Values vs. profits

In his mostly admiring account of attempts by Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn to advance his personal values in movies (“Values Weighed Against Profits,” Nov. 25), Patrick Goldstein cites “thin-skinned peers” who worry that such efforts give “cover to conservative critics such as William Bennett and Michael Medved, who’ve made a living bashing liberal Hollywood excess.” In other words, Horn’s otherwise admirable efforts to discourage teenage smoking or gas-guzzling vehicles become suspect because they echo my core contention that movie imagery influences real-world behavior.

Actually, nearly all Americans -- not just curmudgeonly conservatives -- embrace the idea that mass entertainment plays a role in shaping notions of what’s stylish and acceptable.

And by the way, I make my living not just by “bashing liberal Hollywood excess” but also use my daily radio show to target politicians, pundits, educators, corporate heads, clergy, parents, major newspapers and other sources of dishonest and dysfunctional values.

Michael Medved

Seattle