Definitely a product of its time.

Oh no, I’m not talking about Firefly the TV show. I meant the crappy one-off novel by Piers Anthony. Honestly, there are parts of it that read like NAMBLA propaganda. Not even kidding.

Yeah, it astounds me how many people I encounter who are okay with reading the most graphic descriptions of violence and then turn out to be pretty prudish about sexual stuff. Not just the disturbing kinds either. I’m thinking, you know, sex is something that’s natural and a part of everyday life. Graphic murder is…

Okay. To be honest, it’s been quite a while since I read the book. In the film the sexual abuse is pretty blatant though.

But sex abuse victims also do sometimes grow up to have kinks like that. It was basically how they were programmed, and a lot of times they feel guilty about it but it doesn’t change the fact of it. Sexuality is a weird thing in general, and I don’t think it always manifests in ways that are PC or supportive of our…

I came of age in the late 70s and early 80s and knew a lot of King fans who read this book, and I honestly don’t think this scene was all that controversial back then. I recall one woman who read the book even talked about that scene and how much she admired Bev and would’ve done the same thing. Though she also…

Bingo! Well said. And thank you.

I don’t disagree with that. I’m not saying we won’t or shouldn’t handle it delicately. I just think there’s this tendency for people to equate not thinking about or dealing with it in literature or art (or at best always presenting it as obvious exploitation/abuse) as having the only real morally viable position on…

I think she’s hinting without actually saying it that only women can safely present such things because males are inherently perverted and abusive. Double standard du jour.

Well, there was never any chance that scene was going to make it into the movie, which is fine by me. However, I do think we have a tendency to want to filter childhood sexuality through some kind of sanitizing lens that at the very least paints it in idealistic terms and at worst outright desexualizes kids so that we…

Wow, just had to make it racist, didn’t you?

Yeah, I thought of that. So he just happens to be holding it where the tip is a half inch above the floor? Why? That’s not any better.

Yeah, there’s no way that thing could do the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs. No way.

Sorry, but that image with Kylo Ren kneeling on his light saber like it’s an actual sword makes me guffaw. What the crap is that? A light saber would melt that spot in the floor. You couldn’t lean on it. That’s just stupid.

Riiiiiiggghhht. The only people I took any real issue with were the ones who decided to be dicks to me for no good reason. That includes you. Anyway, I’m done with this. I’ve got better things to do than argue with dipshits.

That’s fantastic.

This is the movie I’ve been waiting for all year. I am so geeked for this.

Yeah, except I don’t sound like that at all to anyone with any degree of nuanced understanding of these issues. There’s no comparison between what I said and Rush Limbaugh’s nonsensical weather conspiracies, and the fact that you conflate the two demonstrates exactly my point about how Millennials (and in some cases…

Ah! Thank you!

Yep, you’re a dick too. Discussion over.