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I get there are workarounds like piracy and buying second-hand, but also boycotting a book-series and some merch shouldn’t be that hard surely?
Yeah. There’s a lot of literature. Don’t have to marry this one. When Gaiman was found to be a creep, I gave up some of my favorites. And yet there is still more to fill the gap.
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Just don’t pay for it and be done with it.
Enjoy Harry Potter, just don’t give money to scumbag author.
Read some genuinely good fiction? What do you like about them? I guarantee theres better books for that.
As someone who did grow up with the series but doesn’t interact with it anymore, I’m gonna tell you that not everyone needs things to be good.
It doesn’t have to be good for you to enjoy it. Fanfiction alone wouldn’t exist if it had to be good.
I don’t understand this the same way I don’t understand burning books you already own. It’s performative but it doesn’t show any actual thought.
Lack of thought is part of the problem.
I’m not even saying she’s not a terrible person (she’s a self righteous harpy who I do believe is doing actual harm). The books weren’t great but they were okay. But like. At the same time people read for a plethora of reasons and I don’t think it’s fair to be like “it’s not good so you shouldn’t enjoy it”. People are allowed to enjoy things. They don’t have to be good.
There are plenty of reasons to avoid her books without crapping on people’s personal tastes.
Its not the books that are problem. Its the weird self gratification unchallenge cuddle-treats uncritical or even anti-critical consumption of media thats the problem.
I can agree with that up to a point.
But that’s about the psychology of human nature, how it forms memories and attached feelings to them as much as anything else.
That’s pretty much why people feel like they are personally being attacked when you ask them to avoid something that is now seen as problematic. Lots of authors (even childrens book authors) dumb down themes and use tropes that are well known on media to make broad strokes for their audience who don’t at that time understand nuance.
That’s a lot of the “controversy” that comes up around books like the red wall series. Some people think the books are sexist, classist, and possibly racist and I can see their points. At the same time there’s an argument to be made for dumbing down certain themes, removing nuance from them so that they are more palatable to a younger audience.
Either way that’s not really what you mean. I am not trying to take away from what you said. There are plenty of fans who have been critical of Harry Potter as a media franchise for various reasons including sexism, classism, racism and the allegories associated with each as they come up in the story. Accusing HP fans of not being able to do that is a bit disingenuous because they have been taking these books and movies apart to the bedrock for quite some time now.
What I think you mean is that you want them to be critical of why they enjoy the series so that they can do some introspection in order to part with it, but I’m not sure you understand exactly what you’re asking for. There are people who owe their sanity (something they almost lost to the lowest points in their lives) to HP and books like it. The escapism is important for a lot of children who are in dark places.
If the person in that comic had used HP to get them through childhood rape or other abuse, wouldn’t that make a lot of sense as to why they react that way to other people who don’t know them or their trauma trying to take that away from them?
No this is not me saying that because they have trauma they are allowed to inflict trauma on others.
I look at it this way. The way we inform people and talk to people matters. Treating people like our adversaries makes them defensive and less likely to do what we are asking.
Or, maybe, look at those books with critical eyes for the first time in your life, and realise how shit it is, and how much it is littered with awful terrible takes. And read another book maybe.
how can people enjoy shit made by absolute hags?
like, if you have standards, and you should, that ought to make said products gross, because it really fucking does.
there’s so much more to this world than this one shitty, played out franchise, just move on in life people ffs
I dont see a prpblem with it as long as you dont pay them. Some of gaiman’s stuff was genuinely good.
The problem is making it your identity. Consuming uncritically. Worshipping. Not reading any other kinds of shit.
enjoy your terfy garbage
No i dont read absolute trash. I think as a kid i stopped reading after they made a pro slavery charicature.
I think as a kid i stopped reading after they made a pro slavery charicature.
I’m confused by someone who knows it’s racist garbage, but still advocates consuming racist garbage. bone apple teat
The problem isnt that the author is a fascist monster livint in a castle full of nazis and absolutely no glorious robot body with machine gun hands that rumor is totally unsubstantiated.
Many talented authors were pieces of shit. Yukio mishima killed himself because the emperor of japan wasnt fascist enough fir him, but god damn could that deranged piece of shit write beautiful prose.
The problem is that the books are trash and people have fucking insane relationships to them.
Disliking a chefs dish based on their political stance or personal opinion no matter how wrong isnt going to solve anything about it, just a giant waste of energy
lol, keep telling yourself whatever lies you need to stay happy.
but if you had a shred of decency in you, you’d know better already.
Sure, but it’s reasonable to stop going to the restaurant because of the chef’s political stance or personal opinion.
Richard Wagner was a bigtime nazi who wrote some of the best classical music ever.
And apparently Gene Roddenberry wasn’t an entirely perfect human being either.
ride of the Valkyries is shite and if you think it’s great, that’s prob your inner der fuhrer trying to drive the bus.
Wagner died in 1883. like 50 years before the rise of the Nazis in Germany.
You’ve got it backwards. Nazis were a big fan of his music.
3D print your own merch
I personally feel that it’s perfectly fine to boycott problematic figures. Speech has real effects and should be treated like it.
But once you accept the equivalence of speech/reading and violence you can start choosing to regulate speech/reading as violence, or free up violence as speech. I don’t think either is a great idea. Do you think that any of you have never said something hurtful to others? Should you be jailed for it?
