On Atticus Finch

I never understood the wailing and teeth gnashing when the second book was published. Perhaps I didn't understand because I never put Atticus Finch on a pedestal. He's a great literary character, but still just a literary character only. Perhaps I never understood because I have never seen the movie though I have read the book three times over the years. Therefore, I was not vexed when the older Atticus went to White Citizens Council meetings and warned against integration. I can see one Atticus and not two Atticuses for I was there in The South in the 50's and 60's. Perhaps Atticus Finch WAS a hypocrite. Weren't most Southern men of his time labeled "liberal" hypocrites? I suspect so.