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Facts not written in stone

I am amazed that director Oliver Stone [“For Oliver Stone, There Is No Backing Down,” July 4] makes so many excellent movies and yet his research for his latest documentary is totally inaccurate. If he wanted to make a documentary about what is really happening in South America, he should have spoken to the people of those countries. Instead of staying in posh hotels and hanging around with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or chewing coca leaves with Bolivia’s Evo Morales and asking them soft questions that mean nothing, he should have asked the people how they feel about losing their human rights, or their freedom of speech or how many of their relatives are in prison because they disagreed with their government’s socialistic direction. He should have asked the Castro brothers how many people have they murdered in the 51 years of socialism under a Marxist-Lenin doctrine instead of asking how they feel about being “pioneers in squaring off against the USA.”

Ramon Fuentevilla

Palos Verdes Estates

Stone shown too much respect

I wonder if a director had made a “documentary” chronicling the economic and human rights abuses of South American dictators, would The Times dedicate a half-page to the director and call the film “genial” as it does for Oliver Stone’s pro-fascist, pseudo-documentary. Of course, Stone’s notoriety may be the excuse for this massive puff piece, but the sneaking admiration and respect Steven Zeitchik slavers on Stone is shameful at best. Stone’s film has the same aim as any terrorist’s, to weaken the resolve of those who would answer tyranny with freedom. His weapon is lies masquerading as truth.

Stone is honest about one thing, though: South American oligarchs are misunderstood by most Americans — they are much, much worse than we imagine, despite their glad-handing with Mr. Stone.

Michael Napoliello

Manhattan Beach

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Excellent article on Oliver Stone. I used to teach Latin American history in the International Baccalaureate program and it was a pleasure to read such a balanced, factually based article. I find this is the exception rather than the rule in most Los Angeles Times profiles.

Jim Downs

Oceanside

A diagnosis of Lindsay Lohan

Regarding the story of Lindsay Lohan revitalizing her career [“Lindsay Lohan’s Inferno,” July 4]: Between her inability to self-edit, being completely driven by impulse, failure to engage in long-term planning and lack of consequence recognition, she sounds like she has ADD or ADHD off the charts.

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noun syndrome

From: latimes.com

Getting the message across

In the best possible scenario, children in the Arab world may now have their eyes opened a bit now that Scholastic Inc. is mass-marketing 80 American children’s books to elementary schools across the Middle East and North Africa. [“A New Chapter: Arabic,” July 4] Maybe, after reading these carefully chosen stories devoid of dogs, magic, dreidels and boys and girls touching, these children will be entertained and even curious. I can only hope that somehow, they are curious enough to become voracious readers who will want to read about people and places beyond their immediate world.

Isn’t this what books are for? While I clearly see the value of making books accessible to children where there are few or none, I lament the willingness of Scholastic to “eliminate anything that could be interpreted as American propaganda.” It is not a stretch to think back to our country in the time of segregation when children’s books never depicted black and white children learning and playing together. Today, most Americans embrace diversity and a respect for ideas. Let’s just hope that the introduction of Western children’s books into Arab culture opens minds and creates dialogue.

Elaine Feuer-Barton

Encinitas