I await all the civil and non-hurtful replies from peaceful and sympathetic people I am likely to garner for this stance.
I await all the civil and non-hurtful replies from peaceful and sympathetic people I am likely to garner for this stance.
You are a
greatperson Iagreewith you and hope youliveThanks, stranger. I hope you live and are happy even if we someday come to disagree on some things. You are more important to me than almost any disagreement.
I know its a hyperbolic example (though entirely possible in the context you describe)
What would be your thoughts on speech that had the effectual equivalent of murder?
There’s no traps here im just interested in the thought process behind the context you provided.
Side note: if verbal violence is possible then it would probably track that there are degrees of violence, much like the physical equivalent.
If that’s true the argument that you shouldn’t regulate subjectively heavy violence because “who here hasn’t physically hurt someone?” Isn’t a reasonable as it sounds at first glance.
For the record, Rowling is a shitbag, the potter books are mediocre and the actors were the best thing about the movies.
None of that bias is in the foundation of my questions though.
Speech equivalent to murder? Well calls to violence, or criminal conspiracy are crimes. But that’s kind of a cop-out because they lead to eventual killing via non-speech means.
Actual murder via speech would be… stuff like shouting fire in a crowded movie theater. (This is also already a crime.)
I used effectual equivalent for a reason.
I did say it was somewhat hyperbolous but there are real life examples that are possible.
Something like extended bullying directly leading to suicide, lies with the intention of causing harm or death.
Calls to violence that lead to deaths that otherwise wouldn’t likely happen is a good example of one that can be technically correct but difficult to prove.
Intentionally telling someone a door leads to safety when it actually leads to a spike pit is effectually the same as stabbing them yourself.
Are those examples good enough for an answer?
Im looking for how the idea holds up at the logical extreme so I can understand the bounds of the theoretical context.
There doesn’t have to be a good answer either, some ideas only work in a limited boundary and break down at the extremes.
I know this is a bit of an extreme example. Leaving an abusive spouse leads to suicides. You can’t blanket assign responsibility in all cases. It needs to be reasonable.
In cases of targeted harassment, sure. I think cases like that have gone to trial.
But if seeing someone walk into a book signing by a woman with regressive views on trans related stuff tips someone over the edge to suicide I don’t feel that’s reasonably assignable blame. Seeing J.K.Rowling succeed is such a minor thing compared to the child raping cannibal cults we have running things. It just does not even register.
Calls to violence are outright crimes where I live, whether any violence occurs or not. I think you might get a lighter sentence if nothing happens, not sure. Just like you don’t get off with no charges if you shoot at someone and miss.
Shitting on people for enjoying something isn’t good praxis, folks. Be mad at the system, not the victims of it.
Theres also a massive distinction between consuming something necessary/important, vs consuming something 100% optional.
Harry Potter isnt food, shelter, or any other kind of critical necessity.
Theres literally countless better alternatives to Harry Potter media you can choose to consume from that doesnt directly put money straight into the pocket of someone actively funding direct harm
This isn’t multiple layers of washing here, that money basically goes straight towards actively harming minority groups.
Its not even a good fucking book, and I used to be a fan of it as a kid, but I went back and read my old books and… it just fuckin sucks dawg, its not good lol.
Go pick like, any other fandom at least.
There being no ethical consumption under capitalism doesn’t absolve you from trying.
Thanks for being the voice of reason. Wish more people could see things this way because I really hate when people start whining about my blood diamonds collection. I just like shinny shit, let me enjoy it ffs.
Wow. Nailed it.
How utterly disingenuous to compare a fucking childrens book series to blood diamonds.
I know :)
Although, both are unnessential and both enrich awful ppl so…
Also, according to the logic on the meme you shared, its wrong to critizise ppl who buy diamonds because we should let them enjoy them.
Also also, critizising someone for economically supporting awfull ppl by buying their shit is not stopping them from enjoying said shit. Nobody is taking away their stuff, they can ignore us. However asking ppl to stay silent in the name of someones enjoyment is an attempt to make us give away our freedom to express our opinion.
Also, also also, What if I like critizising them? Let me enjoy it goddamn it!
Apples to oranges buddy but you clearly aren’t here in good faith, so, get fucked. I’ll not entertain you.
No u
Yeah, let JK Rowling do the entertaining, it was kind of her job.
In February 2023, Rowling participated in the podcast The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, hosted by former Westboro Baptist Church member Megan Phelps-Roper and produced by Bari Weiss’s The Free Press. The show purported to add more nuance to the controversy surrounding Rowling, but in practice it mostly served as another pulpit for the author. Part of the draw was that Rowling gave a forthright interview on her beliefs about trans people for the first time. “I believe, absolutely, that there is something dangerous about this movement and that it must be challenged,” she said.
She then compared trans people to Death Eaters, the evil collective in the Harry Potter books that are often read as a Nazi analogue. “Some of you have not understood the books. The Death Eaters claimed, ‘We have been made to live in secret, and now is our time, and any who stand in our way must be destroyed. If you disagree with us, you must die,’” Rowling said. “They demonized and dehumanized those who were not like them.”
“I am fighting what I see as a powerful, insidious, misogynistic movement that has gained huge purchase in very influential areas of society,” Rowling continued. “I do not see this particular movement as either benign or powerless, so I’m afraid I stand with the women who are fighting to be heard against threats of loss of livelihood and threats to their safety.”
https://www.thecut.com/2025/06/heres-what-j-k-rowling-has-really-said-about-trans-people.html
We can all laugh at the pure fiction she invents, and quietly ignore how the money we give her affects the world around us.
