Born to Run

So! Gloria Molina is running for office, again (“Gloria Molina Targets the Boys Club at City Hall,” by Jill Stewart and Jessica P. Ogilvie, Sept. 12). Readers had plenty to say about that.

Writes LuckyM, “The issue of a lack of women on the council is a red herring. She could have run for the open seat in District 9 and won if she was truly interested in having women on the council. This spin is to cover her desire to use the Eastside, like Antonio, for her own selfish needs. “

Andre Leonard proves that just because you read the L.A. Weekly doesn't mean you're not an asshole: “I'm sad to see this termed-out Teletubby trying to muscle in on a City Council seat. … The ruse of gender equality is a sad one to use. We need smart, intelligent people on the council. Not burned-out, termed-out people looking for a safe haven.”

And then there's Downtownbrown, who writes, “Until women dig half the trenches and lay half the hot-tar roofing, they are deluded in thinking they deserve a place in the corridors of power.“

Teletubbies? Hot-tar roofing abilities as a precursor to equal rights? Who are you people??

Stupid Is

Addison Bhuyan of North Hollywood is still talking about Amy Nicholson's review of Forrest Gump (“We Need to Talk About Forrest Gump,” Sept. 5). He writes, “Even King Solomon, the antithesis of a Forrest Gump, asked the age-old question, 'What is the meaning of life?' But in the end, he found no satisfactory answer. Now what could a mentally challenged man possibly say to us?

“The character and the film are one and the same: life seen through the prism of Forrest Gump. He did not make nor try to change the world; he merely tried to live in it — just like most of the billions of people in the world. Like them, he never aspired to greatness. But then, life happened … and destiny, or accidents or fate. What does it matter? Because when the feather floats away at the end, the only question about life that really matters is, 'Did you enjoy it? Did you find happiness?' The rest, as Solomon knew, is philosophical conjecture.”

Color Wars

W. Sanborn of Westwood writes, “A recent issue and also the Sept. 12 Ask a Mexican column refers to Mexicans as brown. That is incorrect and is like saying Americans are white. I am half-Mexican — my mother is Mexican. But we are not brown, nor are millions of Mexicans and other Hispanics.

“Nothing wrong with brown, but blanketing a nationality with it is reductive and racist and again illustrates the let's-put-them-in-a-pigeonhole mindset of too much of the American media.”

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