I think it’s about the green light, too. But I also think that green light, as a fantastical childish desire, is the American dream (and all the problems that entails).

Here are some green American things: Money, Statue of Liberty, a “new” continent (like at the very end of the novel).

Malice is an intentional desire to do something bad. Many beliefs like sexism are not intentional, but are a product of being socialized to think something is normal. We're not conscious of every one of our motivations for all of our actions, especially what we create. This is nothing new in feminist theory.

No, I explicitly said "Writing about an action doesn’t mean you’ve committed that action, of course." So your friend is not a rapist just because she has a rape kink.

Do you think fiction has persuasive power? I mean, do you think that maybe there could be a discourse surrounding a certain topic, and that discourse contains things that are wrong, morally and/or factually? I do. I think that's a huge problem, in fact, with both television, books, news media, and whatever else.

Here's an example. Suppose all those forms of media have a common rhetorical angle that suggests that white people in the USA are the subjects of an ongoing genocide. That pervasive rhetorical angle in various forms of media is sure to influence some (white Americans') belief that they are in fact suffering from an ongoing genocide. This angle can be expressed in fiction, film, online communities, political speeches, news, and anywhere else where there is language.

I think you are right that it is a "you problem," i.e. a problem with the audience. But it's also a creator's problem and a publisher's problem because the author and publisher are also audiences of other expressions of that discourse.

I'm not saying depiction=endorsement—you're right that that would be nonsense. I'm saying writing positively about something bad might indicate a belief that that bad thing is not as bad as it is.

For example: take a writer who consistently portrays women as sexual objects for male MCs, and those women are not characterized in any way other than as sexual objects for masculine pleasure. I think it wouldn't be a stretch to suppose that that writer might be sexist.

Ideology functions differently than Stephen King writing about murder, though.

Writing about an action doesn’t mean you’ve committed that action, of course. But writing about an action that normalizes it or approves of it is different. It has a persuasive power that other forms of writing don’t have as much of.

This is why Stephen King is so criticized for making a teenage gangbang a cathartic moment in It. But in his responses to criticism he still is confused about why he can write about murder and not be criticized.

I’ve not read this book. But, I will say that writers who portray problematic behavior in a realistic situation as if it were admirable might have some problematic beliefs about that kind of situation.

So if you’re getting that vibe, you might be correct. Of course it could surprise you by the end, but maybe not.

I thought so too! It was annoying that they started off talking about “holier than thou” stuff, but it was a fun episode 😊

Not the person you asked, but I try to get wine that is vegan. My goal is to contribute as little as I can to the demand for animal products, and non vegan wine is part of that.

Okay, that’s fair. I’ll edit my reply. Not written after Shakespeare, but not influential on him either.

Yes! The Oxford Annotated is a must. Thank you! I’d actually just conflated NRSV with the Oxford Annotated because that’s the only NRSV I’ve ever had.

KJV was published in 1611 (commissioned in 1605), but Shakespeare died in 1616. Not many of his plays were written after KJV’s publication, but some of them were.

For literary history and cultural reference: King James Version is the one. This was influential in western literature from later Jacobean writers until today.

For readability and scholarly responsibility: New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This is modern enough to be read clearly today.

For a Jewish and historical point of view: Robert Alter’s Hebrew Bible, which also comes in particular books. Tons of notes and interesting interpretations/translations.

And a recommended way of reading: Lots of Christians like to read particular verses of the Bible for spiritual purposes. I’d recommend reading entire books of the Bible for literary purposes. Many of them really are incredible—Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, and 1 and 2 Samuel are a good place to start, and those and Isaiah will give you a lot of reference points for reading the New Testament.