No matter what you purchase under capitalism, you are supporting bigotry and oppression to some degree. There is no escaping it. So instead of arguing about the arbitrary line at which the degree of separation is far enough removed before you can enjoy something without guilt, maybe start talking about actually dismantling the system that allows them to oppress others to begin with?
https://slrpnk.net/comment/21718703
I’m a little confused why you suddenly want to start drawing lines about what’s ethical.
You can steal all media Harry Potter, not finance insane bigotry and save money, too!
“No ethical consumption under capitalism” is true, but there’s degrees to that truth and you can still make choices.
Pirating is still consumption. I never made an argument against it. And there are plenty of perspectives (none that I personally agree with) that will argue that pirating media is unethical. Also, not everyone can pirate things, not everyone is that tech savvy to not get caught, and denying themselves simple comforts does nothing to stop the system from being what it is. Also, not everything can be pirated in the case of physical objects for people who want to indulge in a fandom.
No matter what you purchase under capitalism, you are supporting bigotry and oppression to some degree. There is no escaping it. So instead of arguing about the arbitrary line at which the degree of separation is far enough removed before you can enjoy something without guilt, maybe start talking about actually dismantling the system that allows them to oppress others to begin with?
Idk your situation but if you support harry potter after all the heinous shit jk has said she has and will do we are not and never will be friends, you are voting with your dollars to hurt people.
I havent paid a single cent to HP franchise in ages. But I still find books cool. Should I disregard quality/fun aspect of something even if creator of that thing is a POS and I havent gave them any money in a very long time?
You can’t easily change what you enjoy, I would take what you like from it and explore other similar properties. If hp is something that has special meaning to you i get it, I would just hope you don’t support the creator.
Ya, tons of people did with Neil Gaiman.
You can like and enjoy the Harry Potter fictional setting without supporting JK and her TERF bullshit. They are two separate things.
“Voting with your dollar” is a shortsighted reaction. You fail to understand the meaning behind “no ethical consumption under capitalism”. It doesn’t matter where you spend your dollars, it is inevitably supporting bigotry and oppression because of the simple fact that every sale is being profited off of by the owning-class and the e.pirialost system.
Or did you forget that our taxes are currently funding Israel’s genocide?
Again, be mad at the system, not the victims of it.
To be clear i hate the system I’m stuck in, and had i the power to stop the genocide i would, in the meantime I’m telling you she has stated unequivocally that all the money she makes off the harry potter series will be put into her organization that is on a crusade to eliminate trans people. If you give her money by buying merch, watching her show, drawing fanart even, you are giving her attention and that can lead to others saying oh it’s okay to like this thing and that gets her more power money and influence. There is no ethical consumption but this is a hard line I will not intentionally consume something that has a direct line to hurting people, saying it’s impossible to do good is a fucking weak excuse to not try.
Again, you’re missing the point. Just completely and blatantly missing the point.
No one is handing money directly to JK. She is receiving money through a convoluted system of private ownership that enables her to demand royalty payments for the usage of the Harry Potter universe. She is making money off the back of other people just wanting to make their own art and works of this fictional universe.
Through your logic, there is literally not a single thing you can purchase that cannot be directly traced through our system of economics to funding or supporting something atrocious. That is the entire meaning behind “no ethical consumption under capitalism”. You literally cannot escape it unless you abstain entirely from utilizing the capitalist system.
Yet I’m sure you still purchase things. Because you choose for yourself which things to justify and which things not to based on your own arbitrary standards you set for yourself.
Let other people do the same for themselves and quit shaming them because their arbitrary line doesn’t fall where yours does.
Be mad at the system that enables bigots to consolidate power and profit off of other people and the things they enjoy.
So instead of telling people they shouldn’t directly give money to bigots i should just be angry at capitalism in general because it enables bigots.
No.
There is a new show because people asked for it, it’s gonna make her money because there will be new merch, subscription money, and renewed interest in the books from new people exposed to the show.
It isn’t a magic money machine it’s the market and people saying let people enjoy things are enabling others to think that this new batch of terf powered hog wash is acceptable and it will make the lives of an already marginalized group harder.
Can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink.
Continue to be mad at victims of the system. That’ll surely show 'em.
You’re telling me to be mad at the system I’m stuck in rather than ask people to not financially support hate speech.
If circlejerking in hufflepuff, magical creature slavery and using magic to disappear your poop is that important to you I can’t help.
You are so convinced you are correct that it genuinely makes me wonder why you posted an opinion.
Whataboutism
They are not even good, why is everyone crazy about these books?
Because the US (I guess the UK as well) is full of adults who haven’t read a single book since HP. It’s their only reference point.
They are easy to read and were some people’s introduction to fantasy/fiction (not everything is as dull as school assignments) and a set of shared experiences growing up.
Even when the books were written I found even the concept pretty stupid. “You need a wand to do magic” 🤷♂️ “We can teleport but you have to use a train to get to school” 🤦♂️ And the story is a ripoff of too many previous stories.
World building was shit. New stuff was being added in later books that, if it existed in early books, would have made the story so different.
