No love for Rammstein?
The Times published Mikael Wood’s review of Morgan Wallen’s concert [“Live, Back From Brink, Sept. 26], but nothing on Rammstein’s triumphant two-night stand at the Coliseum.
Fans have waited more than 2½ years for the show after two COVID postponements and were not disappointed. The audience was treated to a fantastic performance, unlike anything ever seen in rock music.
Thousands and thousands of fans cheered to a band that mainly sings in German. Other than BTS, I don’t believe there are any other non-English speaking acts that have scaled the same heights that the former East Germans have. That fact alone should have warranted a review.
Next time, maybe?
Mike Villano
Lake Balboa
‘Woman King’ rules
Regarding Carlos De Loera’s online article “Viola Davis responds to #BoycottWomanKing: Story ‘Is Fictionalized. It Has to Be’” [Sept. 20]: The movie “Woman King” is more than a movie. It is a soaring epic, a bite of history, a dose of truth, a dream fulfilled, a beautiful and fearless heroic pinnacle always denied to Black people, a reflection of greatness and valor before the ruin of white dominance.
Women were shown as teachers, comrades, warriors helping and supporting each other, as they did before the divisive culture of capital was forced on them.
The traditional religion of much of West Africa, Ifa, was shown with respect and authenticity, with no apology, and no missionary or imam coming to spoil its profound depth of beauty and spirituality. No dilution of its truth.
When white people made “Braveheart,” “Troy,” “Exodus,” “The Patriot” and the thousands of cowboy movies that colored my childhood and allowed for collective pride and confidence for white people, no one questioned their historical veracity.
But make a movie, an epic to give Black people collective pride and confidence, and you will be discredited. Again.
Mabie Settlage
Los Angeles
Daytime dramas now streaming
A few thoughts on [“Wildest Cliffhanger Yet in Soap’s History,” Sept. 22], Meredith Blake’s article about “Days of Our Lives” migrating to Peacock.
Soap operas were among the earliest shows to move from radio to TV, and this move is likely a bellwether too. In a few years, free broadcast TV is probably going to look a lot different, and all fresh creative content will be streaming or behind a paywall.
My favorite shows have been off the air for a decade now, but at their best, they were like fine repertory theater, drawing on rich writing and acting talent from the theater, giving us glimpses into the lives of characters — their humanity, their joys and sorrows.
Here’s hoping the suits can find the balance between art and commerce in the 21st century, and that the storytellers can find their way back to the heart and soul of these shows — the drama of romance, to be sure, but also the sense of family, community and connectedness, a fascinating topic to explore in life and in fiction.
It’s a feeling encapsulated in the saying my favorite show used to recite every day: “There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own.”
Patrick Erwin
Cathedral City
Ken Burns’ must-see TV
For years now I’ve been spouting an almost-identical version of the phrase Robert Lloyd uses to conclude his spot-on review [“A Chilling Warning to All of Us,” Sept. 19] of Ken Burns’ latest eye-opener, “The U.S. and the Holocaust”: “… the people who most need to see it are the ones least likely to.”
There isn’t much anyone can do to change that reality, because turning on the TV and chaining people to their seats isn’t typically done in this country. However, those who are indeed seeing it can benefit from the results: increased vigilance, personal preparedness, knowing our enemies and facing the scapegoating tendencies of human nature through the ages.
Linda Finn
Marina del Rey
L.A. Metro has problems
Carolina Miranda’s excellent online article [“L.A. Metro Has Problems Besides Crime and Ridership: It’s in the Design,” Sept. 17], correctly identifies design (really programming) flaws of the L.A. Metro subway stations. Many years, actually decades ago, when the subway stations were designed but prior to construction, my firm was involved in a study of the immediate area around the Santa Monica/Vermont station.
We looked at possible development scenarios that could benefit from and be a benefit to the station. The MTA had a policy of no retail and no bathrooms within the stations saying it would be too difficult to manage. Robert Millar, the artist working with our team, proposed a number of small stores together with restrooms as the art component in the street-level station plaza. His argument “there is no Art in an empty plaza.” Needless to say his vision did not come to fruition.
Today, we are in construction on a much-needed affordable housing project that will realize Robert’s vision with retail and food stores around the currently empty plaza.
But it should have happened years ago and should have included stores and restrooms in the below-grade station.
Hank Koning
Santa Monica
#Calendar #letters #Wheres #Rammsteins #L.A #concert #shoutout
