Letters: Jul. 26, 1999

ALL EYES ON CRUISE AND KIDMAN

“Is Stanley Kubrick’s last film so important that we need to see its stars half-naked on your cover?” BEN MARTIN Roanoke, Va.

Congratulations on that beautiful Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman cover [CINEMA, July 5]. Be not dismayed by the flood of letters you get that will berate you as a purveyor of pornography. People who abhor the sight of beautiful human bodies are possessed by either a dirty mind or envy. GEORGE ZINNEMANN Annapolis, Md.

Are you testing the waters for a merger with the National Enquirer? Why put a naked pair of screen lovers on the cover that has borne the likenesses of truly important world leaders, great scientists, athletes and entrepreneurs? DAVID L. WALLACH Bridgeville, Pa.

Self-righteous Puritans will denounce your cover in the name of family values and decency. But this is how a healthy couple in love show their affection for each other. Since when has it been offensive for a married couple to embrace? CRYSTAL DUEKER Fargo, N.D.

How sad that Hollywood has become the foremost promoter of decadence in American society. MATT C. ABBOTT Chicago

What an absolutely beautiful photograph! Tom’s a hunk; Nicole is lovely; and together they are gorgeous. You’ll probably get lots of complaints, but the cover made shivers run down my spine! PATRICE BINGHAM OFFENHAUSER Reno, Nev.

I would be much happier never knowing about the sex lives of Bill Clinton, Cruise or Kidman. No thanks to Ken Starr or TIME. Please, let’s keep it above the belt for the remainder of this year. DELMER GROSS Sycamore, Ill.

Director Stanley Kubrick was so ahead of his time technically and artistically that he transcended it, becoming as much an oracle as an auteur. With his visions of a hedonistic and machinistic future undeniably at hand, Kubrick bowed out just before things start to really go awry. Kubrick rivaled Freud in his ability to probe our collective unconscious. His final masterpiece, Eyes Wide Shut, is a testament to his creative genius. It is a shame that our culture has become desensitized to violence, while human sexuality is still as taboo as in the days of Adam and Eve. COLIN MCDONALD Waterbury, Conn.

STILL COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE

The subtitle of your story that referred to me, “Why a defender of affirmative action is quitting,” was misleading [DIVIDING LINE, July 5]. I remain committed to affirmative action because it works; it’s fair and vitally necessary if we are to live up to the American ideal of giving every person a fair chance. I was proud to serve as executive director of Americans for a Fair Chance. My departure should not be construed in any way as a change of heart in my steadfast commitment to carry on the fight. Also, it is important to note that anti-affirmative-action initiatives for higher education have won in only two states; that can hardly be called a victory. I plan to continue to work for equal opportunity through affirmative action. RENE REDWOOD Washington

WITCHES IN THE ARMY

Thank you for your balanced story on the rights of Wiccans, who follow a nature-based religion, to practice their beliefs while serving in the U.S. military [RELIGION, July 5]. I was most struck by the ignorance of those who object to Wiccans. The Rev. Jack Harvey, a Baptist minister, says, “We believe they are satanic.” His whole argument–and subsequent letter-writing campaigns and boycotts–stems from a mistaken belief. Contrary to what many think, Wicca, or modern neopagan witchcraft, has nothing to do with Satan. Wiccans practice an ethical, compassionate, earth-centered religion and just want to be left alone like anyone else. STEVEN LOVAAS Fort Collins, Colo.

The ignorance and hatred of the “good” Christians who are so disturbed over Wiccans in the military (or anywhere else) is much more frightening than the Wiccans and their beliefs or rituals. The scary thing is how much they substitute thumping the Bible for thinking, investigating truth and getting to know and love their neighbors. STEVE BRUDNEY Trinidad, Calif.

A SMACK OF RACIAL HUMOR

If a white comic strip depicted blacks using the same heavy-handed racial stereotypes employed by Aaron McGruder, the black creator of The Boondocks [PRESS, July 5], no newspaper in America would print it. The white originator of such a strip would probably be charged with a hate crime. But today minorities can say anything about the majority. Witness Spike Lee, a black, who said he thought N.R.A. president Charlton Heston should be shot. If a white made the same comment about a black, there would be plenty of talk about a hate crime. As a white, I am offended by the racial double standard. Were I a black, I would be offended by the depiction of African Americans as angry, hostile and racist. MICHAEL HOLDEN Chestertown, Md.

The Boondocks is witty and intelligent and speaks to a young but mature crowd of hip-hop enthusiasts who read. It says out loud those things we think about every day as we venture from our cocoons of black urban culture into the mainstream depths of suburbia. I applaud the papers that carry this comic strip. McGruder uses his bold and creative ingenuity to give his readers a voice. He deserves that six-figure contract from Universal Press Syndicate. JAMILA WATKINS Washington

THE KASHMIRI TINDERBOX

There is an important unnoticed facet to the face-off in Kashmir [WORLD, July 12]. Some weeks ago, a Stinger missile shot down a helicopter and killed four of my countrymen. That single incident indicated the radical change in the face of insurgency in the Kashmir valley. Indian soldiers get picked off one by one on the icy uninhabitable slopes in hand-to-hand combat with Afghan fighters. The movement the U.S. nurtured in Afghanistan in the ’80s has turned into a monster that has ventured into several neighboring states. Frankenstein would have appreciated this twist of the tale. A.V. NARASIMHAN Bangalore, India

War in Kashmir would be unthinkable. In hopes that the situation won’t escalate, India and the U.S. had urged Pakistan to withdraw from the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kashmir. Peace is essential. If the Pakistani civil government cannot control its army and the Kashmiri mujahedin, then this is a dangerous situation. India has to be more alert and vigilant. A. JACOB SANAYAM Vellore, India

As a Pakistani, I am shocked at how unaware most of the population here is of the ongoing war between India and Pakistan. The war seems to be a publicized personal battle between the two governments to show off the amount of power each has. In the process, the interests of the people of Kashmir are being overlooked. Neither of the two countries has the right to control Kashmir. The people there should be free and have the right to govern themselves. AYESHA SOOMRO Karachi

REMEMBERING HIROHITO

Your printing a photograph of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) in a military uniform misrepresents Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi’s intent in putting forward his nomination of the late Emperor as Person of the Century [July 5]. The basis for the nomination was the fact that the legacy of the Emperor lives in “the name of the new era of imperial rule, Heisei, which means ‘Achieving Peace.'” In this spirit the people of Japan share the Prime Minister’s hope that the new century will be “one of global peace and prosperity.” AKITAKA SAIKI Deputy press secretary to the Prime Minister Tokyo

BAD COP, GOOD COP

America has been criticized for using military might to enforce international law when necessary, as in the Balkans [KOSOVO CRISIS, June 14]. Such criticisms are informed by extraneous sentiments rather than practical facts. The success of the NATO campaign in the Balkans has proved once more that in the face of a handicapped U.N., the world needs a power like the U.S. to put in check the activities of demonic rulers. Critics of NATO and the U.S. should take a moment to think what would have become of Kuwait at the hand of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and of hundreds of thousands of Albanians in Kosovo were it not for the U.S. Also, if the U.S. had taken a strong position in the early stages of World War II, perhaps the world would not have been plunged into carnage. The world needs a “policeman” like the U.S. KENE ADAAOGU Lagos

COLOR ME STOVETOP

I loved your short item on the fancified names of “summer colors” used in clothing catalogs [NOTEBOOK, June 28]. I went to work one day wearing “butter” (yellow) and “sage” (olive green). I told my co-workers I felt like turkey stuffing, and now they call me “Stovetop”! BILL (“STOVETOP”) LINDEN Chicago