Viva King Kong!

To the Editors:

I must pronounce a blessing on Dino de Laurentiis for allowing an old Kongophile the chance to view the second coming of the King [Oct. 25].

Lindsey Jackson Sherman Oaks, Calif.

It seems to me that with all these "creative geniuses" involved with the movie business, someone could manage to come up with a plot just slightly new or different.

For the past few years, the movies have been remakes and remakes. Are you telling us all the real moviemakers lived in the '30s? I'm beginning to believe it.

Bill Wilson Catonsville, Md.

King Kong is alive and well and playing in the National Football League under many different aliases. He's been doing it for years.

William E. Carsley Chicago

Although I am a student majoring in psychology, I am certain that other TIME readers can discern the psychosexual motives evident in the newly resurrected King Kong.

The way you depicted the upcoming movie is intriguing insofar as it suggests that the libidinous strivings of man may indeed be traced back through the evolutionary process.

Joseph F. Hurley Williamstown, Mass.

Listening to Dino de Laurentiis, one gets the distinct impression that this master of sensationalistic tripe would re-make Michelangelo's David and build it 500 ft. tall if he thought there were a buck to be made. The late Willis O'Brien, who expressively animated the original King Kong, must be turning in his grave.

Jeff Rovin Philadelphia

The new Kong has to be the most lovable monster any Italian ever produced, mechanical or otherwise.

My suggestion is that after gleaning millions of dollars from American moviegoers, the beast be deported to Rome to direct traffic.

John Semple Philadelphia

Couldn't the mandatory female-nipple display have been dispensed with in King Kong?

I hope parents who can't prevent their children from seeing the latest "big bopper" will try to explain that there are more worthy demands to be made of any art form than "Show it!" and that some aspects of human life have more value than their incidental contribution to even the most fantastic box office receipts.

Dave Kersting Milwaukee

It is amazing how much King Kong resembles George Meany. It is no wonder that Meany is such a successful negotiator.

Stephen H. Clouter Bolton, Mass.

Puppet Show

It is not inconceivable that your Africa bureau chief, Lee Griggs, will sooner or later join the long list of journalists who are persona non grata in today's Republic of South Africa for his honest unmasking of "The Transkei Puppet Show" [Oct. 25].

David M. Sibeko Pan-African Congress of Azania Mission to the U.N., New York City

The requirement for an African state to become independent seems to be a bloody revolution instigated by a handful of Marxists. Famine, mass murders and a big mouth at the U.N. will not hurt the cause.

Apparently, orderly progress and the slightest trace of cooperation with South Africa will be enough to ruin the chances for independence. Transkei is indeed fortunate you do not consider it to be independent.

Stefanus F. van Zyl Pretoria

Mechanics of Sex

Miss Kite's unnatural obsession with the clinical mechanics of sex [Oct. 25] leaves me with nothing more than a grimy feeling and a slightly squeamish stomach.

What this poor misguided woman has yet to discover is that if two people really love each other and have entered into a marriage for life, the rest comes naturally. Carole Panaro Brookfield, Wis.

Gee whiz! It's like we were taught as kids ... Excessive abuse of heterosexuality can actually inhibit a woman's normal enjoyment of masturbation.

David P. Armentrout Portland, Ore.

How did we ever manage to get the population we now have without the solutions of the so-called sex experts of today?

Daniel J. Walsh Boston

It is about time a young, intelligent person published some tangible data about sex to counter misconceptions people hold. Congratulations to Ms. Hite. I hope she continues her enlightening work, in the same nonradical manner.

Ann Victor Kenmore, N. Y.

Destroying Hotels

Should your article on Lynyrd Skynyrd [Oct. 18] really have been included in the Music section? It seemed to me that you concentrated more on how members of the band went about destroying hotels than you did on the band's musical talent.

Jill N. Stefansen West Lafayette, Ind.

I was shocked to read the story about the group Lynyrd Skynyrd. They have always been a favorite of mine because their music relayed the message, "I live my life, you live yours--so don't bother me and I won't bother you." Now I see them as just another group of destructive punks and I'm disgusted.

Monica Morgan Bowie, Md.

Big Trouble

There is little joy in the reported conclusion of the Leontief study [Oct. 25] that "world resources can support a growing population well into the 21st century." This hardly alters the situation perceived by both the doomsayers and the realists--that we are in trouble. I am not optimistic that the "extra" 50 or 75 years will be time enough.

Edwin D. Councill Hopewell Junction, N. Y.

Barbaric Institution

It is absolutely inconceivable to me that in a nation claiming to be as civilized and advanced as the U.S., we can allow the re-establishment of that barbaric institution, the death penalty [Oct. 18]. Numerous studies have concluded that the death penalty has virtually no deterrent effect on those in a position to commit capital offenses, but it would appear that the Supreme Court has predicated its decision upon a passage from the Bible: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." What will be next, Saturday Night Live, with Chevy Chase and the execution of the week?

Mark Pearlstein Ann Arbor, Mich.

I tire of reading about all the time being expended to save convicted killers from their deserved fate. If you must talk about appeal, then say something about the impossibility of appeal by the victims lying in their graves.

Harold N. Boyer Philadelphia

What of those who have been put to death for a crime, when we learn afterward that they were, in fact, wrongly executed? Who will carry that weight? Perhaps it should be carried by the proponents of capital punishment.

Beverly J. Walsh Manchester, N.H.

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