Dear Sir

I must confess that I am baffled by Dr Werman's letter. He takes me to task for leaving out of my taxonomy of time-honored psychoanalytic approaches to film the ‘experiential world of the spectator’. He is incorrect in his assertion. The fifth approach in my list of seven is ‘the analysis of spectatorship’. In my explication of this category, I note the ‘heavy emphasis on the perspective of the spectator or audience member’ (pp. 431-432). I think my editorial makes it clear that Dr Werman and I share the view that the experiences of audience members viewing a film are a critically important part of an understanding of that film.

Sincerely
Glen O. Gabbard MD
The Menninger Clinic
PO Box 829
Topeka KS 66601-0829
November 1997