Why <i> PC</i> Spells Political Controversy : IT’S CENSORSHIP

I found your article very disturbing. While Hollywood is currently courting “politically correct” groups with which I happen to sympathize, this has not always been the case. In the 1950s, Hollywood acceded to the sensibilities of the then-”correct” group--Joseph McCarthy and his Communist witch hunters.

Is Hollywood now carrying the banner of truth and justice, or merely seeking to side with the current “in” groups because it sells more tickets? The danger of Hollywood’s attempts to be politically correct are obvious: If Hollywood buckled under to McCarthyism, who is to say that the skinheads or the American Nazi Party will not get their day?

Our still democratic society would be best served if Hollywood would heed Lillian Hellman’s words to the House Committee on Un-American Activities: “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.” Perhaps Hollywood should stop trying to be so fashionable.

DEBORAH S. BUCKSBAUM

Los Angeles

Times staff writer Terry Pristin’s article on political correctness in Hollywood, “The Filmmakers vs. the Crusaders” (Dec. 29), has struck a nerve with readers. A sampling of their views.