The vulnerabilities of actors and writers, Geena Davis responds and Kobe Bryant can use a grammar lesson

Actor’s emotions mirror our own

Charles McNulty’s article was brilliant and his theory sound. [Crying, Gushing and Fumbling,” March 7] Never before have I read a piece that gets to the real reason we lap up the excesses of actors’ cinematic emotions: We need them to validate our feelings. It is no small irony that theaters are packed, even as most films fall abysmally short in terms of their quality and depth.

In this age when the “human touch” means fingers on a keyboard, experiencing emotion vicariously has become our only prayer. As conditioned humans our tendency is to minimize our emotions even as they take center stage in our bodies and lives. We want desperately to understand and express them but to do so requires an uncommon and relentless fearlessness. Actors are our mirrors; they provide a safety valve that permits our feelings to overflow at the most appropriate times. It is only fair that their own personal pressures erupt as well.

Carol Surface

Here’s a strong woman’s view

The first line of Reed Johnson’s article about director Kathryn Bigelow [“Redeploying Gender,” Feb. 28] states, “ . . . there are few surer ways to kill off a promising film career than by getting yourself labeled a ‘feminist’ director.”

I wonder if Mr. Johnson can name even a single example of this phenomenon; I can think of no instance where a director has had a promising career, which then ended when they were suspected of believing in or promoting feminism.

If he is referring only to female directors, the sample size is too minuscule to draw any conclusions from, despite Kathryn Bigelow’s much-deserved Oscar win: In a study of the 100 top-grossing films of 2007 just released by Dr. Stacy L. Smith (USC), women made up 2.7% of directors.

On the same page, Betsy Sharkey starts off her companion piece on director James Cameron by saying he is, “ . . . one of the strongest feminist voices in contemporary cinema. . . . “ Does this mean his career is kaput now?

What a tragedy -- to go from making the highest-grossing movie of all-time to unemployable. And all because he likes strong female characters.

Geena Davis

Marina del Rey

Davis is founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Selling out gets set to song

Chris Lee’s article [“Pop Goes Commercial,” March 7] highlights one good reason why the record industry is in the dumps. Today’s mainstream artists have as much integrity as the merchants of colas and wars.

Yes, if you want billboards of yourself put up across the country, as the leader of OK Go says, you may need to play the corporate game.

But musicians and music lovers don’t care about such things. There’s plenty of both still around, people just not buying into this sort of lie.

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Prufrockian

From the Web

Trying to read between the lists

I thought it was appropriate that “The Book of Genesis” (Graphic depictions from all 50 chapters of the first book of the Bible) was No. 10 on the fiction bestseller list, [“Bestsellers,” March 7] but what really gave me a chuckle was that “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide,” (An illustrated, in-depth guide to all things about Percy Jackson and Greek mythology) was No. 10 on the nonfiction bestseller list.

What is the L.A. Times trying to tell us?

Eileen Hamilton

Santa Barbara

R. Crumb’s “The Book of Genesis” is listed in the fiction category on The Times bestsellers list because it is constructed as a story, in a graphic novel format.

“Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide” is a guidebook, which is why it appears under nonfiction.