And my point is that connection is tenuous on paper and nonexistent in reality. The gang rape happened 10 years before these people were born and it's unlikely the individuals involved have even met. Would you be willing to impugn reputations on this basis if white/male/UVA/fraternity wasn't "the other tribe?"

I have little knowledge of the legal particulars, but it hardly seems fair to these young men to hold them responsible for a completely separate group of people's actions 30 years ago.

Twitter: "We need a comedian with a fresh background and perspective. Also, they've never said anything we disagree with or made any jokes we currently find in poor taste."

Yeah, I think the "decline" narrative that's started to build is way overstated. Anchorman 2 will get a critical re-evaluation at some point, and, even if it doesn't, any trend lines are dependent on just a few films, including the sui generis Casa.

Respect your willingness to acknowledge how your perspective influences your opinion. Wholly reject the comparison. I'd actually say one of Ferrell's strongest attributes is his ability to play absurd characters straight without mugging.

Why does that point matter? How should that affect how we perceive the show? Why should the disclaimer "It's not a huge problem" even be necessary about the casting of an actor who everyone agrees is great? There aren't many Will Fortes; complaining about "yet another straight white everyman" does a disservice both to…

Agreed about the network point. I enjoyed the whole thing, but the first part was so unique that it was a shame to see it end. It'd have been interesting to see how the world would've been explored if it were an HBO series without pressure to hit some broader notes: the tone and pacing of the first 20 minutes reminded…

Right. We're getting Kristen Schaal as the female lead on a network comedy and we're complaining about the "usual" casting choices? "Another white man-child" doesn't exactly give fair service to Forte's character or portrayal, either.

The picture up top looks very white. That's not the Arizona I know!

I agree in general, but think that applies less to pages as densely cited as this one. You can see the direct source for basically every claim it makes.

Yes, agreed. The rest of the post was an attempt to assess the context in which such a sloppy, disingenuous argument ("argument") was made and then endorsed by this reviewer.

Wholeheartedly agree that many schools have inadequate or contradictory policies and that administrations who discourage victims from going to police should be called out. The issue with any administrative involvement in actually judging these cases is that, in the current climate, anything short of expulsions for…

But the body she was addressing weren't "defending rapists." The crime was that some assessed the evidence and considered the possibility the men were innocent. For this, they became rape-loving scum. I don't accept that there's a feminist framework that makes this defensible. Advocating for victims, asking for…

Marcotte called defenders of the Duke players "rape-loving scum" and, as the case was falling apart, wrote of news coverage that she was sick of "listening to how the poor dear lacrosse players at Duke are being persecuted just because they held someone down and f***ed her against her will," and "can't a few white…

Yeah, this was so flagrant that I can't believe the reviewer not only didn't notice but led off with it.

There's a difference between being inconsistent on details and fabricating a story from whole cloth. By all evidence, this is a case of the latter. (The Wikipedia page for the RS article has a well-sourced summary of the aftermath.) I agree about the lack of journalistic standards, but I'm guessing the reporter had an…

I don't think anyone needs the AVC to print a full thinkpiece a day, the writers themselves least of all. This week's been brutal.

It's an odd trio of bands to group together and an odd space to put Angels & Airwaves. I'm not buying that "frequently overwrought with some reference to space" constitutes a genre, and the fan overlap of Mars Volta and Angels & Airwaves is ~zero. Slick sentence, though. I can see why Clayton wanted to include it.

I'm glad we've finally reached a consensus on whether or not this is Bjork's Yeezus. The two days of suspense have been brutal.