Clinton’s Image

* Re “Creative Differences,” editorial, July 16: Wow, The Times comes out in support of President Clinton in not allowing Bob Zemeckis and others to “manipulate film of a president’s public appearances.” Where was The Times when “Not Necessarily the News,” “The Tonight Show” and others did the same to Presidents Reagan and Bush?

Give the American people a little credit for having some intelligence. I think most people can figure out what’s going on when Zemeckis cleverly uses footage of Clinton, just as I’m sure they figure out it’s a joke when we at “Talk Soup” use Clinton answers out of context for laughs on our show. While I’m glad you feel “drawing a caricature or doing an imitation of a president” is OK, I’m sorry you don’t feel it’s OK to use that newfangled visual technology to exercise one’s freedom of expression and parody.

JEFF ZIMMER

Producer, “Talk Soup”

Panorama City

* The commotion over the appearances of Clinton and several anchors and reporters from CNN in the new movie “Contact” is very amusing (July 15). The White House says usage of the president’s image is unfair. C’mon, get real! The movie succeeds in doing something the spin doctors in Washington rarely can--making the president look “presidential.”

The line between television journalism and entertainment blurred a long time ago. The Simpson trial coverage made TV journalism a sport. At least Larry King, et al. all come off looking like professionals. If the event depicted in the movie ever happens, these are the people who will cover it.

MICHAEL BELL

Bakersfield

* Your article states that though President Franklin D. Roosevelt appears in newsreels he would not allow studios to use the footage in feature films. This is true. But he did allow himself to be portrayed by actors in feature films. The rules were that it had to be cleared in advance and he was only to be shown from a side or rear shot.

Evidence of this is in various films, including “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” where George M. Cohan (played by James Cagney) meets FDR in the Oval Office. Most of the films showing FDR, played by actors, were World War II dramas.

DOUGLAS CRAMER

Los Angeles