Letters

Thanks to Patrick Goldstein for his article exposing the self-aggrandizing folly that is Hollywood’s box-office records [“Is This a Box-Office Record With an * ?” Jan. 30].

Every time I hear a news story about “top weekend grosses” and “record-breaking grosses” and such for the latest soon-to-be-forgotten Hollywood blockbuster, I lose a small piece of my sanity and wonder out loud, “What about attendance?”

Ticket prices have quadrupled in my moviegoing life.

I understand why Hollywood lies with statistics, but I don’t understand why people keep swallowing it.

Mike Flanagan

Silver Lake

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Patrick Goldstein thinks it might be better if studios didn’t try to compare the grosses for “Avatar” without accounting for today’s inflated ticket prices.

The general idea is that unless we compare adjusted grosses, “Avatar” can’t really claim to be No. 1 at the box office.

Fine, but for comparison purposes, please tell me how much money “Gone With the Wind” made in its first seven weeks of release, not how much it made in the 71 years of re-release since.

Jeff Blyth

Glendale

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Patrick Goldstein really had to hunt for the strike zone comparing box-office grosses with baseball steroid use.

His solution to count the number of people attending instead of adjusting ticket prices for inflation is also overly simplistic.

Attendance figures of discretionary entertainment sources such as the Internet, rentals, television, cable and wireless markets would have to be adjusted as competitive entertainment availabilities that were not previously as readily available to deter people from leaving their home to sit in a theater.

Combining the number of tickets sold, the number of rentals, pay-per-views, downloads and other sources where an actual paid viewing occurred, would clarify what are the most popular films.

Bill Brock

Agoura Hills

Unhappy with Grammy ‘circus’

As a longtime music business professional, I was naturally thrilled to read that the ratings for this year’s Grammy presentation were up considerably from last year [“Grammy Ratings Rival ‘Idol’s,’ ” by Scott Collins, Feb. 2]. However, I feel we now need an additional music award show to “fill in the gaps” left by the conversion to the circus-type format now adapted by the Grammy producers.

Unlike the Oscars, where writers, producers, directors -- the “behind-the-scenes” people -- are honored, the Grammys decided to feature performances by artists flying high above the audience dripping water. Huh? I suppose that’s one of the reasons for the high audience ratings, but it has nothing to do with rewarding excellence in the field of recorded music.

We are now at a conundrum in the fast-eroding music business. Do we honor the lowest form of music creation in order to get better ratings or do we follow the lead of the Oscars and ignore record-high sales figures in rewarding excellent work?

Ted Perlman

Lake View Terrace

Not giving up the spotlight

Re “Update: Trust Anyone Over 30,” Jan. 30: Mary McNamara claims that the upsurge in lauding the over-40 crowd “may be more a product of social unease and economic fear than a generation’s determination to stay front and center.” But signs seem to point to the unending persistence of the latter.

Brett Favre made the conscious decision to retire from his team, then became sullen when the Packers had the audacity to give Aaron Rodgers a chance to shine. And though Jay Leno was forced into retirement by NBC, the network later decided to give him back “The Tonight Show” because of his successor Conan O’Brien’s poor ratings -- a result of the show’s lackluster lead-in: “The Jay Leno Show.”

Although President Obama may have the mannerisms of a man older than him, he is still the fortysomething freshman senator who beat out a sixtysomething party favorite in the primary and a seventysomething elder statesman in the election.

And while we are on the issue of economic instability, let’s not forget whose ill-fated decisions led to the current crisis: members of the baby boomer and older generations.

Matt Wirth

Torrance

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We’re seeing the wreckage of the past and we are looking toward those who can process and synthesize news, culture and history into a working thesis that we can all live with, and that’s not usually the province of youth.

Our jittery culture can no longer afford the shallowness of another teenage rites-of-passage story. We’re responding to a working model of an inclusive society and we’re trying to put an end to decades of ageism.

New and different have become tiresome and threatening. We all need something we can count on.

John Thomas Ellis

Kentfield, Calif.

Michael Vick makes them sick

Kudos to Robert Lloyd for not succumbing to a truly repulsive political correctness -- one that has remarkably allowed Michael Vick to suddenly play populist hero simply for serving out his jail time [“The Still-Elusive Michael Vick,” Feb. 2].

Every time I look in the eyes of an abused dog, I can’t help but recall the details of his horrific treatment of the innocent animals -- who undoubtedly looked to Vick and his cronies for love and affection. Instead, they received the worst type of torture and abuse.

How a narrative can be crafted to excuse this behavior, by diluting its graphic details, exemplifies the worst type of PR cynicism. It borders on evil.

John Sokoloff

Van Nuys

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I am deeply sorry that the agony Vick inflicted on the very creatures that may be there to help him if he is ever seriously injured didn’t inspire a more humane review by Robert Lloyd. Yes, there are hints that he is “with the dogs,” but he let Vick off so easily, so gently.

Ruth Benson

Los Angeles

He enjoyed his ‘Carousel’ ride

Your critic downgraded the Reprise production of “Carousel” [“A Wobbly ‘Carousel,’ ” by Daryl H. Miller, Jan. 29] as unfolding “with a stubborn listlessness,” and criticized director Michael Michetti’s approach. I would very much take issue with the review. In 55 years of attending musical theater, I thought this one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had.

The overall presentation was excellent, especially the major singing roles -- particularly Alexandra Silber, whose performance I’d rate as the second best by a female performer I’ve seen (after Mary Martin).

Pete Kossoris

Thousand Oaks