You Needn’t Be a Dweeb to Enjoy ‘Harry’

Hank Stuever’s commentary on “Harry Potter” was a sad reflection on the state of the world (“‘Harry Potter’ Phenomenon Exposes a Nation of Dweebs,” Nov. 26). He asks, “Where are the kids who are supposed to be beating up the kids who like Harry Potter?” They’re getting their heads blown off in school by “dweebs” who get “pummeled at recess” and decide to take a gun to school instead of a wand.

Of course, Hank probably believes that he’s just being silly about a silly movie and a silly issue. To suggest violence in a silly matter is to court violence in a more complex one. Hank could be less concerned with the coming “coolness shortage” and more focused on creating a peaceful planet for our children.

DAVID UNDERWOOD

Beverly Hills

*

I thought curmudgeonly pieces such as Stuever’s couldn’t be printed until at least a week or two before Christmas. I’m not sure exactly why seeing good triumph over evil in “Harry Potter” seems to anger him so. Perhaps it is a reminder that his days as schoolyard bully are past and he will never reach those heights of success again.

LEE AYDELOTTE

Huntington Beach

*

We’ve done such a fine job of making fun of nerds, geeks and dweebs that many schoolchildren can’t tell you where Mexico is. In Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” segments, the “Tonight Show” host routinely finds people who believe the moon is larger than the sun. Stuever’s article itself proves that oafish stupidity is alive and well in America.

CHARLES HOFFMAN

Van Nuys

*

Maybe all that Hank needs is a hug and a kiss, because he’s got a major case of dweeb envy. And isn’t that why bullies are bullies, because they’re envious?

B. ANTHONY SECRIST

Los Angeles

*

On Sept. 11, our nation was catapulted into chaos much like Dec. 7, 1941. A new spiritual awareness has also gripped our country, with people searching for answers for their fears and insecurity. The reasons why we were attacked are many; some spiritual leaders have dared ponder out loud that maybe our country’s habitual sins have caused God to yield his protection over our land.

If this is the case, as I think it is, wouldn’t it dawn on people that they shouldn’t embrace witchcraft as they’re doing with “Harry Potter”? Evil does come in many forms--even the slurpy sweet kind. Evil has been repackaged so that even the wisest of parents will defend the “goodness” aspects of Harry Potter--but they have been deceived. As lambs to slaughter, so will it be for those who are deceived by evil.

MICHAEL FOXEN

Canoga Park

*

I can’t believe what I’m reading about “Harry Potter.” Are people so afraid that the printed word will corrupt their children and/or neighbors? What happened to freedom of speech? Where is their faith that God will guide us to the right path? Are people afraid that children, in attempting to replicate the rituals in the book and movies, will bring forth the “supernatural” powers of the earth and use them for nefarious purposes? People should relax and enjoy “Harry Potter” for what it is--good entertainment--instead of going on witch hunts.

IRVING M. LEEMON

Northridge

*

KOST Holiday Music

I found your article “Way More Than 12 Days of Christmas” (by Steve Carney, Nov. 30) to be very unreliable newspaper reporting. How can you assume that people are not enjoying the holiday music on KOST-FM based on one person’s opinion and one small survey of a contemporary Christian station? There is a loss of creditably when journalism speaks from only one point of view.

CATHY HEROLD

Redondo Beach

*

That anyone would take the time to trash the wonderful people at KOST for trying to give a little holiday cheer to their listeners makes me very, very sad. At a time when our country is at war, after tragedies too horrific to imagine, how can anyone possibly complain about people who are trying to do something to bring us a feeling of caring and love?

DAWN GAMBLE

Saugus

*

Those who don’t like KOST’s format can simply go to another station--there are multitudes of them. And now finally there is a station for the thousands like me who want to hear Christmas music without the fight and frustration of constantly pushing the radio buttons looking for it.

RODGER KURTHY

Mission Viejo

*

An LP Lament

As a 30-plus-year veteran of L.A.’s record stores, I was very interested in the coming of Amoeba Music (“An Indie Takes Shape,” by Susan Carpenter, Nov. 22), as I have found local stores to be very lacking in recent years, especially for vinyl.

The store did not live up to the hype. While enormous, well-decorated, and with well-stocked bins, I found two basic problems: While there were lots of LPs, the selection wasn’t all that great, and I found the prices to be quite high compared with other long-established, albeit much smaller outlets.

JIM HRESKO

El Monte

*

Applauding Alan Paul

Don Heckman, were you asleep on your job? You could not have attended the same performance my two tables of 10 experienced for Alan Paul’s show (“Paul Transfers to a Solo Spotlight,” Nov. 26). We all felt Paul’s performance and selection in music were masterful and his delivery brilliant!

