Letter: Oz therapy

Sir: Bernie Wooder, the therapist who recommends watching certain films therapeutically (report, 29 November), seems to have missed the point about the characters in The Wizard of Oz.

The Scarecrow is not "woolly-headed and unintelligent", he is the cleverest of the party. The Tin Man is not "mechanical and going-through-the-motions", he is the one with the deepest feelings and the one most capable of love. The Cowardly Lion is the bravest. If Mr Wooder's hapless patients are going to be "prescribed" this movie, they should be encouraged to see the irony of the story, and to recognise that the famous trio actually have in abundance the very qualities they think they lack.

I doubt whether anyone as simplistic and lacking in perception as Mr Wooder appears to be, should be in charge of other people's psychological problems. I prescribe a course of Crocodile Dundee, in which the last word on those who go to shrinks is spoken: "Haven't they got any mates?"

LYNNE REID BANKS

Beaminster, Dorset