Monitor

By MICHAEL QUINN

Since their debut in 1940, cat-and-mouse combatants Tom and Jerry seemed as classic a pair of adversaries as David and Goliath -- only more violent. Yet in their first feature film, which is being released this week, the two put aside their traditional enmity and actually become partners. This is just one more example of a dismaying recent phenomenon: beautiful antagonisms turning into friendships.

RUSSIA VS. THE U.S.: A few years ago, our differences with the Russians poised us on the edge of Armageddon; now we only wish that we could give them more money. Just as the cold war was reflected throughout the culture, this reconciliation may be the model for others.

KLINGONS VS. THE UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS: Certainly, real-life geopolitical circumstances have influenced this conflict. In the original Star Trek, Klingons and the Federation were implacable enemies, with the Klingons and the Federation standing in for the Soviets and the West. Now, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the broad-skulled Klingons and the Federation are pals.

QVC VS. THE HOME SHOPPING NETWORK: The dueling purveyors of zirconia gewgaws announced a merger this month.

THE TERMINATOR VS. SARAH CONNOR: In The Terminator, he comes from the future bent on killing her. In Terminator II, he comes from the future bent on being a father figure for her kid.

SANDINISTAS VS. CONTRAS: It was the last great war of superpower proxies. Now, ex-Sandinistas and ex-contras are fighting together against the elected Nicaraguan government.

REPUBLICANS VS. DEMOCRATS: David Gergen worked for Nixon, Ford and, most prominently, Ronald Reagan. Now he works for the man pledged to undo all the terrible effects of Reaganism.

PATTI DAVIS VS. THE REAGANS: Meanwhile, on the Reagan home front, alliances have shifted as well. Patti, having called Mom a pill-popping child abuser and Dad cruelly distant, now tells Variety that they all get on just fine.