I went and saw it with my elderly grandmother as a young teenage girl growing up in America's heartland. I wouldn't say it dramatically changed my worldview (we were a pretty tolerant, liberal family to begin with!) but it certainly 'affected' me at the time. As an adult I'm sure re-watching it I'd see the schmaltz…

Everybody asking how those kids could take over - did you not see the enormous stockpile of guns & ammo they had in that Ark? Let's say the Ark can remotely disable the power in the 'top of the mountain' (we don't know where these two things are in relation to each other, do we?) then all it takes is a couple dozen…

Ha, it's not the subject matter necessarily, it's the style in which it is written. Something about it just…sucks. For it's time I'm sure it was great but…I think more than a lot of other books that are taught in American high schools, it was uh…kinda just for the people of that era.

People are misunderstanding what I mean. I mean basically what YOU said - that in the UK, people were horrified by that news. Really kind of sad. In America, when we find out our beloved figures are actually horrible people or even just not all that great, a larger (than in Britain) segment of the population reacts…

From what I heard though, she was told to expand upon what was already written RE: Atticus as a young man. That's how To Kill a Mockingbird came to be, right? I haven't read Go Set a Watchman, but I assume the flashbacks that get mentioned in the review contain all the 'good stuff' about Atticus, and that's the stuff…

Ahh, agreed with that as well. Shakespeare has much better plays - and even then, I think it's a bit much to ask an average high schooler to wrestle with that very specific standard of writing & dialog. Like, offer it as suggested reading but insisting kids try to parse out what an ancient playwright meant? Seems…

That's not what I'm talking about - yeah, totally that happens. But what I'm saying is I don't see as much of the "Hehehe. Glad this has happened. Couldn't have happened to a more beloved British character. I am glad that their place as a bastion of goodness is now diminished."

I live in Britain, and they don't really have that same self-culture-loathing that Americans do. (I'm an American who has lived in the UK for the past 5 years, married to a British person and working in exclusively British offices, watching British TV)

It's so weird when people gleefully talk about tearing down "American" icons. Nobody gives a shit about British icons, or Japanese icons. But when you get to see a beloved figure in America get taken down a peg or two, it's like some beautiful thing. Just weird to me.

People are saying that? What Twitter do you follow? Most people I've seen are just saying, "Gee. That's sad. I liked Atticus."

I'd nearly agree with you, but I think Sherlock Holmes & Treasure Island are right up there with the others mentioned as being unimpeachable 'literary legends' that need an update. I guess at least they were different, huh?

There is also "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere" which is going to make me cry every time I hear it now. I feel so incredibly sorry for the entire family, Nick Cave has been one of my favorite musicians & even writers for a long time. As someone else said further down the thread, his music has been the companion piece…

edit: I just realized I don't wanna argue about Kumail Nanjiani at all haha…sorry everyone about your business

Ever since the…incident.

That sounds way classier than what I meant. I was talking about The Gathering of the Juggalos.

why do these lagered up pissheads even care who's there, then? sounds like they'd be better off at the The Gathering.

Kanye West doesn't legitimately think he's a God, either.

Unlike all the humble geniuses that have headlined at Glastonbury through the years

I'll give you that, but I do genuinely think that The Walking Dead does a pretty decent job of employing black actors. Sure, the proportions are wrong - but at least they get closer than say, Girls.

shut up nerd