TikTok Teens Are Using "Rotten Tomatoes" Scores to Cancel Classic Literature—And It’s Rotting Our Cultural Fabric
A disturbing new trend is sweeping through high schools and college campuses, where Gen Z critics are applying the "Rotten Tomatoes" metric to classic novels like *To Kill a Mockingbird*, *1984*, and *The Great Gatsby*, then demanding their removal from curriculums if they fail to score above 80%. Educators report that students are now rating literary masterpieces based on subjective emotional reactions, citing "problematic themes" and "slow pacing" as grounds for cancellation. One viral video dubbed *Moby Dick* "a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes" for its "obsession with a whale," sparking widespread calls to ban the "toxic" text. Moral critics warn this anti-intellectual crusade signals the death of nuance and the rise of a society that judges art by clickbait reviews rather than timeless value. The result? A generation that trades depth for dopamine, leaving our shared cultural heritage rotting on the vine.