IRE ON THE ‘LAKE’

Stephen Farber’s commentary on “Swan Lake” is another example of how political correctness threatens to destroy art (“Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’: An Ill-Fated Flight,” June 1). He objects that the ballet depicts the tragedy of homosexuality, not its more positive side. But doesn’t most art depict the tragic aspect of romance, regardless of its participants? Should we revise “Romeo and Juliet” because it no longer offers a realistic example of adolescent love and its options?

And does Farber really believe that coming out in ‘90s isn’t fraught with peril? Intellectuals such as Farber forget that they hold more sophisticated opinions than the general public, a majority of whom, responding to hate-filled efforts from the right, would prefer that all gays end up as tragically as the fateful Prince.

One could say that the angry swans who attack the lovers correspond to a cretinous band of gay-bashers on Saturday night, one of several horrors that await the gay man in this age that Farber finds so much more “enlightened” than Tchaikovsky’s.

NORRIS MANNING

Los Angeles

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Thanks for Farber’s insightful commentary on “Swan Lake.” I agree that most people are going to believe that the production is about homosexuality due to the undeniably homoerotic content.

It is indeed unfortunate that with Matthew Bourne’s inventiveness, he could not have transcended the archaic self-hating idea that love between men is doomed, and have the ending unfold with a much more positive affirmation of love between men.

In this day and age, it is not only sad but socially irresponsible to keep promulgating such ideas.

ROBERT J. TAYLOR

Manhattan Beach

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“Reductive, cliched and highly dubious” are words that describe Farber’s own piece. Beyond this, his analysis is often totally inaccurate. How could the Queen in Bourne’s ballet possibly be described as a “seductive, smothering mother”?

This extraordinary work communicates a lot of truth and maybe some illusions about gay men, men, women and the sexually weak and strong, among other things. That it doesn’t fit Farber’s facile critical agenda doesn’t make it a “throwback.”

SUPERMARKY DE SAGE

CHRIS MAHER

Los Angeles

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Stick to the movies, Mr. Farber. Bourne’s “Swan Lake” is not only an artistic triumph but a bittersweet and beautiful reflection on contemporary attitudes in the real world. It is as creative and insightful as anything we have seen in decades.

RICHARD SNEED

Laguna Beach