POWER TO THE PEEPHOLE

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The filmmakers stress that Panther is fiction; some of those who were there see it as flawed fact. "In part, Mario and his father have done a very good job of showing our history," says David Hilliard, former Panther chief of staff. "But the characterization of Bobby Seale being dominant over Huey Newton is certainly a reversal of history. Unfortunately, most of the people in the party leadership who could have helped are on my project." Hilliard, you see, is working with Seale on their own film for Warner Bros. These days Panther adversaries don't have shootouts, they have rival development deals with movie studios.

It's one more proof that sooner or later, in America everything is show biz-fodder for the great infotainment maw of gossip, nostalgia and exploitation. An ad for the movie's sound track announces: "The Panthers had a calling. Now, so do you. Call 1-800-8-panther to win $1,000 instantly in the Panther 'Power to the People' Sweepstakes." As for Horowitz, his potent grievances have been so well publicized that Mario Van Peebles grouses, "He must have a bigger promotion budget than our film does."

As Melvin Van Peebles advises, "The movie is a Rorschach test. Your perception of the past completely colors the way the movie strikes you." No doubt. But in offering the Panthers as idealists and objects of veneration to today's youth, the movie surely stands guilty of criminal naiveta. What's the politically correct term for whitewash? --Reported by Elizabeth L. Bland/New York