Sensationalism

While I ordinarily find Rachel Abramowitz's prose to be unduly arch, I feel I must defend her against the ridiculous charge of racism leveled at her because of her recent story ["Not a Fair Comparison," Letters, Oct. 26] on Clint Eastwood's new film, "The Changeling." Abramowitz was comparing the sensationalism surrounding the real-life events upon which Eastwood's film is based to the sensationalism surrounding the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and it's a fair comparison. The Simpson case was in the national spotlight for months, as was the case of the missing Collins child.

Yasiel Puig excited a city, electrified Dodger Stadium, spurred record merchandise sales and helped the Dodgers to within two victories of their first World Series in 25 years. He ignited a national debate about how to play baseball the right way. He even lent his name to a rock band called "Puig Destroyer" and a rap song called "Yasiel Puig," which he promptly adopted as his walk-up music. Even with all that, he did not win the National League rookie of the year award on Monday.

The lovely, heartbreaking "Fly Away" benefits from superb performances and a gripping story managed with simplicity and grace by writer-producer-director Janet Grillo. As sensitive and affecting as this mother-daughter drama may be, the film skillfully bypasses its genre's potential pitfalls, opting for intimacy over sensationalism, poignancy over sentimentality. Jeanne (Beth Broderick) is a single mother devoted to the care of her daughter, Mandy (Ashley Rickards), an autistic teenager soothed by repetition — songs, food, phraseology — but prone to uncontrollable outbursts and rages.

YouTube sensation Talia Castellano moved more than 14.5 million viewers with her makeup tutorials and message “to just keep swimming,” as she famously said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in September 2012. The honorary CoverGirl was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, cancer of the nervous system, at only 7 years old. She made bald beautiful when she started posting YouTube videos to express her love of makeup, which she wore in lieu of a wig - Talia hoped to inspire others with her self-confidence.

Headlines with a born-again fatalist view of our future ("Red Hunt . . . Armed for Armageddon") are plain sensationalism. A sad comment. Is this what some in religion and politics hope to bring about? Glenn Nash Los Angeles

Kudos to the production team and the actors for the wonderful CBS TV movie, "Go Toward the Light." The story was touching; it was television at its finest. Our family will continue to support programs such as this which emphasize content and enlightenment over the sensationalism and shallowness that is prevalent in most movies today. John J. Brammer, Covina

Katerine Chalkidou ("Don't Raise Fears -- Quell Them," Letters, Feb. 3) complains about the "sensationalism" of comparing today's real estate prices to those of a year ago, which she feels frightens people into feeling that things are getting "horribly worse every day," with the end result being a recession. I wonder how often Chalkidou, a real estate agent, complained about the sensationalism of reporting on rising prices during the previous few years, before the market's recent turnaround.

The Supreme Court made the right decision in striking down the Washington law that gave grandparents and any other interested party free rein in seeking court-ordered visitation with children (June 6). The courts will always be available to assist in matters of troubled family dynamics and flat-out bad parenting. However, there is no place for a blanket law dictating how extended family members interact with each other. By ignoring the emotionalism and sensationalism of the Troxel case and letting the families work out their own problems, the courts will hopefully keep kids from becoming helpless Ping-Pong balls in messy visitation cases.

A mother's agony over the death of her 18-year-old son: Surely a picture like this does not deserve to be printed on the front page of The Times ("Gunman Kills 2, Injures 4 in Garden Grove," Aug. 31). I am appalled to see this newspaper choosing sensationalism over common decency, shock value over newsworthiness. This photograph adds nothing to the story that it accompanies. Moreover, it is completely distasteful and inappropriate. Perhaps when deciding what photos to pair with your stories, you should consider how you might feel if you were that grieving mother.

In the first sentence of your description of Dashti's background, you tell us that "pictures of Islam's holiest places were on his living room wall and guns were in his bedroom." I can't understand why you feel the need to imply that all Muslims share Dashti's tendencies. As a Muslim student here at Berkeley, I have been asked by many to "explain" his actions. Many innocent people were hurt or killed by Dashti; innocent people will continue to suffer as a result of your prejudice and sensationalism.