It was gutsy, exciting and we loved every moment of it. I hope he will pursue this route in his musical career.

MOLLY MACKIN

Malibu

*

TV News Clutter

In Howard Rosenberg’s Turkey Awards (“Tofu and Raspberry Pie,” Nov. 23), he mentions the awful practice of running news type under the news shows on CNN, Fox News, etc. I find that clutter to be the worst new development in years. It detracts from the main story. The only people who can cope with it are the kids--and kids don’t watch the news!

STAN LEE

Los Angeles

*

‘Man’: Weak or Honest?

Paul Brownfield’s article about “The Mind of the Married Man” was right on point (“When Characters Talk About Sex, Do Women Have More Fun” Nov. 23). This show is confused about its message. It is not informative, humorous or thought-provoking.

In today’s environment, where we are applauding heroes, this show merely exhibits the actions of a weakened, undisciplined male.

VIVIAN LANDAU

Sherman Oaks

*

As a fan of “The Mind of the Married Man,” I agree with creator Mike Binder that if this were a show about married women, or a piece of literature, it would be lauded for its honesty. My wife and I watch the show religiously and not only laugh at it but also discuss it regularly, which I can say about maybe three other shows we’ve ever watched together.

Each one of my many married men friends is depicted in one or another character here, and each week in some form, a scene or reference hits home to me with complete accuracy.

DAVE ZAWHORIS

Marina del Rey

*

Time for ‘Klinghoffer’

“Safety first” on all our airlines, but “playing it safe” in our symphony halls is quite a different matter (“‘Klinghoffer’: Too Hot to Handle?” by Mark Swed, Nov. 20).

The decision by management to remove the “Klinghoffer” Choruses of John Adams at a performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is actually irresponsible to one of their art’s missions, particularly so because the program change was made in response to September’s nightmare. That murderers from lands far away turned airplanes into bombs should not mean that an extraordinarily timely musical composition about such nightmares from one of America’s most gifted composers should not now be heard. On the contrary, Adams’ analyses of a 1985 act of terror, transformed into two acts of supersonic, hyper-rhythmic and super-stimulative opera, is more relevant than ever.

One would have thought that management at one of America’s elite orchestral ensembles would have known the difference between escaping into the magical world of “Harry Potter” at the local cinema and entering into a reality-driven dialogue about shatteringly momentous events at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

ARTHUR G. SVENSON

Redlands

*

Lauding ‘Aida’

Although my wife and I did not walk out on “Aida” as did letter writer Mark Hartzell (Letters, Nov. 24), we were dumbfounded by the standing ovation accorded the show when we attended on Nov. 23. The cast was good, but not great. The story and music were mediocre. If this show can give rise to a mass standing ovation, I am ready to do my famous home puppet show to an L.A. audience.

MICHAEL H. MILLER

Los Angeles

*

One Fewer Awards Show

I read that Blockbuster Inc. canceled what would’ve been their eighth Blockbuster Awards show (Morning Report, Nov. 23). That’s sad. And it’s such a prestigious award, too. Blockbuster said it’s because of the war. I’m sure people being sick of shameless self-promotion had nothing to do with it.

R.J. JOHNSON

North Hollywood

*

Typically American

I’ve gotten totally tired of any kind of news coverage of Sept. 11. Whenever something comes on the TV about terrorism, I instinctively press either “mute” or change the channel.

The whole thing has transformed itself, inevitably, into something extremely familiar: litigation, financial discrepancies and boring talk show segments. There are questions about where all the money went that was donated by charitable citizens, feuds between the firemen and the policemen in New York City, and complaints by survivors of the disaster that they haven’t been given enough financial help by their employers. How typically American!

MATTHEW OKADA

Pasadena

*

Theater Has a Name

Re the Nov. 23 Morning Report item, “New Digs for Displaced Radio Troupe”: The theater that is the new home of California Artists Radio Theatre is not just “a” theater. It has a formal name: The Beverly Garland Theater. The theater is located at Beverly Garland’s Holiday Inn and Conference Center, and Garland, an actress and member of the CART company, is donating the use of the theater to CART.

GENE WALSH

Burbank

*

TV: Cloning Pioneer

I don’t know why everyone is getting into such a dither about the work being done by Advanced Cell Technology Inc. One merely has to look at all the knock-offs of “Friends” currently on the air and all the movie sequels churned out by the studio sausage makers to realize by what a tremendous margin science trails Hollywood when it comes to cloning.

BURT PRELUTSKY

North Hills