I am writing in response to a letter from Christina Powers (Simi Valley Acorn , Aug. 28) who was offended by a character’s anticonservative dialogue in the film “Julie and Julia.”

Christina, it was a character, not a message. Movies are populated by all manner of on-screen personae, including racists, serial killers, liberal fanatics and rightwing nuts. That’s the way filmmakers tell a story.

To suggest that the tone of dialogue be regulated so as not to offend someone somewhere is absurd.

Movies are an artistic statement. The purpose of art is to elevate culture. Your suggestion that the public choose the content of entertainment is misguided.

First, people already have a choice as to what they see and hear in the media. No one is forced to watch a particular TV show, see a movie, listen to a radio station, read a newspaper or view a website if they don’t like it.

More importantly, it should be left to artists to create entertainment, otherwise the quality is reduced to the lowest common denominator.

If in fact the makers of “Julie and Julia” were expressing a personal opinion, deal with it. Generally speaking, those in the creative industries tend to be more liberal in their thinking.

That is a prerogative, not a conspiracy. They are exercising their freedom of expression, one of our most cherished liberties.

There is a plethora of opposing views, the tone of which has become vitriolic. Ms. Powers complains about the hate-speak of what she perceived as a liberal affront, but is silent in regard to the daily caustic diatribes from Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck, to name but a few. Those are real people, not characters in a film.

The reality is that, for the moment, liberals are in the driver’s seat. They were democratically elected by majority vote. That may soon change, then shift back, then shift once again. That’s the way it goes.

The prevailing tone may offend your politics, but to summarily condemn it as oppressive and call for its censure sounds to me like a severe case of sour grapes. Glenn Barry Simi Valley