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Back in my first book club, a woman named Carol told me my 'hot takes' were just plot summaries with extra adjectives.
Honestly, I started actually thinking about theme and character motivation after that, so has anyone else had a blunt comment that improved how they talk about books?
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grant4136mo ago
Oh man, Carol wasn't pulling any punches. I got something similar once when I called a character's whole deal "problematic" and a friend just stared at me and said, "Okay, but why though?" Felt like I got caught bluffing on a book report.
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taylor.jessica6mo ago
Remember that time you called a movie "pretentious" and I asked you to explain? You just stared at your popcorn.
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abby_murphy6mo ago
Been there. The popcorn stare is a special kind of dread. You have a strong gut feeling about the movie but the words just vanish. It's like your brain hits a wall. Makes you want to rewind the whole conversation.
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shane1656mo ago
Ever notice how we use words like "problematic" or "pretentious" as a shield? Like @grant413 said, it's a way to sound smart without having to do the work of explaining our gut feeling. I catch myself doing it with music all the time, calling a song "overproduced" just because I don't like the vibe.
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