The consistency isn’t really the selling point, yeah. What made the books any good was the kind of whimsy of being suddenly thrown into a weird magical word that didn’t follow any understandable logic and was full of cool stuff and mysteries. That’s a great hook for kids! The first three books do that pretty well. After that…
Childhood nostalgia I guess.
I am too old to have any for this series, but still even if I did, I don’t understand why you can’t drop it. I realise plenty of the things I liked in my childhood was commercialised nonsense, and I have no desire to keep revisiting it.
Same fucking reason why Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters and many other old good media is still popular today. Nostalgia.
I agree. I wish I could understand.
Then I remember that stuff like Twilight makes it into best selling territory and I give up trying to understand.
They came out at peak millennial, at the intersection of shared cultural experiences and early social media. Before the internet a book wouldn’t go global like HP did, and after algorithmic feeds there haven’t really been cultural experiences shared so broadly.
I have the same one talk over and over with my wife. No other author gets that much slack from their fanbase.
“But its such great storytelling”
its not. Its mediocre and needs time travel to work.
It’s like the inverse of Liking Something Before It Was Cool. I never liked this problematic thing even when it was cool.
its not. Its mediocre and needs time travel to work.
This mentality misses the point, IMO. Even if the Harry Potter books were written in such a way that made even the staunchest critic go, “Wow, these books rival the works of of J.R.R. Tolkien and Shakespeare,” that should have zero bearing on whether or not any given individual makes the decision to boycott an author’s work on idealistic grounds.
I like plenty of art that could be classified as schlock; not everything we enjoy has to be masterpiece theatre. I’ve boycotted all HP content ever since Rowling became a professional asshole, but I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the books or the films as a teenager.
Here’s a hard pill to swallow: shitty people can make good art. We can condemn bad people unequivocally without simultaneously needing their art to be bad. Michael Jackson was my favorite musician for many years, but hearing his music in 2026 always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I won’t pretend that it wasn’t my jam and I certainly won’t suggest that the music was mediocre.
She’s a bad writer AND a bad person AND a billionaire AND a political figure AND is successful AND is getting richer
Orson Scott Card.
I bought Ender’s books before knowing what kind of shit is OSC. Now I wouldn’t download a free pdf of anything from him.
Card is confounding because those first few Ender books are unequivocally about the importance of empathy and recognition of common personhood, even across seeming-impenetrable species boundaries, and how mutual respect and love are the most important quality a person can have. And then… yadda yadda yadda, OSC is a gigantic bigot. The. Fuck?
Its mediocre and needs time travel to work.
My Immortal, a masterpiece in coherent plot, needs time travel to work too. I fail to see the alleged problem here.
Ebony becomes so angry at this perceived betrayal[e] that she runs crying into the Forbidden Forest, where she is approached by Lord Voldemort. Voldemort, speaking in faux-archaic English, gives her a gun and demands that she kill Vampire.
There is also a cameo by a gothic Marty McFly, who gives Ebony a black DeLorean time machine able to transform into an iPod, allowing her to travel forward in time.
I kinda want to read it now.
My Immortal is an internet classic, and a bizarre time capsule of what youth subculture was like ~20 years ago.
Time travel is mostly used as a deus ex machina to solve a problem a weiter has written themselves in. Like in HP, Therme ia time travel bit only for students or to learn more, not to erase attacks by Voldemort, because reasons. In other words, they could have stopped the death if Harrys parents, but did not want to, because reasons.
I get rhat if used well and as a consistent plot device, it can work. But in HP, its simply a one oft drama device. Its boring and lazy writing.
Edit, ah, I see
My Immortal is popularly regarded as one of the worst works of fan fiction ever written
Its boring and lazy writing.
STOP FLEMIN DA STORY, PREPZ
This comment rivals My Immortal on grammar and spelling.
Fucking spellcheck and different languages. Arg
How dare you compare an established monument of contemporary literature to something like Harry Potter?
Perfection is the enemy of good.
Most consumerism is problematic and you can blame most people for something, just take your time and you will find something: Are you drinking milk? Are you eating meat? Do you drink beer or smoke cigarettes? Do you use Social Networks like Instagram, Facebook or TikTok? Do you buy stuff on Amazon? Do you use ChatGPT? Do you drive a car even though you could travel by foot, train, bus or bike? Do you watch soccer? Do you watch porn? Congratulations, you are probably supporting something shitty.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to change things. But offending people for doing some of these things never helped. It often just achieves the opposite. Try to encourage others, show them alternatives. Etc.
Finding alternatives isn’t hard tho. There’s like a plethora of magic school books from 2012 onwards. alerting people isnt the problematic thing while we are literally in a wold of countless options and claiming you can’t find any is just you being difficult and lazy.
Some people actually need an angry remark to know they are being an asshole, so there’s no need to say all negative activism is bad. Sometimes, it indeed does the opposite of helping, but the same can be argued for positivity. You’ll get laughed at sharing vegan recipes if the person challenging you doesn’t think animal rights even matter. But them dismissing you isn’t necessarily your fault for doing activism “the wrong way”.
Perfection is the enemy of good.
Transphobia isn’t good.
What’s with people who are like “Let’s compromise with evil and have a little evil, then.” I’ve been dropping things I enjoyed when I find out the person is either a sex pest or bigoted. I liked Disturbed for example, then found out their front man is a zioniest.
What’s with people who are like “Let’s compromise with evil and have a little evil, then.”
