We watched American Beauty for English class. One of the questions was about whether we sympathized with Lester's character. One of the respondants (is that how ya spell that?) said Lester was a pedophile. Mind you, I am the only 'old' person in the class, so you can imagine the immature points of view in the class. Ok, I'm sure that some are more mature than others, but obviously some have some growing up to do. Hence, my hesitation to responding as I really wanted to. Here is my response, the first one anyway.......

I have to disagree about the pedophile bit. In the strict sense of the word, he is not. A pedophile is someone that looks at a child in a sexual way. Is she a child? To some she would be, and I would say that in most communities today she would be considered a child. There are, however, communities still in our country that don't see it that way. I personally know of more than one couple that were married when the woman was under 18 and the guy was considerably older. It still happens today, and is legal in some states. My point is, it all depends on your point of view.

I had to stop there, that's when I started thinking about the collective maturity level, and I decided that most in the class can't handle my remarks.

I decided to try a more conservative approach...

I disagree about him being a pedophile. Legally in some states a woman can be married at 16, so it's not a question of HER age. The age difference? If that's the case, there's Celine Dion and her manager, Donald Trump and his latest... and don't forget the Dances With Wolves guy, those would be several cases of pedophilia. Lester's pinings are socially unacceptable in most societies today, but she's just too old to label the situation in such a way.

It didn't work though, I still think that any disagreement would be interpreted incorrectly by at least a few. I don't really give a shit, but the point of the class is to learn how to write rhetorical essays, not stir the pot as I would normally do. So, I cancelled that one too. I wouldn't want any of the ladies in the class thinking I'm lusting after them. There are some, I'm sure, that think just as the Angela character does, that every guy is lusting after them. I would not want to reinforce the perception in the least. If the women at school knew what I really thought of them, they would really be pissed off. Well, the ones that put themselves on display anyway. It's kinda disgusting in a way. If they are fat, which pertains to most of them, it's literally disgusting, and I don't think they should be allowed to subject others on campus to such horrid sights. If they aren't, most are even more immature about it, and their entire being projects the fact that they believe every xy chromosome yearns for them. If they only knew how much it turned people off......