THE AGE OF WOODY

I’m not sure what Kristine McKenna’s ulterior motive was in deconstructing Woody Allen (“This Old Dog’s Tricks Are Getting Tiresome,” Dec. 14), but it certainly wasn’t to explore the merit (or non-merit) of Allen’s films.

She seems to have trouble with Allen’s subject matter--the older man/younger woman relationship--but doesn’t he as well? We all know of the dysfunction in his personal life. He doesn’t come out looking much better in the same situations on film.

I think it’s courageous--and maybe therapeutic--for him to explore his own problems with a large audience, when other filmmakers would hide it from the cameras.

KENT McINTOSH

Pacific Palisades

Here’s something more tired than Woody Allen’s characters dating young women: writers like Kristine McKenna fixating on it to the exclusion of all else in Allen’s “moral universe.”

Only McKenna takes such an extreme overdose of offense, she not only ignores the astonishing creativity of “Deconstructing Harry,” she actually offers a hypothetical comparison between Woody Allen and Joan Rivers. Her rationale: They’re the same age and they’re comedians.

Where does one begin shredding that analogy? Maybe by offering a similar one: John Grisham and Alice Walker are both writers and roughly the same age. Wait, that’s no good . . . Alice Walker has something to say about the world.

The fact is, Woody is dating a pretty, young woman and, for his storytelling purposes, he chose Elisabeth Shue as his object of desire. Ironically, just under McKenna’s column, there’s an interview with the lovely and talented 27-year-old Julie Delpy saying how much she wants to work with . . . Woody Allen.

PETER MEHLMAN

Santa Monica

McKenna’s comparison of Woody Allen to Joan Rivers is way off the mark.

Rivers, who is arguably an occasionally brilliant comic and sometimes good actress, is someone I, age 27, would gladly do love scenes with, naked in bed or otherwise. I find her to be quite attractive, sexy, funny and smart, qualities I consider to be important in matters of both friendship and love. Age is only a variable.

Imagine how Rivers must have felt after reading said article.

ROBB SALOVICH

Los Angeles

I belong to an organization, Actresses@Work, that is dedicated to raising the media’s awareness of women 35 and older, and Woody Allen’s name frequently comes up as a perpetrator of age devaluation regarding females, simply by excluding them as his suitable love interests. It seems someone like Sharon Stone is even too old.

McKenna really nails the issue when she describes Allen’s character choices as abuses of power, potentially destructive and spiritually bankrupt. Enough already!

PENNY PEYSER

Woodland Hills

I agree with McKenna that it is destructive, immoral and generally tacky to promote the idea that once a woman turns 35 she is no longer of use to any man spiritually, sexually or otherwise, and that Woody Allen certainly depicts this sort of behavior in his films.

What McKenna has obviously missed, however, is that no one, especially Allen, is promoting this as a healthy, normal or recommended. In the movie I saw, Allen unapologetically portrays a loathsome, pill-popping, adulterous sex deviant--hardly wrapping himself in the flag as someone to be admired or emulated.

Over his 29 films, Allen has given us a comic mirror of ourselves and our society, making us laugh and think and examine the world we create around us. I always thought this was what a filmmaker, or any artist for that matter, is supposed to do.

RANDALL GREENWALD

West Hollywood

McKenna’s article was very refreshing and I wish The Times had more writers who address social issues and “the bigger picture” in movie reviews. I also find that Allen’s movies are getting very tired as far as his constant relationships with much younger women are concerned.

Instead of forcing us to relive his “problem” in every movie, maybe Allen should try to work on a script where he finally “moves on” into more mature relationships. I surely would find this a lot more interesting. It would also be interesting to see what the actresses concerned have to say about starring in roles opposite Allen.

CORINNA KOEHNENKAMP

Marina del Rey

I’m impressed. Despite the volumes written analyzing the films of Woody Allen, Kristine McKenna managed to sum up the master director’s career in just a few short columns and it all boils down to acute Peter Pan Syndrome.

What McKenna fails to realize is that Woody Allen and the characters he portrays are almost always successful and often artists, attributes that can overcome the physical obstacles of age and waning attractiveness. Ask any college professor over 50 and he’ll tell you that coeds don’t stop making passes at their teachers just because your hair turns gray and the pecs get flabby.

To the real-life Woody Allen, dating young women isn’t even slightly far-fetched, it’s his reality. Woody and his fictional alter-egos date daughter-age women for the same reason a dog will spend all summer lounging on his back in the sun--because he can. Whether it’s morally or politically correct is a question, and only the Woodman and his girls get to answer for themselves.

BILL SWADLEY

Los Angeles

Regarding McKenna’s harsh tirade, I have only one question:

Could it be she auditioned and didn’t get the part? Just asking.

KEITH EVANS

Studio City

When “Mighty Aphrodite” was released, I heard a radio critic blast Allen for using the masked Greek chorus in the film as a gimmick. The critic went on to castigate the director for trying to teach morals to a prostitute. How dare Woody Allen try to teach morals to anyone, this critic cried.

I wonder if the radio critic and McKenna know why Greek actors wore masks. In ancient Greece, an actor who played an unpopular character would often be attacked after a performance by members of the audience. Fortunately, things like that don’t happen today.

HAL WOLKOWITZ

Tarzana