The really weird thing is how many LGBTQ folks latched onto HP in its early releases as what was recognized to be a kind-of pro-queer YA novel.
You had a young boy who was literally in the closet, disowned and disrespected by family, who is spirited away to a magical school where his differences are valued and cultivated. He’s got a bunch of friends who could easily sub in for queer icons. There are gender-bending magical spells, the bad guys are explicitly fascist, most books end with some kind of “The power of friendship and love will triumph!” rejoinder. FFS, Dumbledore is canonically gay.
It is far more a testament to the psychologically corrosive power of plutocracy that JK Rowling went off the rails. I don’t think it’s unfair for people to like the books and hate the author. Just remember not to pay for anything and you’re fine.
When i was in kindergarten, i made my teacher call me harry potter for like a month. I was obsessed with those books. As a 6 year old.
Anyways, im a girl now and jkr and people who support her can go die in a puddle of piss
It’s most probable that Rowling is actually trans, but refuses to accept it. Denying it along with degrading empathy due to her financial success just creates a void she feeds with hostility. This leads to guilt, more hostility due to “shame”, etc. Her books portray her actual feelings, but she fell off the wagon because she believes it is shameful to accept a different gender. She has even said that she wished she was a boy. Regardless, funding any kinda hate group is fucked. Believe what you want, but don’t try and stop people from having their own joy if it’s not harmful.
It’s most probable that Rowling is actually trans, but refuses to accept it.
I’ve heard this speculated extensively. It would certainly be ironic.
But I’m more prone to believe she’s one more British Fascist, poisoned by money and a growing circle of reactionary hysterics.
She has even said that she wished she was a boy
A lot of that stems from British entrenched misogyny. Wanting the privileges of masculinity, as much as the actual biology.
While the cultures are different, I don’t get it. Women in the US basically have a “just cause I lack a penis, doesn’t mean I am not equal” mentality. And women earned rights in the UK before the US. Just seems like the misogny would be less over there. Then again, racism was on the decline here, and now it’s like everyone has a golden ticket to be bigoted assholes, so…
And women earned rights in the UK before the US
Rights are very different than status.
Then again, racism was on the decline here
That’s debatable.
No she’s just trying to sell the idea that being trans is a tactical choice just like how she put JK instead of Joanne on her book cover so more boys would buy it.
Standard terf belief is that trans men just sometimes wanted to do boy stuff as a kid but didn’t because of sexism and are too cowardly and weak to stand up for themselves so they treacherously try to join the enemy. As part of trying to convince herself and other people that’s how it works she has to do her own Evangelical “I smoked crack every day before I found Jesus” thing.
Nah, that seems pretty unlikely.
That story she tells about wanting to be a boy is basically tailor-made to drum up sympathy for her while shooting down a carefully-constructed strawman that doesn’t actually resemble the real experiences of body dismorphia, but superficially appears as though it could.
I think she’s actually talked about how she’d have been trans if she had been born in a more trans-friendly age.
Like you also theorise, maybe that’s what making her so mad, other trans people getting to have lives outside the closet when she was too afraid to.
Oh wait you had that in there
She has even said that she wished she was a boy.
My bad read it too fast
Keep in mind, it’s also the series where one of the fascist teachers kills the retroactively gay character but had a good reason for doing so and is actually not a baddie at all.
The undercover agent kills a secretly terminally ill teacher to protect a young boy who is being jumped into a fascist gang.
It’s bad storytelling (because the stakes have been ratcheted so low) not bad politics.
her books were always about her “real beliefs” just hidden behind her writing. family guy joked about her writing-anti-trans years before she went full terf.
The best way to enjoy something that may benefit a problematic person is to simply acquire it in a way that doesn’t benefit them. Perhaps whilst on board a ship with a nice barrel of grog.
While I agree it’s logical to boycott her, portraying HP fans as trans abusers is a bit much. If buying the HP books is equivalent to punching a chained down trans person in the face then absolutely none of us, including the artist here, haven’t done worse.
