CREW YOU

TO THE EDITOR: I feel compelled to respond to Grant Cogswell's account of the making of Cthulhu ["The Horror," June 5].

I would first like to address an error that is in the article. Theresa is spelled with an "h" and I was not carrying a box; I was carrying a piece of equipment called a mombo combo stand. It is a steel light stand that weighs about 50 pounds. I lost my footing while stepping up on the wet curb and fell backward with the stand landing on top of me. I find it shady journalism practices for The Stranger not to do a simple fact check. Grant portrays a very romantic idea of me getting on my feet and forging ahead, giving it my all for the film. I just want to say that I had my reasons for forging ahead, but none of those reasons were for Grant, Dan, or the film.

My main issue with Grant's story is that he undermines and misrepresents the Seattle film community and discredits all the wonderful talent that we have here. The reason film in Seattle is not taken seriously is because people hear stories like these. There are so few films made here that when someone is actually given the opportunity to make a film, they rarely realize how much responsibility they have in representing this community as a whole. I myself have played a part in undermining the community by accepting terrible, low-paying jobs like Cthulhu. It consistently keeps the bar low because filmmakers know they can take advantage of people desperate to work for little or even no money.

The only thing in Grant's article that I don't have issue with is his mention of Megan Griffiths and Dayna Hanson. Though he merely describes them as smart and original, they are Renaissance women capable of erasing Cthulhu from Seattle's memory. It may be true that Cthulhu almost killed Grant, but he fails to mention it almost killed all of us on the crew, too.

Theresa

FATAL FLAW

TO GRANT COGSWELL: When I read your article in The Stranger, suddenly your film made sense. I found many similarities between your film and your article: both were overly long and complex with no compelling narrative. You made a reference in your article to the limited appeal of your film. I am a gay man, I enjoy horror films very much, and I was the person booing my lungs out during the closing credits at your 2007 SIFF premiere.

I mean you no ill will. I used to be a fan of your writing, I voted for you when you ran for city council, and I fought the crowds to attend your cinematic debut. While I agree that your film was unsuccessful, I was skeptical to read your implication of Seattle's film industry, or lack thereof, as your film's fatal flaw. As with your article, I think your film needed an editor.

Sam Whiting

THE IMPORTANCE OF KICKING ASS

DEAR EDITOR: I'd like to correct an assumption Eli Sanders makes when he posits the question to Darcy Burner, "With Democrats already controlling both the House and Senate, why haven't the ideas in her plan already been turned into legislation?" ["Darcy Burner Has a Plan," June 5].

The Democrats do not "control" the U.S. Senate. They have a simple majority. To control the Senate, a party must have 60 seats in order to pass veto-proof legislation. Since 2006, the Democratic senators have done what they could working with a Republican Party that was in lockstep with their idiot president. The Republicans have set a record for filibusters in the Senate. This underscores the necessity of kicking the Republicans' asses out in November.

Crabby Abby

BETTER LATE

TO ANNIE WAGNER: I just read your piece "The Feminist Case Against Hillary Clinton" [posted on Slog Dec 11, 2007]. I Googled that exact title because I'm working on the same kind of piece. I appreciated the story, having listened, ad nauseam, to the complaints of Hillary supporters who simply won't acknowledge the elephant in the room. Meaning Bill. And his millions. Your point about the widow who takes over her husband's Senate seat was right on the money.

I have been a feminist since the early '70s, and have worked in government as a women's issues policy developer. In other words, I have some credentials. I just saw a panel discussion on C-SPAN that included Dee Dee Myers and Ellen Malcolm, founder of Emily's List. Much of the commentary from the women in the audience—and those on the panel—was utterly obnoxious, especially Malcolm, who suggested that Obama's most enthusiastic supporters are young men under 30 who hate Hillary (read "women") with "vitriol." Malcolm herself is heiress to an IBM fortune. Do these women have any sense of their reliance on the privilege that their ties to male power have afforded them?

Many thanks for your excellent work.

Terry Ward