THE RATING GAME

The merits of director Lance Young’s “Bliss,” either before or after the cuts mandated to receive an R rating, are beyond my ken (“A ‘Bliss’-Less Rating Game,” by Scott Collins, June 8).

But the continuing strife between the Motion Picture Assn. of America’s ratings board and various major and minor directors leads me to wonder if the operative mind-set of the anonymous members of the board is not PC-17; that is, Politically Correct for the 17th Century.

GARY NORDELL

Culver City

*

Collins’ article ignores a key point in the frequent ratings arguments that crop up with the impending release of any sexually controversial film: whether or not the public really wants to see them. If box-office returns are used as a gauge of audience interest, they don’t.

The majority of such films, including those that have gotten an R rating, have been commercial failures, proving over and over again that the public is not as obsessed with sex, and especially perverse sex, as some filmmakers are.

RICK MITCHELL

Los Angeles