‘Titanic’ Script Is Worthy of Oscar Nod

The screenwriting branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences failed to nominate the script of “Titanic” for an Oscar. Kenneth Turan applauds this, proving once again that he and many of my colleagues do not know what a good script is (“At Least One Place the Ship Didn’t Dock,” Feb. 11).

Critics and many screenwriters often judge the worth of a script on the sophistication of its dialogue and the complexity of its characters, literary conceits that have little to do with movie storytelling. How else to explain critical acclaim for the glib, (to borrow from Turan) cobbled-together “As Good as It Gets,” the derivative, jaded “L.A. Confidential,” and last year’s horrid, inbred “The English Patient”?

“Titanic” dares to tell a story simply and through action. In allowing his characters to speak plainly and from the heart, James Cameron takes a much bigger risk than his nominated counterparts, and he succeeds magnificently.

“Titanic” is on its way to being the most popular movie ever for good reason: It captivates, thrills and deeply moves the audience. It dramatizes and reaffirms something people passionately care about--the possibility of unconditional, transcendent love. And it does all this through its story.

It would be a career achievement for any screenwriter to write a script as good as “Titanic.”

J.B. WHITE

Member, Writers Guild of America, West Ojai

Turan dismisses Cameron’s script for “Titanic” as “cobbled- together.” When I saw the film, only a handful of people in the crowded theater got up and left as the end titles started to roll. When the titles ended several minutes later and the lights came up, many people still remained in their seats. They didn’t want to leave. They didn’t want to break the spell.

I suggest Turan go off somewhere and try to “cobble together” a script that has an effect like that on an audience.

LARRY YUST

Los Angeles

Turan compliments Hollywood writers for denying “Titanic” a nomination for best screenplay, as if this somehow corroborates his insistence that he’s hipper than the rest of the audience.

What he fails to point out, however, is that the Writers Guild, composed of the same writers, has nominated Cameron’s screenplay for its annual WGA award--a prize arguably more coveted than the Oscar, since it’s free of studio politics.

NORRIS MANNING

Los Angeles