On Matters of Politics, the Readers Always Write

A mildly mysterious reader writes:

To: scott.harris@latimes.com

Subject: Racial Dialogue the “Bulworth” Way

You write: “Yet I thought something was missing, strikingly so. Bulworth campaigns in a Los Angeles that seems astoundingly devoid of Latinos . . . Fact is, I counted more celebrity cameos than Latino faces in ‘Bulworth.’ ”

I’m not Latin, so maybe you can tell me ‘what’ Latins ‘look like’ and the criteria used to determine ‘Latin’ status or heritage. And why it is significant. ? How many women were there in the movie? Were they portrayed, proportionate to the men, in positions of leadership and power? Were the Jews Reform or Conservative? Were the movie, TV and record industries represented, numerically, fairly?

Maybe the L.A. Times should publish the racial, sexual and religious heritage mix of its staff (showing position titles and salaries) so the public knows your employer isn’t guilty of the insensitivity you claim for Mr. Beatty’s movie . . . “

The correspondence lately has covered everything from God to Godzilla. A Benedictine monk wrote to comment on Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon’s ambivalence and ultimate support for a “religious freedom amendment,” which strikes most Americans as redundant. Another reader touted his own Godzilla Web page.

Oh, and meanwhile, an NBC reporter working on a story about the so-called “mile high club” called in hopes of tracking down a Studio City couple mentioned in a column published long ago. The couple told a colleague of mine that they hoped to conceive in the wild blue yonder and, if it were a girl, name her Ariel. (If you recognize yourselves, please call NBC’s Dan Hicks and tell him that, no, I didn’t make you up.)

But let’s get back to “Bulworth,” because most of the mail lately has had a political theme. “Mildy mysterious” is how I refer to this ranter, I mean reader, because her or his e-mail provided a phone number but no name.

I appreciated her or his missive because it shows the thought-provoking virtue of Warren Beatty’s “Bulworth” while also noting what I considered its greatest flaw. Contrary to this reader’s interpretation, the flaw was not “insensitivity,” especially since insensitivity helped make “Bulworth” worth $7.50.

My criticism wasn’t moral but aesthetic: A political film set in L.A. that ignores Latinos lacks a certain verisimilitude.

Just ask Richard Alarcon and Richard Katz.

The “Bulworth” column, as it happened, ran a week before a June primary dramatically influenced by a branch of ethnic politics that Beatty’s film overlooked. The recount and recriminations in the Alarcon-Katz race have me wondering about another “Bulworth” letter from a reader named Jill:

“I had been thinking about the movie the rest of the night and have decided not to vote Tuesday as a personal form of protestation. It seems to me every time the voters enact a new law or vote in a new candidate, somehow the politicians find a way to get what they want in the end anyway . . .

“The public has become so apathetic that nothing seems to bother us anymore and I am frustrated that we seem unable to make a change.”

Not voting seems like an odd way to protest public apathy. For all its nastiness, the Alarcon-Katz race proves the old homily that every vote counts. And how one wins those votes matters too.

The ugliness of politics can be another source of apathy, but the public also shows signs of being fed up with “anything goes” campaigning. It’s been gratifying to witness the fallout from the controversy over the last-minute hit piece the Alarcon campaign aimed at Katz.

Several readers responded to my column that accused Senate Majority Leader Richard Polanco, chairman of the California Latino Caucus, of anti-Katz rhetoric aimed “squarely below the belt.”

As you may recall, Polanco’s letter, targeted to Latino voters, falsely implied that Katz had collaborated in a notorious Orange County incident in which Republican officials posted unofficial security guards at polling places to intimidate Latino voters. In fact, then-Assemblyman Katz pressed a civil complaint and a settlement that required Republican officials to finance Latino voter registration efforts.

Rafael A. Chavez of Sherman Oaks had this reaction:

“As a Latino, I read with interest all the mail to me by the Alarcon camp. Much of it was comical and I couldn’t help but chuckle at it. I have also gotten material from Katz in the past but wondered why they ignored me in this race. Your article does not surprise me. . . . One wonders who is watching all of this and when it will all end.”

Beats me. But I’m pretty sure about this: It won’t end before there’s a Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch.

Yes, trouble is still brewing north of the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Several residents from the gated communities of Porter Ranch wrote to vent their anger at Shappell Industries and what they say are the misrepresentations of a planned commercial development at Rinaldi Street and Corbin Avenue. Some recent residents said they have learned that Wal-Mart signed a lease even before sales people promised them an “upscale shopping center.” Some residents are said to be exploring a class-action lawsuit.

Emotions continue to run high as Shappell negotiates for a supermarket tenant. Porter Ranchers who were hoping for a Pavilions are fretting they may wind up with Food 4 Less. An old aphorism applies: caveat emptor.

That’s Latin, but of course the advice applies to all.

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Finally, on a more personal note, I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the many kind notes of condolences concerning my father’s recent death at age 81. I heard from friends and acquaintances, as well as from a number of people who had never written to me before. One came from a man in Northern California whose friend visiting from the Valley happened to bring the newspaper from home.

I had never lost a loved one before, and much about the experience has been a revelation. I never imagined that words of solace from strangers could mean as much as sympathy expressed by old, dear friends. (It occurs to me that this is a fringe benefit of writing a newspaper column.) It leaves me thinking of a line from the film “Bang the Drum Slowly,” about a baseball player with a terminal illness: “Everybody knows everybody’s dying. That’s why people are as nice as they are.”

Exactly why people can be so nice, I don’t know.

But thank you, thank you, thank you.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com. Please include a phone number.

For all its nastiness, the Alarcon-Katz race proves the old homily that every vote counts. And how one wins those votes matters too.