PARANOIA U.S.A.

Beale seemed to label conservatives as mentally ill, i.e., “paranoid,” by citing a number of current and not-so-current movies.

Beale stated that “the current paranoid movement is almost exclusively conservative, even reactionary in nature.”

Does that mean that the people who liked “Testament,” “On the Beach” and “Dr. Strangelove” were conservative hawks? That the fans of “2001,” “WarGames” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” were reactionaries?

And were the kids who flocked to see “War of the Worlds,” “The Thing” and “The Road Warrior” really part of a movement? Say wa, Lewis?

Of course, liberal shibboleths like nuclear power, big business, rural Americans, et al., were not found to be equally paranoid, presumably because they are liberal and therefore rational or not current, or something. I’m afraid I found this point somewhat cryptic.

I think that Beale’s piece and Charles Champlin’s previous editorial bewailing “Rambo II” and its extraordinary popularity are nothing more than examples of (Calendar’s) liberal petulance over the growing conservative tide in our country.

Come on you guys, don’t you think that something you run under the heading of “analysis” should have at least the appearance of objectivity?

MANNY ROTHSTEIN

Huntington Beach