On the face of it (and I didn't watch the episode, so I'm going on the same info you are), it sounds like they were trying to engage with the negative aspects respectfully, although maybe not totally succeeding. That doesn't sound so bad to me. I don't think ignoring our worst historical chapters helps anyone - it…

Also, who could possibly argue that there's anything easily dismiss-able about a grown man having sex with a child? That's why it's called "statutory rape" - because a kid isn't old enough to know what they're agreeing to, and can be easily coerced by an adult, especially one in a position of power.

Great link! I hadn't seen that article, but it perfectly encapsulates my frustration with all the armchair quarterbacks who've been talking about how we should've been more diplomatic in pointing out Trump's racism. If you pretend that racism and white supremacy is something less than that, or treat it like it's not…

This sounds excellent, but extremely depressing…not sure that I'll manage to watch it any time soon, but I'm glad it's out there.

One of my favorite I Harth Darths with Obi Wan:

I still think that they would've been much better off mining the existing Star Wars fiction for plotlines than just doing a remake of A New Hope. There were so many good stories in there, and instead it's just all about filling in every possible spot of the back story with prequels. That being said, maybe they can…

I agree - it seems to be the "too big for editors" problem, plus someone buying too much into the media narrative about themselves. People talked about the films as if they were the product of only his genius, and he bought into it…certainly not the first artist to fall into that sort of trap.

Some of the people I knew in college transitioned through places like that in between college and being more grown-up grown ups. Of course, most of them were engineering students, so things were generally pretty sound, construction-wise, but they did throw pretty big parties there, because hey, the place used to be a…

Austenland

The Forever War is a definite classic of sci fi - highly recommend. And, it's not exactly cheerful, given that a lot of the themes stem from the author's experiences returning to the US from the Vietnam War, but it ends on a hopeful note for humanity, so that's something, right?

But it started before the prequels - the moment he started all his CGI tinkering with the original he demonstrated a total disconnect with his fan base.

Just because the popular vote isn't how the election is decided doesn't change the fact that more Americans voted for Hillary than for Trump. Sure, that and a nickel will get you 5 cents, but the popular vote *exists*, it just didn't change things, because not all of those people lived in the right states and our …

A friend of mine actually did get to rewatch the Star Wars movies with fresh eyes (including re-learning that Vader was Luke's father), but that was because he had amnesia following a really severe head injury. As he describes it, he spent a couple weeks of his recovery watching nothing but awesome movies, because…

"I'm going to make a movie about how an innocent kid turns into the galaxy's greatest monster and kills off all the jedi."
"So, sort of a gritty, more adult thing than the original trilogy?"
"No, these are kid movies!"

I think my least favorite is one that my school bus driver liked to play - Dominic the Donkey. That one was godawful.

That's why I was so disappointed that they took out the Native American themes (and the Native American character) from The True Meaning of Smekday when they adapted it into the movie Home.

They get marginalized in our pop culture so much of the time, it puts a lot more pressure on the few cases of mass market representation that exist. I think they'll do right by it, if they appreciated Alexie's work enough to want to adapt it in the first place (I hope!).

Some swears, and some "sexual language", although nothing that every 14 year old hasn't already heard. And, almost certainly language that appears in a bunch of other books that no one took issue with. Mostly, for making white people feel uncomfortable.

I was thinking he had to be one of the teachers, but you're right - I'd forgotten about the coach (it's been a few years since I read this one).

So, I'm assuming he's playing a teacher, then? Those are the only white, adult characters I remember there being in the book. I hope to god they don't whitewash the casting.