‘X’ and Prejudice

I read your full page of letters on “Malcolm X” last Sunday with great interest.

In eight letters, you managed to find a fundamentalist Christian, a white racist, an overzealous Muslim, someone who read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” without reading the final chapters, a post-production supervisor who read one quotation and discounted the rest of Spike Lee’s filmmaking history and an Italian-American who had his feelings hurt 15 years ago--none of whom seem to have seen the movie.

True, you bookended them with two people who did see the movie, both of whom apparently found it positive and gentle. But, as usual, it is those who bring their own prejudices to the party that create the controversy.

I expect hysteria from the ideologue, but Michael Harker takes the cake for ignorance and hypocrisy. I am not a Spike Lee apologist. I often find him inflammatory, if not an outright racist. But he started generating millions with a film budgeted under $100,000. He then made four movies with budgets from $6 million to $12 million. He never went over budget and never lost money for a studio. Then he had to fight to get the money for “Malcolm X.”

Ultimately, “Malcolm X” will probably make more profit for Warner Bros. than “Hook” will for TriStar. But it’s doubtful that Lee will see a $30-million budget again anytime soon. We are in a small industry, filled with envy, but can’t we just live together?

DAVID POLAND

Los Angeles