Speaking for ‘Amy Fisher’

I know I should be writing letters for Amnesty International, but Howard Rosenberg’s review of the NBC-TV movie, “Amy Fisher: My Story,” was so off base a reply had to be made (“ ‘Amy Fisher’: An Industry Is Born,” Dec. 28):

Rosenberg describes the movie not as a work on its own but as part of a phenomenon; the fact that the movie portrays a novel viewpoint on the lurid situation is inconsequential. Rosenberg does credit Noelle Parker’s portrayal, while dismissing her efforts as a waste.

This is where Rosenberg misses the point by his own criteria. The movie is about Fisher. Parker is convincing as Fisher, even Rosenberg admits that. So how can the movie be judged unsuccessful?

Probably at the heart of Rosenberg’s cynicism are his high expectations. Yet this is only TV--melodrama at that. These are not grand problems that require epic drama and expose the complexities of the human soul. Like Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Fisher’s problems are on a more human scale: degradation of the middle class, the madness of obsessive love.

Maybe Fisher is misguided and her whole story a rationalization for her actions. Like any number of everyday people swept up in extraordinary events unprepared, her story may be self-serving. But it makes compelling watching on a cold, rainy night. Pass the popcorn and let’s see that scene where Fisher pistol whips Mary Jo again.

RAUL OCAMPO

West Covina