The Gladwell article is fabulous (and got a lot more pushback than I expected from people I thought would be sympathetic to it, more in the vein of HOW DARE YOU? than of rational responses). But if I recall -- and I didn't reread it just now to check so correct me if i'm wrong -- the author assumes that Atticus's views represent Harper Lee's views/ he's a mouthpiece for the author. And maybe this was ultimately the case -- not sure how much Lee's concept of Atticus might have changed over the course of writing Mockingbird -- but maybe there was a level she recognized the flawed ideas?

I'm not in a huge hurry to read the book -- I read it at 12 or 13, never had it assigned for school but was aware many people did, perhaps inevitably given my age, was much more interested in Scout than in Atticus's. Never reread it as an adult + honestly can't recall if I ever have seen the movie -- though I was aware it was one of my dad's favorites & he considered Atticus's a model father.