Letters to the Editor: Memo to Felicity Huffman: Cheating does not make you a good parent

To the editor: Is it our culture or just the wealthy and the privileged who think that corruption is acceptable behavior? If Felicity Huffman and the other celebrities and wealthy parents did not get caught committing fraud so their children could attend top-tier colleges, would remorse have entered their consciousness? (“William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman tell their side of college admissions scandal,” Sept. 8)

A “good” parent teaches and demonstrates to their children how to be morally and ethically substantial citizens. They help their children develop a strong foundation of self-confidence.

Showing them how to cheat and commit fraudulent acts is the antithesis of being a good parent.

Sheryl Kinne, Van Nuys

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To the editor: I wanted to be sympathetic to Huffman because she admitted guilt, unlike others who have doubled down on their indignation that they would be held accountable for their outrageous and illegal behavior.

However, when I read that she feared for her daughter’s future as an actress because of low math scores, my jaw dropped. Any acting student will tell you, the ability to do math is never mentioned as a prerequisite for becoming an actress.

In fact, most actors I have known — and I’m willing to bet many more people in the Los Angeles area will tell you the same — that math and acting are nearly diametrically opposed. It’s logic versus emotion.

Huffman’s statement smacks of self-serving and desperate grasping at illogical straws to lighten an already light punishment. I was hoping for more, but I see this award-wining actress has forgotten her training to make choices that make sense for the scene and the nature of the character.

June Moriarty, West Hills

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To the editor: Why would a successful actress like Huffman panic because of her daughter’s low math scores on the SAT? More significantly, why would she believe it would hamper her daughter’s dreams of becoming an actress?

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando are a few of the numerous actors who dropped out of high school to become esteemed and exceedingly successful actors, and without the guidance of their parents.

I’m reminded of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s aphorism: “If you’ve never eaten while crying, you don’t know what life tastes like.”

Huffman wanted her daughter to have the easy way out, without the pain that we all must endure with life’s trials and tribulations, which is usually the best acting class that one can experience.

Giuseppe Mirelli, Los Angeles