I’d bet anything they have bought products on Amazon, which makes them responsible for Bezos. Does that artist have an X account for advertisement? That gas they buy makes them responsible for violence the middle east. Are they one of the remarkable few who ethically source clothes without child labor? Bet not.
I boycott all kinds of stuff, but demonizing people for not joining you is nonsensical in this consumerist hellscape where complete harm avoidance isn’t possible.
Even with your example you’re missing a big point though. It’s pretty tough to get around without gas and just as difficult to find clothes that don’t involve child labour. But this is one single fantasy franchise in a huge sea of other options and people will still happily give their money to the single person that actively harms a specific minority.
Again, people should boycott her, convince people to do it all day. However, this demonization is out of line. I’m just saying if this is your threshold for what makes someone an irredeemable monster, then you should make sure your own house is in order before you start lighting the pyre.
You know what I am tired of? The focus being on whether consuming or not makes you a good person. I don’t care if in your heart of hearts you are a good person or not. So often it comes down to people trying to defend their own gods damned image of themselves as “in the right”
What I care about is that the absolute ghouls being propped up by this series stay in the limelight. Their money funds changes to society which have created an uptick in suicides. Did you know trans kids in the UK, the ones who were in gender affirming care that the government changed to be essentially just regular old therapy, has seen a marked increase in suicide? Since the law that JKR paid her blood money to get changed there’s been civil suits filed by workplaces driving trans people out. Trans people are marching in the UK and getting their asses handed to them by police for holding vigils for the dead outside of the government buildings of the health care service nominally charged with their care that sees a waiting list that in some parts of the country at current capacity sees an estimate of 200 years wait for a first consultation. Trans people there are increasingly DIYing their own hormonal transitions sometimes having to go through illegal paths like they are dealing in cocaine just for the willpower to stay alive.
And yet the conversation remains on whether it is right to make someone feel bad about their media consumption or at what point you get an ally sticker. So much of trans advocacy ends at “well boycott the witch”
For the love of God if people only cared a single fraction about trans people the way they did about their own warm fuzzies or the flaw in their neighbour’s soul.
You want to feel like you actually did a thing? Maybe find a charity funding trans rights activism in the UK and pop the money saved by pirating your damn wizard books in there ?
I don’t see the words “irredeemable monster” anywhere other than in this post.
What it does mean is that they can’t be bothered to let Rowling’s behavior influence their decision making. When a so-called trans ally can’s stop waving around their Harry Potter merch, I question their conviction. If they can’t even abstain from helping to maintain the relevance and popularity of a property directly benefiting one of the most prominent transphobes on the planet, at what point will they stand up? Should I believe someone who can’t stop yapping about this franchise in front of me is suddenly going to shift their priorities if someone harasses me on the street?
I don’t expect that they’ll join in and actively make it worse, but I’d be a fool to look to them for support. It signals that they care more about convenience than they do putting their foot down about trans people being mistreated.
oh look, an average liberal telling trans people the genocide they’re currently facing is not that serious.
Not even close.
Uh, no what they’re saying is that buying a particular book is actually no t exactly equivalent to genocide. Supporting somebody with shitty views sure, but these days there’s a lot of those
When that money goes directly towards funding that genocide- yes, it is equivalent.
Pirate the shit of any JK Rowling related thing…
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.
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.
3D print your own merch
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 the made a pro slavery charicature.
Richard Wagner was a bigtime nazi who wrote some of the best classical music ever.
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.
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.
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
O don’t mind anyone enjoying media from problematic figures if they enjoy it. I just don’t want those fans to monetarily support those figures.
Sail the high seas if you wanna partake in such content.
