Jesus: The Hype

RE “A Film Is Condemned, Sight Unseen, Yet Again,” by Patrick Goldstein, Aug. 12): Hello? It’s called hype, Mr. Goldstein -- creating a buzz -- and you fell for it like the sucker born every minute.

It’s amazing that Mel Gibson has everyone talking about an unfinished film with a hackneyed plot, no sex and most likely grisly violence. I agree. Let’s have no more unpaid advertising about this film until it opens and then let the audience decide.

Jessica Davis

Sherman Oaks

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IN an ideal world, viewing a film is the most accurate way to judge it. However, when trying to correct Hollywood’s negative portrayal of minorities, sometimes one does not have the luxury to wait for the release of a movie to be able to prevent stereotyping. By the time a movie is completed, it might be too late to undo the damage.

In the case of “The Siege,” many movie critics, including Roger Ebert, agreed with the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ assessment that the movie reinforced negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims. CAIR, the American Muslim community and, in fact, the larger community were correct in condemning the film.

Sabiha F. Khan

Anaheim

Khan is Southern California communications director of CAIR.