Sir, - About 20 years ago I went to see The Exorcist at the Stella Cinema in Rathmines. The audience screamed in terror; and a constant trickle of people left the cinema at various times during the film. I courageously braved out the ordeal, returning another day with my wife to let her partake in the advertised terror. A short time into the film she emerged from under the protection of my coat and we had to leave.
I went to see the same film last Saturday to a full house in the Savoy in O'Connell Street. No one left the cinema. Nobody screamed and people just laughed at the special effects.
I wonder what changes have taken place in people's psyche in 20 years to cause such a radically different response? - Yours, etc., Thomas J. Kinsella,
Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.