The rising debate about violence in the media hasn't yet taken into account a certain kind of violence the media perpetrate.

It's not exactly deadly, of course, but it can still be harmful.

Just ask Calista Flockhart.

"They're awfully fickle, those press people," chuckled the star of TV's "Ally McBeal" and a new film adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

She makes a lot of jokes, in fact, some at her own expense and others' about the absurdly intense media scrutiny of her weight.

But there are serious things to say about her ordeal.

"The exploitation of human beings is astonishing," said the actress, 33. "Yet, you think, why? Is it because we, the public, want it, we want the gossip? I believe we do, but is it also because that's what they're feeding us? What came first? Who knows?"

Romance rumors about Flockhart have been flying recently. A New York tabloid reported she was seeing comedian Ben Stiller the same week a British tab linked her with Sam Mendes, director of the recent acclaimed "Cabaret" stage revival. Flockhart wants to keep her love life private and says that both men are friends.

But concerns about possible anorexia - which the size-2 actress has been denying since they first surfaced after she appeared emaciated at last September's Emmy Awards - won't go away.

Earlier this month, Flockhart canceled an appearance on NBC's "Today" show when it became apparent that they wanted to harp on the weight issue, too.

"Enough is enough," her press representative said, not illogically. Especially when there's so much else worth talking about.

In only its second season on Fox, "Ally" has become one of the most discussed shows on television and a frequent Nielsen Top 20 finisher. The show's mix of comedy and courtroom drama, surreal asides and sexually provocative storylines, poignant character insight and post-feminist incorrectness, have made it both controversial and adored. It's that rare television phenomenon that people tune in to without ever knowing what to expect.

Then there's the star-studded "Midsummer" movie. It marks Flockhart's first post-"Ally" film appearance (she was prominently featured in "The Birdcage" and a few small independents before the TV show hit). It's also a return to her beloved Shakespeare; the Rutgers-trained actress has played Juliet, "King Lear's" Cordelia and "Much Ado About Nothing's" Hero on stage, not to mention classic heroines from Chekhov, Inge and Williams.

In the film, Flockhart plays Helena, a lovelorn woman who gets embroiled in a bizarre love quadrangle with three other young lovers one night in a fairy-infested woods. English actors Anna Friel, Christian Bale and Dominic West play the befuddled fellow romantics Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander.

In other frolics, Kevin Kline plays the ham actor Bottom, Michelle Pfeiffer (who is married to Flockhart's boss, "Ally" creator David E. Kelley) is the fairy queen Titania, "My Best Friend's Wedding's" Rupert Everett plays the resentful fairy king Oberon, and Stanley Tucci is his trouble-making trickster, Puck.

Set in Italy 100 years ago, the movie was filmed on Roman sound stages and in the Tuscan countryside. It wasn't entirely a joyful indulgence of landscapes and verse, however.

"The corsets were fine, unless you wear them 18 hours a day," Flockhart said of the otherwise exquisite Victorian costumes.