What you are saying about someone else's code is true, but being able to read code and understand what is going on is a skill that is worth its weight in gold.
Being the one who can dive into someone else's code and sort out the problems or make the needed changes can earn you tons of respect - especially if everyone else saw the code and ran for the hills. (and money in some cases)
I prefer pylons above Django. Simply because it feels less like a framework.