Calendar Letters: Lisa Bloom and the Harvey Weinstein scandal

Backlash in Weinstein scandal

With everything going on in the world right now, giving Lisa Bloom so much attention [“The Apologist: Lisa Bloom Faces the Backlash as Harvey Weinstein’s Ex-Adviser,” Oct. 19] on the front page of the Calendar section seems like you were giving her media attention she does not deserve.

This hypocritical woman decided to represent Weinstein when she must have known about his repugnant reputation. She claims in your article that she was not aware of sexual harassment accusations against him, but I find it hard to believe that a lawyer who makes a living defending women who are victims of sexual harassment did not know about Weinstein’s alleged past.

Grace Schwager

Simi Valley

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Bloom owes no apologies, but she deserves a medal. Because she pushed Weinstein to apologize, there has been a literal flood of people coming forward, daring to tell their stories of abuse and assault under the hashtag #METOO. No other such alleged perpetrator has ever apologized or admitted guilt. Her approach shows that she understands the effect of sexual crimes on both the victim and the perpetrator. If a perpetrator apologizes, victims can emotionally heal, and a perp is much less likely to commit a crime again.

Conny Huthsteiner

Encino

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I now see why attorneys get a bad name. It’s hard to believe Bloom could be such a hypocrite. In my eyes, she is the female Harvey Weinstein.

Bob Martinez

Glendale

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Put aside how Bloom had the juice to persuade The Times to award her an above-the-fold photo and a lengthy apology for representing Weinstein. How was she able to speak so freely about what they said to each other? She was his lawyer. I know nothing about lawyer-client privilege in California, but Bloom’s candor is not something any of my ex-clients would appreciate.

John Read

Shaker Heights, Ohio

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Having accepted Weinstein as her client, Bloom should have summoned the courage to stand by her decision, instead of expending her energies on an elaborate and embarrassing scramble to regain her personal feminist pedestal.

Mary Farley

South Pasadena

Focus on conducting, not her outfit, please!

I also was at the L.A. Phil concert conducted by Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla [“An Old Master Is Given New Life at Disney Hall,” Oct. 21]. What is the relevance of the conductor’s outfit, braided hair and flats? Must every female conductor be graded on her looks and outfit? Shouldn’t her musicality alone be the issue

Julia Azrael

Sherman Oaks

‘Sacred Deer’ as Rorschach test

When seeking the meaning of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” [“‘Sacred Deer’: What’s It All About?” Oct. 23], why ask director Yorgos Lanthimos? A Rorschach test is meant to probe the psyche of the viewer, not of the guy who made the inkblots.

Jim Johnson

Whittier

Time for a shower break

Times film critic Kenneth Turan’s wonderful review [“The Shower That Made Folks Bathe Instead,” Oct. 20] of “78/52,” a documentary about the infamous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” leaves out a few details. Saul Bass created and storyboarded that scene, and Clint Eastwood later copied it frame-by-frame for the telephone booth stabbing in his film “Play Misty for Me.”

Mike Salisbury

Ventura

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The review of “78/52” reminds me that in 1960, when we teenagers flocked to the theaters to see the cool, scary new movie “Psycho,” we had an experience that is sadly no longer available. We weren’t going to see a classic film with a famous shower scene. When Janet Leigh stepped into the shower and turned the water on, we had no idea what was going to happen next. That scene had an impact it can’t have today. I came away with a decades-long phobia of shower curtains.

Jeff Cohlberg

Rolling Hills Estates

It made his name, not his fortune

It was so interesting to read Sunday Calendar and get the financial info on “Psycho” [“Horror by the Numbers,” Oct. 15]. It’s amazing that “Hitch” was able to make such a brilliant, groundbreaking film for so little money, and how well remunerated he was.

Interested in how much money the screenwriter, my late husband, Joseph Stefano, made on the movie? Not that it wasn’t the opportunity of a lifetime — it certainly made his name, if not his fortune. His last project had paid him $1,500 per week, so that’s what Hitch paid for 12 weeks, a total of $18,000. As usual, the screenwriter is lowest man on the totem pole.

Marilyn Stefano

Agoura Hills

Small theaters in the spotlight

Wow, a weekly column in The Times focusing on L.A.’s small-theater scene (The 99-Seat Beat). Thank you, from those of us who feel fortunate to live in what is perhaps the world capital of intimate theater. I hope your shining a light on small theaters will help motivate more Angelenos toward patronizing these oftentimes hidden gems.

Bob Lentz

Sylmar

A scandal spawns censorship

Regarding “Ripples of Scandal” [Oct. 17]: The points are so poignant, I read the article twice. The fiberglass sculpture of a daybed at the pinnacle of the “Road to Hollywood” installation at Hollywood & Highland by artist Erika Rothenberg was intended as a place for tourists to daydream.

Allegations of horrible acts against individuals by a powerful man had just come to light (again). The management of Hollywood & Highland deemed the daybed “to be insensitive.” Art gets censored, and it is not about art. The powerful also get to censor to cover things up.

Let the daybed return to its place. Ban the casting couch.

Kristi Golden

Mission Viejo

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Why do you think the artist happened to pick that form of seating? Of course, no one dreams of being sexually exploited in pursuit of their career, but it’s apparently a common enough occurrence that blithely calling it a mistake to perceive the daybed as a casting couch seems naive.

I wish I had seen the installation intact. It sounds like I should still pay it a visit, even if there’s no place to “stretch out and ponder” anymore.

Ed Schlipf

Lancaster

A moving performance

Having seen and loved Steve Martin’s new musical, “Bright Star,” I was shocked when I read Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s snarky review [“A ‘Star’ That’s Not So Bright,” Oct. 23]. Yes, the story ultimately was a bit corny, but the music, lyrics, choreography and staging were all wonderful and emotionally engaging.

Brenda Gant

Glendale

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