St. Sandra of WeHo

Last week, you may have enjoyed our Best of L.A. issue — if you were lucky enough to find a copy. But few scintillating arguments have broken out in response to our picks for, say, “best old-school chili dog stand” or “best composting class.” Apparently, for once, we have consensus.

Not so when it comes to our Sept. 26 issue, which featured Gene Maddaus' profile of Sandra Fluke (“Sandra Fluke Endured Rush Limbaugh's Attacks. Now She Wants a Seat in the California Senate”).

“Bravo, Sandra Fluke,” Crogan writes. “We women need you!” Ajones34334, though, has a different take: “All this woman talks about is Rush, Rush, Rush! Why is she even being considered for anything? L.A. Weekly seems to get it — good writing here, although Fluke probably can't even tell the author doesn't think she has the cred to be a politician. Learn the issues, work some more; we don't need extremists in our politics.”

“Good article on left-wing-icon-for-15-minutes-in-2012 Sandra Fluke,” Shawn Flanagan agrees. “Lots of luck wooing those nasty conservative voters in the 26th District's South Bay, though, Sandra. And the leftists on the school board wanted to ban chocolate milk? Easier access to abortion; less access to chocolate milk. Got it.“

A Letter to Our Critics

Reader “Robin” was incensed by recent film reviews by Stephanie Zacharek and Amy Nicholson. He writes, “Can't you find critics who don't wring the review they're writing through the lens of their personal suffering? In the case of two of your reviews on Sept. 26, that's exactly what they did, rendering their viewpoints muddied and ineffective.

“In the case of Jimi: All Is By My Side, the genius that was Jimi Hendrix is fully on display. And yes, I can believe that Jimi was on occasion violent, but it was out of his insecurity. The women in his life were not too weak to be around it. But what can you do when connected to someone as ephemeral (and in many ways as childlike) as Jimi was? It reminds me of the old joke, 'What do you call a musician without a girlfriend?' (The answer? 'Homeless.')

“And on to Two Night Stand … . That Amy Nicholson once again throws herself and her neuroses into the review isn't surprising. That she thinks that the screenwriter and director 'can't commit to their cynicism,' however, is. It shows that she doesn't seem to know the tropes of romantic comedy, which doesn't speak well of her as a critic.”

Corrections

Last week's interview with Cristela Alonzo (“My Last Day in L.A.”) misstated the name of Alonzo's new sitcom, Cristela. Our book review (“What the Podiatrist Did”) also incorrectly stated the name of Peter Mehlman's new book, It Won't Always Be This Great. We regret the errors.

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