Oh, that’s simple. They know it’s never just a little evil.
Even if you do none of those it just keeps going. Coffee? Using too much plastic? Drinking 90% of soda brands?
I just like to think of it like “these things are bad, what good can I do rather than trying to cut out every bad thing?” If every HP fan supported the author by buying it, but then volunteered in a soup kitchen one time, they’ve done far more good than bad.
It’s rarely so cut and dry how the money you spend will be used to hurt people. And it’s also rare for such visible harm to be tied to something so unnecessary. You can move on from this 20 year old children’s book, I’m sure it’ll be okay.
B I L L I O N A I R E and growing in wealth again
If every HP fan supported the author by buying it, but then volunteered in a soup kitchen one time, they’ve done far more good than bad.
Good and evil aren’t interchangeable, fungible quantities. You can’t punch 20 babies in the face and then feed 100 starving orphans and expect people to forget about one due to the other. The babies stay punched and the orphans stay fed.
With respect to HP in particular, supporting someone who actively and successfully campaigns against trans right hurts trans people. (And tells us that y’all care more about a children’s story than you do living, breathing human beings). Volunteering at a soup kitchen after donating to the exterminate trans people fund doesn’t undo the donation. It does feed some hungry people, but again doing “good” doesn’t erase having done “evil”; both acts still occured.
What people are saying here is literally “please don’t donate to the trans extermination project.”
Finally, there being no ethical consumption under capitalism is an indictment of consumption, not an absolution for any/all consumption. Just because all consumption falls short of perfect ethics doesn’t mean it’s all equally unethical. This should be obvious.
That’s not wrong but I’m not expecting anyone to forget about the negatives. If you punch 0 babies but you are so worried about causing harm that you’re miserable all the time and doing less good as a result, the world is on the whole worse off. It’s not a math equation but I would rather someone eats meat if that means they’re working to change the industry rather than someone who doesn’t eat meat and does nothing. Someone actively working against transphobia and contacting whoever their officials are and canvassing does far more than their $20 does.
I’m just saying there’s no possible way to exist without doing harm, anything you can cut out you should, but if it’s to the point where it’s stopping you from doing good in the world, that might be the line you should stop at.
My parents moved a few months ago, and that meant I had to come over and decide what to do with some of the stuff I owned that was still at their house. I sorted things into “keep” and “throw away” piles.
One of the things I had to decide on was my Harry Potter books. My parents were surprised I put them in the “throw away” pile. It was hard for a moment, not because of what they were, but because I remember the day my dad came home and surprised me with books 2 and 3. I had read the first book for school, but the first 4 books had already been published by the time I got into it, so my friends were well ahead of me. I was so happy when my dad spontaneously did that. I hadn’t asked for the books, but he knew I wanted them and went out of his way to get them just to surprise me. I felt so loved.
As I held those same books in my hands, 25 years since first receiving them, I took in that loved feeling, but it was twinged with disgust for JK Rowling. Although it pained me, I knew I wouldn’t be reading them again. In my internal monologue, I told myself, "These books served their purpose long ago. It’s okay to let them go and move on."
So into the “throw away” pile they went. The only things worth keeping anymore are the memories and experiences that those books originally opened up to me, and those can’t be tossed out even if I wanted to. Putting the books into that pile felt like visiting a wake - the series is dead to me now, and with this final viewing, I could have closure over it and finally say goodbye.
I think there’s something to be said for having to throw away things tied to precious memories because those things are tainted by a bitch who couldn’t just shut the fuck up and be happy with her success.
But this is exactly the type of thing I mean when I say that some people’s advocacy against JKR bleeds over into the lives of innocent people just trying to live.
I would never be able to throw away a gift my father had given me. Nobody should be pressuring anyone else to do the same just because they find something problematic (not for its actual contents, but because it’s author is a hate monger).
People forget that there are real and cherished memories attached to this franchise and whether they intend to or not, they do attack them when they make media like this, or post about how terrible a person must be for having engaged with said media.
Just because something is trivial for you to excise from your life doesn’t mean it’s as easy for the next person.
When people spread further hatred because they feel self righteous about something that has wronged them, they aren’t making things better.
I don’t even engage with the franchise anymore. Most of what I know about it from the last decade has been from media posts like this bashing it or telling people how evil Rowling is. I wouldn’t know there was a tv show, wouldn’t have known about the game l, wouldn’t have known about the universal park etc if it weren’t for posts like this.
Did you throw away all your Disney media? Would you still visit a Disney or universal park? Engage with the studio that made the game or the company producing the show?
There’s so much to how media gets made and how many companies are still actively supporting this bigot and instead of attacking those corporations we attack each other for no really good reason except that it makes some people feel superior.
Nobody ever shouts out the organizations that she donates to. Nobody ever mentions where they get their funding. Nobody ever talks about boycotting the companies making the media (not the media itself) until they stop supporting franchises like HP.
Does that make sense? It’s never made sense to me.
Hate to break it to you, but you can absolutely lose memories. Time is a bitch.
Oh, I know. I used to work in a nursing home. Dementia is horrifying. But in the meantime, the memories are still with me, and that’s good enough.
Why not give them to someone for free such that they do not need to spend money for them?
I mean, when you are going through piles of old sh*t to keep or trash, by, like, the second hour, you just want to throw it all away. Ain’t no one got time to find a person who wants each one of their things that they don’t want to keep anymore.
