‘PLATINO’

Barrios’ article was a disgrace.

If Mexican-Americans are being denied their place in history it isn’t Oliver Stone’s fault. In “Platoon” he depicted a single Vietnam experience--his own experience--and he did so with brutal reality.

If Barrios doesn’t find himself or his people in that film, he should get off his butt and write his own film, and then struggle for 10 years to get it on the screen, the way Stone did. Of course, that might be difficult, as Barrios apparently never served in Vietnam.

No one doubts the courage or patriotism of Mexican-Americans (or Japanese-Americans, or Polish-Americans, or any other Americans). But if Barrios feels it necessary to make an “accurate portrayal,” as he puts it, of the wartime contributions of every ethnic group in America, then by golly he should do so; anything to stop his whining complaints.

One of the charming things about America is that when the audience sits in the dark they don’t give a damn about the ethnic origin of the film maker; if the film is good it does well, if it stinks it goes in the toilet.

Good luck, Mr. Barrios.

BART BRAVERMAN

Los Angeles