# Interesting GQ article on the Zimmerman family **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942 "2014-09-30T04:51:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/1 "2014-09-30T04:51:36Z")
Article here [Zimmerman Family Values](http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201410/george-zimmerman-family-values?currentPage=all). I won’t say they are all nuts, but you can definitely see how the branch got bent. > [@](#): > > Soon after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin more than two years ago, George’s loyal family learned that sharing his name meant sharing the blame. It also meant a surreal new life filled with constant paranoia, get- rich-quick schemes, and lots and lots of guns. Amanda Robb meets the Zimmerman family and finds out what it’s like being related to the most hated free man in America ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/2 "2014-09-30T06:44:07Z")
Kinda wished they mentioned that Zimmerman is actually a very common name and not all of them are related to those guys. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/3 "2014-09-30T06:47:11Z")
Opened the article, scrolled down a bit, noticed the sentence “Robert’s ultimate goal was to turn George into a reality-TV star,” and quietly closed the tab. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/4 "2014-09-30T13:06:17Z")
_Da-da-da-dum…Neat Da-da-da-dum…Sweet Da-da-da-dum…Da-da-da-dum…Da-da-da-dum…Loaded to the teeth_ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/5 "2014-09-30T13:22:45Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Kinda wished they mentioned that Zimmerman is actually a very common name and not all of them are related to those guys. Yeah, Bob’s upset about it, I understand. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/6 "2014-09-30T13:24:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > _Da-da-da-dum…Neat > Da-da-da-dum…Sweet > Da-da-da-dum…Da-da-da-dum…Da-da-da-dum…Loaded to the teeth_ I’m deeply, deeply troubled by the very idea of associating the charming, witty, sophisticated members of the Addams Family with the Zimmerman clan, even in song. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/7 "2014-09-30T15:09:29Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Opened the article, scrolled down a bit, noticed the sentence “Robert’s ultimate goal was to turn George into a reality-TV star,” and quietly closed the tab. That was, IMO, a premature decision. The article is pretty interesting. Collectively the Zimmerman family is not a real attractive bunch, but you can definitely see how the ones other than George have been severely tested and badly screwed up by the side effects of what happened. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/8 "2014-09-30T15:36:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That was, IMO, a premature decision. The article is pretty interesting. Collectively the Zimmerman family is not a real attractive bunch, but you can definitely see how the ones other than George have been severely tested and badly screwed up by the side effects of what happened. Amen. It’s a shrewd device the writer employs, comparing the changes in the father to those of Walter White in _Breaking Bad_. Also interesting is that the father (a career Army man) tried to get his kids to keep away from guns. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/9 "2014-09-30T18:14:19Z")
That family is pretty damn paranoid. They spend all that time hiding out and insisting on security but then they went to breakfast every day with all of cable news and nobody recognized them. Seems like they brought paranoia into the situation and that’s what got George to where he is now. Icky folks. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/10 "2014-09-30T18:21:52Z")
Zimmerman is the most hated man in America? I would have gone for Dick Cheney. Maybe should be a poll… ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-gq-article-on-the-zimmerman-family/699942/11 "2014-09-30T19:10:01Z")
I can definitely understand some of their precautions in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. They were receiving death threats and apparently George had a price on his head. I could also understand still wanting to preserve _privacy_ this long after the shooting. But the precautions they still take for _security_ indicate deep-seated paranoia.