MOVIESPerez’s Apology Sought: A Mexican-American rights group...

MOVIES

Perez’s Apology Sought: A Mexican-American rights group has demanded an apology from actress Rosie Perez for remarks she made about relations among Latino groups in the December issue of Vibe magazine. Perez, who is Puerto Rican, is quoted as saying: “The majority of Hispanics in Los Angeles are Mexicans, and Mexicans think Puerto Ricans are different. Cubans look down on everybody; Mexicans hate Puerto Ricans. Brazilians are above Mexicans.” In demanding an apology, the Los Angeles-based Mexicanos Unidos en Norteamericana called the remarks “divisive and highly offensive to all Latinos and Mexican-Americans in particular.”

MOVIES

French Beef Up Their Offense: The French government launched an offensive this week to strengthen its film industry’s ability to resist a perceived invasion by American culture. The cabinet approved a plan by Culture Minister Jacques Toubon to forge tighter links among French and European distributors, overhaul state subsidies to filmmakers and broadcast more domestic films on television. The French fear free trade and the lifting of subsidies could lead to domination by U.S. culture.

MOVIES

‘Free Willy’ Producers Join Blockade: Lauren Shuler-Donner and Richard Donner, producers of the movie “Free Willy,” have donated a fleet of boats to help block the attempts of Chicago’s John G. Shedd Aquarium to catch three Pacific dolphins between California and Santa Catalina Island. The Donners join the Malibu-based Whale Rescue Team and several other California animal protection groups in a blockade of the waters. “It’s outrageous in this day and age to even consider capturing these playful and intelligent animals from their families in the wild,” the Donners said. The Shedd Aquarium, whose permit to catch the dolphins expires Dec. 31, plans to combat the planned blockade by hiring its own security force and asking the Coast Guard to ensure that other boats are kept at a safe distance.

RADIO & TV

KPWR-FM Advertisers Boycotted: The grass-roots Stop the Violence Increase the Peace Foundation is staging a boycott of advertisers on KPWR-FM (“Power 106”) to protest the explicit violent lyrics of songs played on the station. Advertisers the group plans to boycott include Adrays, Budweiser, In-and-Out Burger and Ford Motor Co. The boycott will last until the station “becomes sensitive to the needs of the community,” says organization director Khalid Shah. Shah plans to meet with station management Monday to discuss setting up a community advisory board.

RADIO & TV

Conan Cuts Gag Short: Conan O’Brien tried to lampoon New York Mayor David Dinkins’ lame-duck status on Wednesday night’s show, then ended a gag abruptly when Dinkins proved he still has clout. After asking Dinkins if he could still get politicians to answer his calls, the fledgling host of NBC’s “Late Night” dialed the governor’s office in Albany. Dinkins, who lost the Nov. 2 election to Republican Rudolph Giuliani and has about five weeks left in his term, told an aide to Gov. Mario Cuomo who he was and the governor picked up the phone. The mayor was still talking when O’Brien snatched the phone, told Cuomo it was just a skit, then hung up without allowing Dinkins a chance to say goodby.

ART

L.A. Artist ‘Catalyst’ of Cornell Dispute: An outdoor installation by Los Angeles artist Daniel J. Martinez is at the center of a student movement to improve campus conditions for Latino students at Cornell University. Martinez is one of eight artists featured in “Revelaciones/Revelations,” an installation show at the Ithaca, N.Y., university co-curated by assistant UCLA professor Chon Noriega, now a visiting professor at Cornell. According to Noriega, Martinez’s work has become “a sort of catalyst . . . that allowed existing conflicts to come to the surface.” Called “The Castle Is Burning,” the work consists of eight-foot-tall, tarred panels with large plastic-foam letters spelling out messages dealing with race, class and privilege, such as: “In the rich man’s house, the only place to spit is in his face.” Noriega said that since the exhibition went up Nov. 6, Martinez’s piece has been vandalized in numerous “racially motivated acts,” including about a dozen graffiti attacks with such spray-painted messages as “Cesar Chavez is dead,” “kill the illegal aliens” and “white power.”

QUICK TAKES

Singer Pat Boone joins the on-air staff at KJOI-AM (540 and 1260) on Sunday, with his weekly 3-6 p.m. show, “Pat Boone: Then and Now.” Boone will play American standards from the 1950s through 1990s, introduced with his own telling of “the stories behind the songs and the stars.” . . . Lucille Ball fans will want to set their VCRs today, beginning at 7 a.m. with a two-hour tribute on KTTV-Fox Channel 11’s “Good Day L.A.” The tribute will be followed by the 13th annual “I Love Lucy” Marathon, featuring 11 back-to-back episodes beginning at 9 a.m. . . . “Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie, who has been slowly increasing his public appearances after going into hiding because of a 1989 death sentence issued by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is the guest on tonight’s “Talking With David Frost,” airing locally at 7 on KCRW-FM (89.9) and at 9 on KCET-TV.