LETTER : Teens' thoughts turn to violence

From Mr Christopher Laverty

Sir: What many of the older generation cannot understand about the controversial new film Natural Born Killers is the working of the modern-day youth's mind (leading article, 21 February). What they see on screen is mindless violence with no cause or meaning -a relentless barrage of all things bad: pain, suffering and the taking of life. But what many young people see are their untold desires of vengeance. Once, 30 or 40 years ago, you might have dreamt of putting tacks under the car tyres of a teacher you didn't like; today's teenagers fantasise about blowing the teacher's head off with a double-barrelled shotgun, but they are never really going to do it.

Natural Born Killers gives young people a chance to live out their fantasies through its two main characters, the murderers Mickey and Mallory. They are not real but what they represent is very much real. They convey the demon within the soul of today's society and inside those who wish to indulge in the chance to play out their evil thoughts on screen.

Oliver Stone understands what it is like to be young in the society that previous generations have created for us. He is a 48-year-old man who can lock into feelings he had at half his age and who dares to say what everyone else is thinking.

So, if you want youth to respect society, don't treat us like idiots. Just because we see someone getting shot on the big screen doesn't mean we are going to do it ourselves.

Yours faithfully,

CHRISTOPHER LAVERTY

Amersham, Buckinghamshire