Judy Blume, one of the most well-known authors of children's literature and young adult novels, has had her work transformed into a few screen adaptations before. But a modern take on her divisive book, "Forever," recently debuted as a Netflix series, and the interpretation of such a hotly debated novel has garnered critical acclaim.

Why was the novel considered controversial?
Blume released "Forever," a young adult novel about a young woman falling in love for the first time and losing her virginity to her more experienced boyfriend in 1975, and the book was almost immediately "deemed controversial by those who believed it was too sexually explicit for young readers," said Time. Some states even banned the book from schools. 

It never occurred to her at the time that "what I was writing was controversial," Blume said on her website almost 30 years ago. "Much of it grew out of my own feelings and concerns when I was young." Blume wrote "Forever" in the "aftermath of the Pill, in response to her daughter's request for a story in which a teen girl doesn't get punished for having, and enjoying, a sex life — the dominant narrative at the time," said The New York Times. 

Between 1990 and 1999, "Forever" was the seventh most frequently challenged book, according to the American Library Association. It was often flagged for its sexual content and offensive language.

How are people reacting to the Netflix adaptation?
Mara Brock Akil, the creator and showrunner of Netflix's adaptation, takes the seminal coming-of-age story out of suburban New Jersey and reimagines it in 2018 Los Angeles with a primarily Black cast. The show also flips the roles and makes the male protagonist, basketball player Justin, the less experienced of the two, telling much of the story from his perspective. The critical response had been overwhelmingly positive. 

Teen dramas "can be hit or miss," said The Cut. Luckily, "Forever" is a "worthwhile binge that will charm its way into your heart." The show is reminiscent of "late high-school experiences" like the "awkward tenderness of a first romance." The new series is "more than a great teen drama or an adaptation that effectively updates a 50-year-old book," Time said, thanks in part to the perspective expansion. It is "one of TV's best romances, full stop."

News of WeightWatchers, the company that dominated the diet industry for more than six decades, filing for bankruptcy, is "more than just a business story," said Eva Wiseman at The Observer. It's a story about "what happens when dieting goes out of fashion, but being thin remains more important than ever." The company's methods may soon seem like an "archaic throwback," but the weight loss industry isn't going anywhere.

'Comically old-fashioned'
The "most obvious culprit" behind the company's "dramatic change in fortunes" is the rise of Ozempic and similar drugs, which have "transformed" the way we approach weight loss, said Katie Rosseinsky at The Independent. This has "turned the diet industry upside down, and left more traditional brands struggling to keep up."

Some of the advice dished out by the WeightWatchers diet plan now seems "comically old-fashioned," said Zing Tsjeng in The i Paper. Members agreed to adhere to a points-based system under which each food is assigned a score based on its nutritional value. Bananas, for example, "were believed to be too carb-heavy and high-calorie," according to a 1980s diet plan.

This numbers-based approach "did work for some people." A 2017 study published in The Lancet found that 57% of participants lost weight after a 52-week trial of the WeightWatchers program. But for millions of others, it introduced the idea of food as something to be handled "like a radioactive substance."

A 'new wave' of diet culture
WeightWatchers is said to be $1.15 billion in debt, which will be written off as it formulates a plan to pay back its lenders. The company insists it is "here to stay" and its bankruptcy will cause "no impact to members."

The decline of WeightWatchers isn't a "win" for those who rail against our society's slimming obsession, said Glamour. It "marks the dominance of a new wave," where "skinniness is more glorified than ever, and the ways of achieving it feel more in reach for the masses." Diet culture has "armed itself with a syringe" and "no longer needs the henchmen of WeightWatchers."