title: How do I get a non-unicode string from the database with Django?
body: <p>Using Django, I'm trying to write a view that compares the submission via a form (<code>request.POST['item']</code>) to whatever is already in the database in that row. </p>
  
  <p>I am using <code>Entry.objects.values_list('item', flat=True)</code>, but that gives me a list of <code>unicode</code> objects which throws off the comparison. </p>
  
  <p>How can I get at these objects as a pure list, without <code>unicode</code>?</p>