If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Stay . . .

As a fellow screenwriter who has been both winner and loser in credit disputes arbitrated by the Writers Guild, I can certainly sympathize with Randy Feldman’s unhappiness over being “blamed” for a bad screenplay (“Don’t Blame the Writer,” Counterpunch, Feb. 3). The fact is, though, that the writing credit on the screen belongs to Feldman--not the director, the actors, the stunt coordinator or any of the other writers.

Moreover, Feldman presumably wanted sole screen credit; if not, he could have refused it or at least used a pseudonym. This means that it is he alone who will receive writing residuals (if any) from the film and he alone who’ll be able to say, “Yeah, I wrote an Eddie Murphy movie,” years from now when almost no one will remember or care that “Metro” was in fact a stiff.

The message is simple: You can’t have it both ways. If you want the credit, be prepared to accept the blame. Or, if you want to share the blame, be prepared to share the money as well.

Finally, regarding Feldman’s “recommendation” that critics read the original script before reviewing a film: Get real, pal.

SAM GRAHAM

Los Angeles

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As both a fellow screenwriter and one who reviews and writes about film, it strikes me as absurd that Feldman would accuse reviewer Kevin Thomas of a lack of sophistication and also recommend that reviewers read the original script before criticizing a writer. What is being critiqued is the final, credited product up on the screen--the movie. Nothing more or less.

In what is undeniably a highly collaborative medium, the only instance of truly isolated contribution occurs when the writer puts the story on paper and even that is technically limited to spec scripts. From that point on, all manner of moving parts are added. Editors can save shortsighted directors, cinematographers can bail out nearsighted plastic surgeons and so on. Certainly writers’ work becomes highly vulnerable in this process, but there has to be a certain measure of critical accountability for the germ of what’s on the screen, especially if one has happily fulfilled their contractual obligations and not clamored to have their credit altered or removed from the picture.

The Writers Guild has successfully fought to raise the profile and status of its members over the years and is now lobbying for what is surely an inevitable nod to the way things are done--tag credits for all additional writers paid to work at all on the production.

Perhaps this revised system of crediting would allay Feldman’s desire for critics to mention the many unseen forces that can alter the original script. Or, perhaps writing a movie that doesn’t receive negative reviews in the first place would.

MICHAEL X. FERRARO

Hollywood