I haven’t rewatched Buffy in ages, but it’s interesting that so many people bring up Xander now as newly problematic-seeming (or just discomfiting) in light of Whedon’s horrible behavior, because I always thought that the show was impressively unsparing about Xander being pretty lousy. He’s initially positioned as the…

He’s had one of the more pleasantly surprising second acts of any comedian/actor I can think of. Also, I’ll always appreciate seeing a standup show of his on Netflix maybe 10 years ago, which started with him saying something like, “I know, I know...‘Hey, this isn’t the guy who did the sound effects!’ Well, maybe I…

“I have, however, noticed a lot of things in Buffy that I missed the first dozen times around that really bug me after recent revelations about Joss Whedon, such as things involving Xander that get excused because he’s a “nice guy”.”

One thing that helps me deal with something like Buffy--and this could very well just…

Ravenclaw.  How you doin’?

True! But the world changes constantly, and not every reader/viewer/listener attends to the thing in context. If the thing seems to you infected by the artist’s flaws, then of course there’s no reason you should take it in. My concern is the idea that we’re morally obligated to turn away from the art. We might be…

Snape was abusive toward everyone and an abysmal educator to boot.

It’s because Rowling clearly wants to be seen as a woke feminist but then goes on to spew hate towards trans people so in addition to being hateful she’s also a massive hypocrite.

I can definitely see the Harry Potter books getting the Dahl treatment in 30-40 years (or however long it takes Rowling to die).

Eh, you can quibble over plenty—a monetary system in which 29 Knuts=1 Sickle and 17 Sickles=1 Galleon sounds like a mathematical nightmare—but I still think she manages to make the wizarding world feel very inviting and lived-in.  

Thanks! This was a helpful comment. I felt the same regarding “Ender’s” - it’s hard NOT to see once you know his worldview.

Eric Clapton got shot??

As someone who grew up with the series it’s fascinating how much damage Rowling did to it even before opening her mouth about people of colour and transpeople. The continued forcing of new addons that take away from the original novels, the incessant retconning to deal with plotholes (having the Hogwarts Express in…

Yeah, the Discworld books had a really humane, inquisitive, tolerant perspective that took on all kinds of issues. Small Gods was always my favourite, but Hogfather was a regular seasonal read for me for a good few years. Maybe it’s time to dig out a copy again.

I was basically the ideal age to absolutely adore the books as I graduated high school the year book 7 came out so literally “grew up” with both the characters and the books. They were my first introduction to real online fan spaces and while I’m not one of those people who acts like Harry Potter shaped their entire…

Also Sir Terry seemed to have a much more complex message than TERF Wizard Writer. Like Going Postal is a clear condemnation of companies holding monopolies over utilities because they can basically charge outrageous prices for poor services and Hogfather is an exploration in why kids believing in Santa can be a good…

The first four books/movies were fine and charming. Starting with Year 5, however, things dove right off a cliff. Instead of the world expanding, as the visitors from the other schools during Year 4 promised, the story shrank, with most of Year 7 being a boring slog of an isolated camping trip, culminating in a absurd…

In hindsight, I’m really glad I never got that invested in Harry Potter and just read A Series of Unfortunate Events. I honestly wish that the HP franchise had died in obscurity and people should find other books to read that aren’t the TERF Wizard books.

Aw, man, really sucks to have that spoiled for me. Marvel villains are always so dynamic and compelling.

Please note I say the following as a MASSIVE Bourdain fan, whose original copies of Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour have travelled with me ever since I got them 20 years ago, whether I was living on someone’s couch, in my car, in a homeless shelter, an actual rented or owned residential dwelling, etc.

Sounds like an interesting read. Bourdain was an electric person, when he was on screen it was often hard to look away, but you could tell that he was the kind of person that ground against other people just because of how he was. The acerbic wit never seemed to stop even with people he knew and liked immensely, his…