The Bat Mitzvah is a recent addition to Jewish tradition. I believe the first Bat Mitzvah was performed in the 1920s in America and was a pretty radical thing to do. Introducing the Bat Mitzvah ceremony is one aspect of the rather significant division of thought between the Reform/Conservative branch and the Orthodox…

I loved it too. When Paul just can't take one more second of Fundi-Girl's ranting about Earth being 6,000 years old etc. and just smacks her with a massive download of knowledge I just about died laughing. I don't think any other movie has better captured how I feel when dealing with people who refuse to accept proven…

That ... I honestly don't know what to say to that. Why would someone select _that_ image? People make no sense.

"Boob-liette." You are just so ridiculously, perfectly, fantastically _good_ at messing with the English language. I read everything you post because I know I will cackle with admiration and glee at least once. Thank you for sharing your wacky, side-ways brain with us.

Thank you for taking the time to share this very interesting information. I've never been able to travel to Germany and have always been very curious about the impact of WWII. It has always seemed that Germany (well, West Germany until relatively recently) tried very hard to do what they could to take responsibility…

Thank you for taking the time to write such a nuanced reply. I suspect that we have both spent a great deal of time reading the same texts and watching the same films. I can't speak for all of the American educational system, as it's a large country with significant regional differences, but where I went to school…

You're completely right, there is an endless list of horror that we can inflict upon each other. I am quite aware of America's history, and know what it is like to struggle with that history. Knowing that I personally benefit today because of actions my ancestors took is deeply troubling. How to make amends? What…

Something I've been attempting to research lately is how Germany as a country has come to terms with its singularly shameful past. How do young Germans handle it? Do they face judgement when they travel outside of Germany? America and Americans are still struggling with our history of slavery and the following violent…

This works if you don't have a Houdini cat. There are cats in this world that no power on earth can keep inside. I don't know how mine does it, maybe he was part of a kitty cortexiphan experiment and can move through walls. I eventually just gave up and let him outside. He took out the mouse colony in our hedge within…

I was already in awe of this thread, and then ... this. I bow to your internet genius.

Right? I had no idea so many folks had the same love/hate relationship with scary movies. Yay io9!

Thank you! There are so many reasons that io9 is my "day is not complete without reading it" site, but one of the biggest is how readily the writers interact with the readers. Thank you for providing such a vibrant, open community for us odd ducks.

Nope, doesn't get the clothes.

I desperately want to know the whole plot of this movie (I can't bare to watch horror movies). My Google-Fu has failed me. Would anyone take pity and spoil the heck out of me?

I hear you, the Internet has completely warped our brains. The concept of meta feels like something that couldn't have even existed prior to this strange space we've all built.

I think that might be the point ... it wouldn't be nearly as funny if we weren't in on the joke.

Me too!

I took it a bit differently. I didn't see him as a trans woman, but that he was "pretending to be female" because that was the only way he could find acceptance with the Amazons, more akin to a gay man marrying a woman because it was necessary for societal acceptance. However, I am very open to other interpretations…

And then they cast the same actress to play the evil Founder. I kept hoping for a nifty connection.

I may have misread the article, but what I took away from it is that it's decrying xenophobia and pointing to a very troubling level of rejection of physical traits common among Korean people as opposed to pointing out "Look at these wacky Others who do strange things." While the amount of plastic surgery is a much…