Article on Mel Gibson put his career, life in context

A balanced view of Mel Gibson

Thanks for the ecumenical piece on Mel Gibson and the upcoming film “Edge of Darkness” [“The Shadow in His Smile” by Geoff Boucher, Jan. 24]. It was refreshing to read an article that reflected on the totality of Gibson’s career rather than focusing entirely on the nadir of his drunk driving arrest. Tabloid baggage aside, Gibson remains a truly protean force in the world of film, and I think you captured that enigmatic quality that is elusive to most journalists. Kudos on writing a nuanced article as opposed to another tendentious shame piece that paints Gibson as some sort of cartoonish villain.

Stewart Quealy

Temecula

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Why am I insulted to see Mel Gibson on your cover? Is it because I’m half-Jewish?

Is it because he opposed abortion, the use of contraceptives and, as a sanctimonious Christian, fathered seven children in wedlock then another out of?

No -- I think it’s because he built his own church to The Passion of the Mel Gibson, and I’d rather not worship there.

Doretta Zemp

El Segundo

‘Friday Night’ has quiet appeal

Thank you to Neal Gabler for his brilliant piece on “Friday Night Lights” [“A Series Worth Cheering About,” Jan. 24]. I just finished watching the third season and cried buckets. It is indeed heartbreaking. Perhaps [Peter] Berg was right that it was the scheduling of “Friday Night Lights” against “Dancing With the Stars” and “American Idol” that led to low ratings. But I’d say leave the splashes to those shows. “Friday Night Lights’ ” quiet existence is perfect.

Naomi Shim

Los Angeles

Scenery versus technology

Christopher Hawthorne certainly supplies some salient points on the increasing media-grubbing for our attention in public venues [“See the Cityscape Get Screened Out,” Jan. 24].

Our intake of media is fast evolving from a private affair (in-home/car/workplace), to a public, in situ one.

And while the offenses to architecture may be many and varied, Mother Nature is hardly being spared.

While I was resting during a recent bike trek amid the humble yet serene glories of the Sante Fe Dam Recreation Area, a gaggle of teens nearby were hunched raptly over their iPhones blissfully unaware of the snowcapped peaks glistening in the crisp winter sky.

Peter Little

Monrovia

Review seemed pro-Israel

Regarding Jonathan Kirsch’s review of “A Lethal Obsession” by Robert Wistrich [“The Longest Hatred,” Jan. 24], this review seems to take the usual pro-Israel tack that opposition to Israel and its treatment of the indigenous Arab population is simply the product of anti-Semitism.

I had relatives who died at Auschwitz, but I do not accept that what happened in Europe or even historically can justify the policies of a nation that should answer to the same standards of civilized conduct as any other nation.

Erica Hahn

Monrovia