To that I would add that if you want to recommend such content to others it should preferably done with the addition of how others could access it through alternative means. Just to reduce the chance the recommendation leads to any extra income.
are we allowed to do that here
um
I can
But I think most people on Lemmy already know
Sorry I’m high
You’re doing great, friend. You mean like talk about torrenting? Mostly yes. Looks like your instance says you can talk about piracy, so long as you don’t link to any pirated content, or links to piracy sites. I guess you can still talk about streaming or file sharing platforms that show up on the first page when you google.
Even if you download it and J.K.R. doesn’t see a penny you’re still engaging with media that is anti-trans and that’s just as bad. There is no ethical consumption of her work, full stop.
Is there anything anti-trans in Harry Potter?
I genuinely don’t know. I’ve never read or watched it.
She actively funds anti-trans causes
There is nothing in the books itself that is anti trans (AFAIK and remember), it is that people equate her works with her political views which are anti trans. As a most likely trans person myself (still working out the details of it, stay tuned) I have a real struggle at my hands. On the one hand her books were a massive part of my childhood and early teens. I waited in line out side book stores to get the newest one. On the other hand she uses the money she gets from licenses and the IP to fund anti trans organisations. She also uses her fame / reach to spread TERF points of view. I enjoy and love the world she created back then but I cannot in good conscience consume anything that supports her now. Not any merch, series, film or game.
I on my ow may not make a difference but the sum is more than it parts. If enough ppl. start voicing their objection to her and her views, boycott the new stuff because of her, some change might be possible. If not, sacrificing something I loved growing up is an acceptable price to pay to keep me and others safe.
Do not beat yourself up for enjoying things just because the overarching capitalist system exploits your enjoyment to fuel bigotry and oppression. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. So long as you yourself are not directly committing harm, don’t shame yourself for reading a book, watching a show, enjoying a soda, or whatever other little comfort that helps you stay sane in this capitalist dystopia.
Is it fair? No but the system wasn’t designed to be fair.
HOW are the Harry Potter books Anti-trans? Where in ANY of the books do they promote Anti Trans attitudes?
How is this difficult to understand? She wrote the books. The books are hers. The books themselves promote anti-trans attitudes, regardless of whether or not they have anti-trans themes. Anyone who still consumes any of her work is transphobic. It really is that simple.
You didn’t address the questions at all.
HOW are the Harry Potter books Anti-trans? Where in ANY of the books do they promote Anti Trans attitudes?
Someone doesn’t understand the concept of “separate the art from the artist”
Your overly simplistic take is just naive. It actually isn’t “that simple”. You are.
You realize your argument is like, “ALL muslims are terrorists!” right?
You can, you know, read another book
For Harry Potter fans in particular, may I suggest The Guy We Don’t Mention in the Same Sentence. You know. Terry Pratchett.
I agree with you that Terry Pratchett is so much better. But it’s not very comparable. Harry Potter lives from the comfy feeling of a magical boarding school and the classic “chosen one” thing. It’s easy reading and draws a very clear imagery in the minds of the readers. The disc world is a bit more… Abstract I guess?
So I’d rather pirate Harry Potter if it’s something that interests you. And definitely also read Terry Pratchett, simply because it is better.
OK, this is a tough one and what I’m about to say might get me some dislikes. Let me just say something that might soften the blow: Fuck Rowling, her transphobia, and the bigots that defend her wretched views. Even if she decided, in an alternative timeline, to keep her loudmouth shut, she would still be the scum of the earth for her views on trans people. I repeat, Fuck Rowling.
Now, with that out the way, let’s address the crux of the issue. I know that many of you in the LGBTQ+ community grew up with the franchise and enjoyed it long before Rowling exposed her true colors. If you’re LGBTQ+ and you decide to reconcile, in some way, with the franchise without directly supporting Rowling, you’re well within your rights to do so. The nostalgia you feel for something that brought you joy in your youth is yours to keep. No one, not even the creator themselves, can take that from you. As for the products themselves? You can: buy the books secondhand, pirate the movies, pirate the EPUBs if you have an e reader and buy fan-made merch from LGBTQ±friendly sellers.