Thank you for saying this, that’s the point in time we were at. My parents had rented a dumpster, and that final cleaning was the last day before they had to return it, and two days before the new homeowners were set to move in.
Meanwhile, at the same time, I had just moved into a tiny little studio apartment. I have almost no storage/furniture, and no money to buy any. Most of my things are still in boxes because I have nowhere else to keep them. Boxes still fill my car now (months later), to the point that my 4-seater can’t hold a single passenger. I can’t overstate just how little space I have.
Point is, I had to cut down to only the necessities. Holding onto the book set would’ve just been more clutter taking up space that I need for more important things. Which reminds me, I have to dig out the boxes that have my summer clothes and do the switcharoo with my winter clothes (which I currently store in a luggage bag. I don’t even have a dresser!)
These days we have websites for exactly that purpose.
A lot of the major furniture in my apartment came from people getting rid of stuff that I found via free-and-for-sale pages.
Still promotes someone else supporting her nonsense.
I’m over 40.
I gave up Bill Cosby. I gave up Kevin Spacey. I gave up all of the 80s and 90s movies about toxic masculinity and misogyny. I gave up Aerosmith (maybe Steven Tyler hasn’t been canceled yet but COME ON have you heard the lyrics to any single one of his songs). I gave up Michael Richards (and Seinfeld too). I gave up Michael Jackson.
You can give up Harry Potter. It’s the right thing to do, it’s worth it, and it’s the adult decision. Grow up and check your allegiances. They’ll define you.
it’s the adult decision.
MY decision is the ADULT decision. Ok buddy… you’re a big man now.
Grow up and check your allegiances. They’ll define you.
Oh yes laughing at an episode of seinfeld has DEFINED me as some who needs to GROW UP.
hahahah what a load of shite.
Tell me more about how mature you are.
Yeah, and let’s not forget that Harry Potter is a series of books written for literal children.
It’s time to grow up and read something written for actual adults. You might be surprised to find that HP is actually kind of shit.
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Adults are allowed to read things written for children
I don’t think I ever suggested they shouldn’t be?
Just don’t be surprised when people mock you for it.
Ageist is a bit of a stretch. Maybe ableist since an adult reading children’s books is a sign of developmental disability.
I don’t read HP, and I wasn’t going to get involved in this discussion. But then I saw your post. I deal with actual special needs people on the daily, and you saying shit like this is vile. I think you are the one who needs to start acting like an adult, maybe do a bit of self reflection.
Fair
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That’s not really gatekeeping. Maybe gatekeeping a fully emotionally developed adult? But that’s a bit of a stretch too. You can’t just throw around buzzwords and expect it to mean anything. And you definitely can’t be expected to be taken seriously.
Maybe if you put down the YA and read something age appropriate you’d get a better feel for adult interactions.
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With all that stretching and leaping you must be limber as fuck.
I would never stop anyone from doing anything that didn’t harm someone else. But I will judge the fuck out of them. Disney adults, children’s book readers, broneys, etc. are children’s minds in adults bodies. If it’s because of a disability, good for them, they should enjoy life in whichever way suits them. If not, it’s pathetic and they should seek help with their personal growth.
Is it gatekeeping to say that functioning adults who don’t need them anymore shouldn’t wear diapers?
I enjoy hard scifi, politics, health, … and also enjoy some “for children” media. Just like I enjoy listening to metal, 80s, … and also listening to jazz.
Its literally not. Stop being a fucking twat.
They downvoted him for he spoke the truth.
Might want to rethink Michael Jackson. A lot of what he’s been accused of turned out to be an Epstein smear campaign when he interfered with their ops. McCauley Caulkin spoke out about this recently.
Got a source?
Mac culkin and Corey Feldman have both talked about MJ positively many times in the past few years.
I mean that’s great and all but a real source would be nice. Someone who was a kid speaking nicely about someone accused of harming kids, isn’t an exoneration. That’s like Kanye saying Nick Fuentes isn’t racist.
Note not taking either side on the topic. I don’t know or really care that much on MJ, an actual useful source would be say an epstein letter where epsteins announcing they want to make MJ look guilty. Fully plausible that MJ’s scandal was a combination of people saying he’s weird, with a few chasing a paycheck. But someone who fits the demographic saying “I was around him for years and I was never abused”, is IMO not evidence.
Corey Feldman is the reason I don’t believe the accusations against MJ. What that kid went through is horrific and predators can smell prey a mile away. If Michael was abusing kids there is no way he would have missed that one, Corey would have been an easy target after what they did to him. But Corey comes out and tries to shine a light on the things that are happening and specifically says that Michael never did anything inappropriate.
I always knew it was a set-up. I looked up to him as a kid, and people made fun of me for it, but I never believed the things they said about him.
He had a troubled past, he was eccentric and effeminate and that already made him a target for hate, but he genuinely seemed to care about kids and wanted to offer them a better childhood than the one he had.
