Open letter to Hollywood: Make murderous movies if you will, but lay off the puppy dogs

Dear Hollywood directors, producers and screenwriters:

I write you not as a man of a weak stomach, but as a sucker for sentimentality.

Though hardened against many of life's cruelties, one subject touches a frayed nerve that, though small, has the power to instantly shatter an otherwise stoic front.

In your ever-churning industry of fright, terror, sap and schlock, you may do your worst. Trot out whatever zombies, madmen or flesh-eating creatures of the night you will; I will sit in the dark emotionless, barely batting an eye while my moviegoing neighbors frantically employ outstretched fingers as blinds and sink their nails into distressed …