More on Movie Gensorship

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

It is quite obvious that Mr. Friedrich has failed to distinguish between a movie which arouses prejudice, and one which, through method of interpretation, offends the arbitrarily imposed moral standards demanded of all pictures by one religion, but in no way attacks or stirs up hatred against this group. To indiscriminately lump the two into one category is both unwarranted and distinctly dangerous. There is a fundamental difference between propagation of hate and a disagreement over moral standards.

In terming the movie 'Oliver Twist' "sensitive and powerful," Mr. Friedrich offers no excuse for not prohibiting such a picture in America. Nor is the fact that Bill Sykes is as villainous as Fagin any reason to deny the poisonous hate expressed in the picture. For it is well-known that the majority group need never fear lest one of its members misbehave; whilst the persecuted minority is always categorized by the behavior of its worst rather than best, members.

Let us continue to prevent the dissemination of hate and prejudice, no matter how "sensitively and powerfully" it be expressed. M. Robert Coles '50