Mail

Y AND Y NOT
Sleepless in Seattle director Nora Ephron describes the Tom Hanks character (#178, July 9) as ''a man in a very attractive way. He is never going to spill his guts or confess in some intimate way to anybody.'' The message is the same one our culture has been sending for generations: Emotional expression is for wimps. Real men shut up. Some of us had hoped that the increasing influence of women in films might pose a challenge to entrenched gender stereotypes. But Ephron shows us that you don't need a Y chromosome to be Clueless in Hollywood. This makes me feel so — whoops. Never mind.
— Drew MacDonald
Los Angeles

So Rita Wilson pretended to be paralyzed to feel more pathetic while doing a scene for Sleepless in Seattle. Funny, I have several paralyzed friends and pathetic is the last word I'd use to describe them. Strong...yes, caring...yes, inspirational...yes!! Pathetic...never!
— Roxanne Walker
Memphis

NEW LOOK
Good work on the new box office chart! The idea of putting in the top 20 and top 10 average per screen was great! And for all your charts, you featured a picture! Keep up this good work!
— Jason Choi
Fond du Lac, Wis.

I've just seen your umpteenth mini-makeover. Enough already! Have you gone completely sidebar crazy? By trying to squeeze quotes, factoids, and other bite-size information into your various sections, you're threatening to make these cluttered ''appetizers'' into your main course. Let your articles and longer reviews be your entree.
— Jeff T. Dick
Davenport, Iowa

Kindly lose the eye-swimmingly teensy print newly added to your media reviews. I read your publication to get pleasure and information, not a headache.
— Hope Wesley Harrison
Philadelphia

ROLE REVERSAL
Regarding your review of House of Cards, I agree that Kathleen Turner made a terrible mistake. Rather than take a subordinate role and play it with meekness and helplessness, she dared to portray a strong woman using her own intelligence to solve her problems. She apparently forgot a central Hollywood tenet: Female actors need to mute their strength lest they be labeled ''strident.'' One can see that reviews like yours will continue to show that questions such as ''Where are all the strong women's roles?'' are purely rhetorical.
— Polly Boid
Olympia, Wash.

'90S NOSTALGIA
The hell with the '80s (''Revenge of the '80s''). Let's bring back those fabulous '90s! Wasn't that a time? Desert Storm. Millie the White House dog. Twin Peaks. thirtysomething. Elvis postage stamps. Rush Limbaugh. Was it really that long ago? How about a '90s revival package tour? Vanilla Ice, Hammer, and Billy Ray Cyrus. Dennis Miller could emcee and sprinkle his act with pop-culture references from this special time in our lives.
— Harry Patterson
Pittsburgh