It was a recipe for a PR shitstorm, especially when you throw “trying to disrupt an actual billionaire pedo ring funded by mossad” into the mix…
He didn’t destroy McCauley, though. The publicity did. Imagine how confusing it must be to a child, to be torn away from your mentor, possibly the only person who sees you as a human and values you as such, who understands what a personal hell being a child star can be. All because he was accused of doing things to you, and the rest of the adults don’t seem to care what you have to say about it…
And then having to finish growing up without your mentor, with all the meanness of the world amplified by fame and stigma, when no one will get near you or even mention your name except to make fun of you, and they all do it with this self-righteous smugness as if they’re convinced to their bones that they’re better than you, and they feel completely morally justified in their judgements, too…
Yeah, I never thought MJ was the bad guy. It’s a bit of a relief to hear his name has been cleared after all these years, even if it’s come too late. If he were alive today, I wonder if he would’ve ever come out as trans. I can only speculate now, as only he could ever make that determination for himself.
Anyway, I still remember listening on the radio when he was in the hospital, in cardiac arrest, and then being declared dead. It was a sad day for me. I think it was drug-related though, so I wonder if it still would’ve happened if he wasn’t so hated. Or if he hadn’t been so abused himself as a child. Again, just speculation, now…
You know, I have to wonder if that overdose was really accidental now. He pissed off some really powerful people who just don’t accept being told “no.”
That entire paragraph breaks my brain.
Why, cause you’ve spent your life hating someone who was not only innocent, but it now comes out that he was actually trying to disrupt a powerful cabal committing the actual crimes, and got accused as a result and a deflection?
Or because you’re unwilling to admit that to yourself and reexamine the beliefs you’re so accustomed to holding in that regard?
Thanks for the psych eval but no, it was more the guy from home alone revealing that MJ was a secret hero disrupting a crime ring, it’s all very cinematic
You can give up Harry Potter. It’s the right thing to do, it’s worth it, and it’s the adult decision.
It’s a children’s story. I don’t think you’re asking for people to leap over mountains by giving up childhood things as an adult.
At the same time, people seem to fixate on the consumerist aesthetics and ignore the material realities. If you’ve got transgender friends and family that you support with your time and care and money, and you want to flip through an old dog-eared copy of Philosopher’s Stone (or rewatch The Usual Suspects or throw on an episode of Fat Albert) because of nostalgia, I don’t think you’re committing any kind of grievous sin.
JK Rowling isn’t going to stop being a billionaire because you played a HP themed video game or watched an episode of her rebooted book show on HBO.
Meanwhile, abstaining from all things problematic, without doing anything materially positive for any of the LGBTQ folks in your life isn’t doing anyone any favors. Being a Consumerist Harpy who only knows how to scream at people for their mass media of choice, in the name of LGBTQ, is turning civil advocacy into some kind of branding exercise.
I’ve had a theory for a long time that many of the “LGBT advocate/ally” voices that participate in the discourse aren’t actually doing so in our best interests. Many ways I’ve seen people who call themselves allies talk and act are more likely to push people away than educate.
Preferably I’d like if people could just let HP die and fade away, but beyond that just try not to give her royalty money, and if you can’t do that then at the least i don’t want to hear about it.
Preferably I’d like if people could just let HP die and fade away
With enough time and a vacuum of marketing dollars, it will. The reboot is already flopping.
just try not to give her royalty money, and if you can’t do that then at the least i don’t want to hear about it.
Hard to advocate for a boycott without hearing about the things you’re boycotting.
The principle of a boycott is to pressure the business to change it’s policies. The implication is that you’d come back if they reformed.
If you’re really looking to replace a franchise rather than reform it, helps to fill the vacuum.
“I’m a big fan of X over Y, because it’s got all the things I like without the crude” tends to bend more ears than “Stop doing Y without my permission!”
Meanwhile, abstaining from all things problematic, without doing anything materially positive for any of the LGBTQ folks in your life isn’t doing anyone any favors. Being a Consumerist Harpy who only knows how to scream at people for their mass media of choice, in the name of LGBTQ, is turning civil advocacy into some kind of branding exercise.
See also: Tesla
I don’t know if you’re trying to call me out or not, but I can assure you I am quite active in advocacy and direct action for queer folks in my life and ib my community. I’m not interested in writing up a resumė about it, but I’m not the tree to bark up with that one.
I can assure you I am quite active in advocacy and direct action for queer folks in my life and ib my community
Which is great. A lot of folks are.
It’s also great to hear what they’re doing with their free time, as a positive rejoinder to “HP is toxic”.
More interested in new progressive media than a 10 year old argument about a book that came out 20 years ago.
Cool. I choose not to post that here. Have a good rest of your day.
Rowling spends almost every bit of income she gets on funding anti-transgender organisations and literal fascists (such as Posie Parker), whose lobbying efforts have turned every major British party against transgender healthcare, resulting in transgender healthcare becoming practically inaccessible through legal means with waiting lists lasting decades.
In terms of its material impact, buying HP merch is equivalent to buying a swastika flag from a neonazi store. You can be assured that every cent of profit will go to funding fascism. The only difference is the aesthetic of having HP merch versus having nazi merch.
Rowling spends almost every bit of income she gets on funding anti-transgender organisations and literal fascists
I think you’re underselling how much she spends on country club memberships and private planes.
I’m not giving up the books I bought decades ago and before she outed herself as an idiot.
I’m not stopping enjoying the stories that helped me to grow into the person I am today.
I’m not pretending that as a gay kid having a positive gay role model in Dumbledore wasn’t a wonderful thing.
I am not giving her anymore money.
I am not supporting her an anyway.
You can hate a person’s opinions and still love their art.