They laughed when Leon Botstein became president of Bard College in 1975, at the very idea that a 28-year-old could enliven a venerable New York liberal arts college. They laughed in 1990 when Botstein started the Bard Music Festival, which had the appearance of a vanity operation for his own seemingly dubious ambitions as a conductor. They laughed once more when he became music director of the American Symphony Orchestra 20 years ago, especially after some rocky early performances and scathing reviews.

Syfy is wading back into "Sharknado" infested waters. The cable channel's surprise viral sensation is getting a sequel -- or prequel -- to debut in 2014. "Sharknado," starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, is the latest low-budget science fiction thriller to debut on Syfy, which has been host to such films as "Sharktopus" and "Malibu Shark Attack. " But somehow, the film's absurd premise, about a tornado picking sharks up from the ocean and spinning them above the streets of Los Angeles, bringing serrated death from the skies, caught on with social media.

SAN FRANCISCO - A.J. Ellis' three-run double in the ninth inning lifted the Dodgers to their second victory at AT&T Park in three days, a 4-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. But one player in the Dodgers' clubhouse argued that Ellis' double wasn't the most important hit of game, saying that designation belonged to Yasiel Puig's leadoff single that inning. "He was embarrassed yesterday," the player, who asked not to be identified for publication, said of Puig.

SAN FRANCISCO - Reinstated from the disabled list, Carl Crawford was faced with a new reality Friday. For a day, if not more, he was starting the game on the bench. Crawford was arguably the Dodgers' best offensive player when he went down with a strained left hamstring more than a month ago. But the emergence of Yasiel Puig has changed the dynamics of the Dodgers outfield. Puig figures to be the everyday right fielder for the foreseeable future, leaving Crawford and two other former All-Stars to split time in the other two outfield positions.

There wasn't much room for debate at Dodger Stadium on a recent summer evening. Not among the people who came out early to watch Yasiel Puig take batting practice. Not among those who wore T-shirts with the rookie's name and number. Dodgers fans seemed confident that Puig belongs in the All-Star game. "Are you kidding me?" said Javier Diaz, sitting along the third base line. "The guy is amazing. " No other player in baseball has generated more buzz this summer.

While the rest of the country debates whether Yasiel Puig should be invited to the All-Star game, the fans at Dodger Stadium have already bestowed him with an even more prestigious title. "M-V-Puig!" the announced crowd of 51,037 fans chanted over and over Thursday for a rookie outfielder playing in his 23rd game. Moments earlier, Puig had reached across home plate and pulled a slider by Justin De Fratus into left field, driving in two runs to reverse a one-run deficit, sending the Dodgers to their sixth consecutive victory, a 6-4 decision over the Philadelphia Phillies.

I am shocked, disgusted and totally disappointed by the irresponsible, inflammatory statements issued by Mayor Bradley, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and other so-called leaders of the Los Angeles area regarding the results of the trial of the officers in the King case. These totally irresponsible statements show that these people had already convicted the officers based on the sensationalism of the news coverage. None of these people heard the entire testimony and their public statements after the verdict was announced are totally indefensible.

For a long time I viewed murder on film as a morbid oddity at which you might sneak a look under a sideshow tent. That was until it took someone close to me. Let me assure anyone who's slightly curious that there's nothing remotely glamorous or fascinating about an experience that's so completely cold and devastating as homicide. It bothers me that the American public is so preoccupied with murder. But what's more unsettling are the producers who feign sympathy about "those dreadful days we all shared" as they take their blood money to the bank ("Murder Most Glamorized," by Peter H. Brown, April 2)

After the news broke that actor James Gandolfini had died, media outlets everywhere scrambled to put him, and his beloved character Tony Soprano, into cultural context. But if you wanted to understand the importance of the man and the show, all you had to do was listen to sports radio. Even as the NBA Finals moved toward a thrilling and decisive Game 7, ESPN sportscasters were talking about nothing but Gandolfini's death, reminiscing about "The Sopranos" with the tones of sorrowful obsession usually reserved for the passing of an iconic coach or star athlete.

Alongside Mr. Spock, Archie Bunker and the Fonz, James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano has been absorbed wholesale into the American psyche to rank as one of TV's most indelible icons. In every sense of the term, Gandolfini's mob boss was larger than life: a man of grand appetites, enormous externalized rage and tremendous heart who cast an equally gigantic shadow across popular culture during six seasons on HBO's "The Sopranos" that qualify as some of the finest television ever produced.