He’s horrified by all the Roth haters
HAVE you seen a new breed of response letters written to the L.A. Times? They’re called hateful [Letters, June 10 and 17]. Shame on you, Joe from Santa Barbara, for calling Eli Roth’s parents “borderline psychopath.” And shame on you, Raymond from Westlake Village, for using the words “mental illness.” And shame on you, Suzanne from Los Angeles, for calling Eli a “jackal.”
Eli Roth is one of the most talented and promising young directors the horror genre has witnessed in years. Like Eli, I too was 8 when my life changed (thanks to the horror genre) after hearing my eldest sister’s best friend recount the movie she had just seen, “Friday the 13th,” that summer of 1980. I graduated high school and a prestigious film school with honors and have been able to parlay my deepest love into a career here in Hollywood.
Parents shouldn’t be concerned about their teenage child sneaking into an R-rated splatter flick. What they should be concerned about is their teenage child reading [the] hateful words written to someone and their family [the writers] clearly [do not] know. The display of lynching wrapped around the response letters is nothing short of teaching kids how to hate.
RUDY SCALESE
Los Angeles
Scalese produced the documentary “Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film.”
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