Its almost like everyone is human and capable of holding contradictory ideas.
You gonna watch the new show?
No, obviously.
I’ll probably watch the first couple episodes just out of curiousity. I’m already paying for the service. It’s going to get watching by my family regardless. I’m getting outrage fatigue if I am being honest. It’s just hard to care about anything these days.
Pirate it so it doesn’t show up on their dashboards as a view.
A hate-watch is still a view
Piracy = popularity. The big studios take torrent popularity as a metric these days. Even if you’re not paying for the show, everyone seeding that torrent is being used as a sign by the industry that they should keep giving Rowling money which she, in turn, uses to harm people.
Stealing her content is still making her rich, while also granting her a deeper foothold in your own media environment, heart, and mind. You deserve better, and you can do better.
Torrents aren’t the only form of piracy.
All piracy is popularity.
It literally isn’t.
It’s really not that hard to find something else to watch.
Great job moving the goalpost.
While you’re keeping an open mind then You can also expand your options to include artists who don’t have to be an asshole.
Separate the artist from the art doesnt just have to happen if they are an asshole.
There’s like a plethora of magic school books and films and tv series especially circa 2012 onward to dig into by other artists trying to compete. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to give them a chance.
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Michel Jackson allegation never been proven and most likely people thar said such allegation for money for it from tv producers.
I am really not convinced he abused children and it was never proven
I’ll shit on JK as much as anyone, but I gotta say, I know a lot of trans people who own Hogwarts Legacy on steam… Most aren’t huge HP fans or even read the books.
Who would own Howarts Legacy on Steam when Epic gave it away free for a whole week…
Idiots.
Because no one is going to play it on Epic, even if its free
Ive played several games on Epic.
I don’t get this attitude for single-player games. If its free… Why the heck not.
Oh right you need people to see your game achievements on Steam?
That’s literally it?
Did people not get over the Achievement Hunter phase a decade ago and just start enjoying games?
This is more of a general answer and not specifically about Hogwarts Legacy:
I mean, if I want to play a game now I don’t wait for years for the possibility that it becomes free for a week (and the chance that I don’t miss the giveaway). And if I have a steam deck, I maybe still want to own it on steam.
I get that.
Personally if it’s single player and I don’t want to support the authors urgently, I can wait.
So for HP I was happy to never buy it, then I saw Epic give it away and i thought… Oh. Well, I guess that works.
I am going to admit I enjoyed the series a lot 20 years ago, can’t say I’ve read ger stuff since the series ended and haven’t done anything to support her since the whole TERF thing came out and she started showing what sort of person she was. I recently picked up my old books to see if they held up and by god is it filled with bigoted stereotypes, Cho Chang (two last names) for the Chinese girl, Goblins being the obvious stereotype/alehory of Jews from a European who was “open minded” about Jews pre ww2 but still wanted to make sure that they deserved some of the bad shit that happened to them because they’re vicious even if unfair wizard laws were passed, the black auror being called Shackelbolt, the wezeleys being very much catholics for being poor with too many kids, the french being snobbish bafoons but classy, the Centaurs being either polytheists or gypsies, the list just goes on and Harry being the hero just gets rid of the head Nazi while leaving the institutions and culture in place, doesn’t even think about the slavery aspect except for Dobby, and he and Ron make fun of Hermione for her pushing for their freedom. I guess the reason why people enjoy the series is because the world feels somewhat real and magical because she put her imagination and bigotry into the story and never thought of trying to have the protagonists actually solve a major issue and will let it fester.
I read the books, but I was 14 and it was 2000. Haven’t consumed any of it since.
I was 14 and it was 2000
Quite the age difference there.
I offer you the dad crown.
Same, and I might add, they’re not that good. In my personal opinion, they get worse as you go. The last book was a slog man
Almost 40 eh? I’m right behind you buddy…
I’ve scouted up ahead and recommend turning back
Turn? Mate, my knees, back and neck are no longer capable supporting that function.
I WAS that Harry Potter fan. The overly obsessed nerd who was waaaaaay to into it. But now I’m over it because fuck Rowling.
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I’m in the exact same boat. I don’t want her to even get THOSE numbers. Like how HBO bragged about got piracy numbers
The entire franchise is just so fucking mid, I don’t understand why people worship it so much. The invented language in particular is cringe as fuck and sounds like shit a child would come up with.
Yeah see this is my whole main problem.
The writing and story are just… ok?
I could identify the racist tropes and body shaming just interwoven into the whole series before I hit puberty.
Oh then of course slavery is good sometimes actually, here I invented a scenario where this is true.
I got bored of Harry Potter, and just reread Animorphs.
Which certainly has problematic characters and moments and events… but … they are bad things, that the characters have to actually deal with, its a much more complex and engaging story overall, imo, though of course the serial format means that some books are not so great in comparison to others.
Kinda the same thing with Redwall.
I was a huge fan back then and nowadays I’m like " This thread is how I learn, that there’s a new show announced?" - shows how much I care about that franchise today, lol.
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Best way to punish RFK, sorry I mean JKR is for some LGBTQ+ people to shoot videos telling how HP helped them to come out of hiding and reveal their true self to the world. They can go onto to say things like HP has given them the courage to fight for this cause and in some cases, thanks to this courage, they ended up working in institutes that sets policies regarding LGBTQ+ rights.
Pirate the shit of any JK Rowling related thing…
