Censors and Truth

James Gilden’s response (“A Railroad Named Political Correctness,” Jan. 13) to “PC--Politically Correct” (Dec. 29) troubled me more as an artist and playwright than the potential PC censors.

Gilden attacks PACs and their influence on art by creating a fanciful scenario whereby Tennessee Williams redoes “Glass Menagerie” to fit the codes of the special-interest groups, delving further and further into ridiculous concessions to the PC police.

As an issue-oriented gay playwright with more than 20 plays produced internationally, I’ve battled the PC police on both ends of the spectrum and often considered their requests to be ludicrous.

However, Gilden’s attitude is exactly why the squads of politically correct monitors are needed: If the people who are asking for political correctness from our work are helping us reach truth, then we should take their commentary gladly. If not, we need do no more than let it pass. But, as artists, we need to be open to what they are saying before we can reach truth.

Gilden’s proclamation that art is art and PACs should confine themselves to politics is as blindly dogmatic as any PAC could hope to be. If Gilden is so unsure of his truth that he’s willing to change it to accommodate the demands of a PAC, he doesn’t know a truth worth telling. If he feels he has to guard his truth to the point of not listening to others, he can’t really believe it’s the truth.

JEFF HAGEDORN

North Hollywood