The Impossible Dream

Bravo Kenneth Turan (“A Very Scary Scenario,” Aug. 27)! A film critic not only with insight but conscience. Turan points us directly to the problem: soulless studios who answer to nothing higher than the bottom line, dumping what was once the great American art form into the sewer of excess. All this to reach a demographic--boys and young men--who need junk like “The Cell” and “Scary Movie” like they need heroin. But this criticism presupposes a thing called “standards,” a concept as foreign to corporate Hollywood as, oh, restraint.

JAMES BELL

Woodland Hills

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Having been one, I heartily concur that teenage boys today are morons and have lousy taste in movies. It was quite different “back in the day” when my generation prided itself on seeing sophisticated films such as, oh, “Blazing Saddles.”

Not to embarrass Turan, but it’s the very pseudo-intellectualizing-the-sky-is-falling view of popular culture that drives kids to gross-out-type movies. They know that neglected schools, discombobulated families and unresolved racial issues are the great vulgarities in America today, not light projected on a screen.

If he really thought about it, Turan would kiss the ground that teenagers walk on, if only for economic reasons. Who knows how high the price of movie tickets would be if kids didn’t over-consume films and CDs? Is it boredom or burnout that makes Turan despise the audience that enjoys films the most?

TIMOTHY REGAS

Los Angeles

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Thank you for your very important article. As parents, we have always resented the trashy films that mediocre minds grind out. What used to be an art form is now akin to the stock market, and our society and culture are the poorer for it. We hope you continue this noble quest.

RUTH ROSEN

Santa Monica