The Effect of Fear

“Group Takes ‘Rising Sun’ Protest Public” (April 7) reads: “A coalition of Asian-Americans is disavowing the movie adaptation of Michael Crichton’s politically charged thriller ‘Rising Sun’ because the producing studio refuses to include a disclaimer asking audiences not to assume ‘all Japanese people are trying to take over America.’ ”

Presumably we can say, “Movies are only fiction” or “We have freedom of expression” to create controversy to sell more newspapers. The Holocaust is a reminder how dangerous it is to reinforce people’s fear--about certain groups of people, race or religion. Will it happen again?

MELVIN SCHAYER

Westhills