My book club's debate about 'The Great Gatsby' got hijacked by a guy who only read the SparkNotes

We were about 20 minutes into our usual monthly chat, and I was arguing that Daisy was more trapped than cruel. Then my friend's husband, Mike, who was just there for the pizza, chimed in with, 'But the green light is obviously about money, right?' He admitted he'd only read the online summary. It was so absurd it made us all stop and actually question why we were taking our own interpretations so seriously. Has your group ever had a wildcard member derail a discussion in a weirdly helpful way?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey_ward512mo ago

Subtitles are just suggestions" is a wild take.

xena_rivera638d ago

My buddy Joe tried that subtitle trick during a marathon of old kung fu movies. We were watching Enter the Dragon and he swore the translation was wrong because he "read the subtitles wrong" and thought Bruce Lee said something about nachos. I told him flat out, "Dude, subtitles are not a choose-your-own-adventure book." If you go that route, at least pause and read them carefully before blurting out nonsense. Saves a lot of awkward silence and arguments.

harper_murphy2mo ago

That "only read the online summary" move is a classic. My cousin once ended a whole film debate by admitting he thought the subtitles were just suggestions.