The Kiss Seen Round the World

Re “On Oscar Night, a Kiss Is More Than Just a Kiss,” by Drew Limsky, Commentary, March 28: Lighten up! Adrien Brody’s gesture was the highlight of the show and surely not meant as a diminution of Halle Berry. I choose to believe he would have done the same no matter the presenter’s racial origins or beauty quotient. Please allow the man the exuberance of a moment he earned through hard work and dedication to his craft.

Eloise Harris

Villa Park

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Note to Limsky and to Wilda L. White (letter, Calendar, March 29): Lighten up! In a time of global insanity, a 29-year-old actor winning his first Oscar gets carried away and kisses a beautiful woman in a moment of utter joy and disbelief.

Brody’s embrace did not reduce the innately dignified Berry to the “house squeeze” (Limsky), nor was it an affront to feminism. In fact, Brody’s buss called to mind the iconic Life magazine photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square as a celebration of peace on V-J Day. In light of Brody’s moving speech, we can only hope that the comparison is apt.

Mary Beth Culp

Palos Verdes

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The kiss that Brody gave to Berry was a spontaneous, elegant moment followed by an eloquent statement about the war. The professor got it wrong to believe that Berry (and Jennifer Lopez, by the way) was demeaned by Steve Martin’s crude remarks. The only one demeaned was Martin.

Judith De Simone

Monarch Beach

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Thank you for the humorless article by Limsky. Boy, did it open my eyes. I thought the kiss between Brody and Berry was fun, sexy and spontaneous. Little did I know it was a giant step backward for women’s rights. Where do I pick up my burka?

Catherine

Mims Yamaguchi

La Mirada

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Having missed “the kiss,” I listened to Brody’s backstage remarks and felt a bit queasy. Thanks to Limsky’s analysis, my gut feeling was apparently right on. The entertainment industry reflects rather than transcends our culture.

Lorraine Carpinelli

Huntington Beach