in Acting Races” [Feb. 25]: Given Hollywood’s history of age discrimination against older actors, especially female, it is laughable to claim that young stars such as Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya are victims of “ageism.”

And I would respectfully suggest that anyone who is “weary” of performances like Frances McDormand’s and Gary Oldman’s should go back to their video games and leave us adults alone.

Steve Mehlman

Beaumont

Don’t forget ‘Meteor Man’

Regarding coverage of “Black Panther”: The movie is being described as the first film where a black person would be directing a major studio film in the superhero cinematic universe starring a predominantly black cast with a massive budget.

With the exception of the massive budget, you just described a movie I played a wino in back in 1993 called “The Meteor Man,” and yes, there was a “Meteor Man” comic book. It was written by a black man. The film was directed by a black man, and it starred a black man as well as having a predominantly black cast.

The only difference is that the budget was not massive, but it was a respectable $30 million.

Michael Gabriel

Los Angeles

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