Harboring Doubts

One needs only to focus on a couple of excerpts from your story on “Pearl Harbor” and Michael Bay to clearly observe the shallowness of Hollywood (“Marshaling All of His Forces,” by Robert W. Welkos, May 20).

The first says, “Bay heard one account in which sailors couldn’t escape and all you could see were their hands desperately trying to break out as rescuers worked feverishly to free them. ‘When I heard that, I said, “Oh my God, that’s a great image.””’ The second relates, “Bay said what really became nerve-racking was knowing that if the movie went over budget, he’d be responsible.”

I found the comparisons odious: Sailors trying to escape drowning is a great image, while the responsibility for going over budget on a movie is nerve-racking.

I recently visited Pearl Harbor for the first time and cried during the visit. I was 11 at the time of the attack. Bay is quoted as saying “I think there are probably 50 photographs that exist of Pearl Harbor.” I wonder if he visited the museum there.

RAYMOND FOX

Rancho Palos Verdes

*

To quote your cover, “Will Pearl Harbor bring blockbuster director Michael Bay a respect that has eluded him?”

Respect is a component that usually encompasses the entire human; his/her soul; compassion; the essence of what makes that person who he is today. Maybe, if The Times is looking for an angle or has an agenda, they can be more specific and clarify what kind of respect Bay is trying to achieve: respect from the audience? From the studio? From his mother?

While Bay hunts for the respect that has eluded him, I’m going to search for the sock that has eluded me ever since I washed the colors with the whites.

ROB SEGAL

Toluca Lake

*

A voice-over at the end of “Pearl Harbor” intones, “World War II for us began at Pearl Harbor .... “

If that’s any indication of the film’s writing, then Disney better hope the special effects are spectacular.

TOM SCARPELLI

Northridge