If decided to not reconcile with the franchise, you’re also well within your rights to do so. Rowling has to made aware of the damage her views have on people. Demonstrate the hypocrisy of writing about a group of outsiders finding a place of acceptance and discovering their true selves and espousing bigoted rhetoric towards a discriminated group wanting acceptance for their true selves. There’s plenty of other fictional universes you can draw your attention towards (more on that in a moment) that are far less problematic and worthier of your time.
If you’re an ally (like myself), it’s best that we don’t engage with the franchise all together out of support. For me, this isn’t a problem since I didn’t engage with the franchise all that much in my youth (I was more of a LOTR fan). If you do decide to reconcile, much of what I have already said still applies.
In short, the question of reconciliation is a personal matter. So long as Rowling isn’t benefiting, you should be happy with your decision and the stand you take. As for alternatives? Well…
The already mentioned Lord of The Rings
Dune series
Discworld
Elric of Melniboné
Wheel of Time
Attacking people for liking Harry Potter is the epitome of pointless performative action. It does nothing to help with the root problem.
The root of the problem being people giving millions of moneys to bigots, which then use those money to hurt people.
There are other books written, by people who don’t hurt anyone.Just wait until you find out where some of your taxes are going then lmao
Seriously. Many people here don’t seem to grasp the whole “no ethical consumption under capitalism” thing.
Are you sure? Maybe they are child abusers, or spousal abusers or tax frauds or so many other possible bad things. Can you really be sure that your approved author/actor/athlete/celeb isn’t a bad person? Do you really know any of them to be positive? Or is it ok to like them so long as you don’t know that they are bad people but it only becomes wrong if they are publicly outed as bad? I don’t and won’t do anything to financially support JKR now but I’m not going to burn any of my books by her.
I’m not attacking. But I will remind people of the money that the author will continue to get as her business grows and makes movie/tv/game deals. I won’t attack someone for buying a Tesla, either, but will remind them that buying said Tesla funds a Nazi’s wallet.
I sometimes get ChiFilA food. It’s convenient, my family likes the food, and somewhat affordable. I also know what horrible people that own that company believe. I don’t go nearly as much now, and attempt to dissuade my family from going there. Now Hobbly Lobby? Strict ban hammer on that shithole. So much fucking monsterous, vile shit from that place.
You shouldnt stay away from hobby lobby. Their LP may range from inept to nonexistent, but if you consider the regular discounts their prices cant be beat.
When they stole artifacts I was irritated, but rich fucks do that kinda shit all the time. Then they starting pushing for control of their female employee’s health, then the two things that sent me: pretending to be Christian but forcing employees to work during a pandemic cause “my wife said God said it’s ok”, then mass firing after the vaccine came out, and then funding hate groups. They are nothing more than WCN Nazis.
Yeah thats why you should shop there. Read what i said again.
So many people in this thread defend J.K. Rowling, or at least the Harry Potter works, under the guise that Rowling’s anti-trans positions are just an opinion. She does so much more than just talk. She uses her personal fortune made directly from Harry Potter to fund legal attacks on the rights of transgender people in the UK.
Imagine if Elon Musk showed up one day to fund a civil case against you for playing rec league soccer or to get you fired from your job. This is what the beginning of genocide looks like. It may take years to get to the camps and the ovens, but we will get there. Hell, the camps are already built here in the US, and they will house more than the transgender.
https://www.advocate.com/news/jk-rowling-anti-trans-organization
I’ve historically been an advocate for separating the art from the artist.
For example, I know that Kovarex is a piece of shit but I still enjoy factorio. I actively avoid learning about the musicians I listen to. I do not want to know about the personal lives of the authors of the books I like.
But this bitch has taken it too far. There’s only so much I can ignore. I will never spend another cent on anything related to her works, nor will I recommend them to anyone.
I think we should normalize acknowledging reality. JK Rowling is a POS, Neil Gaiman is a POS, many others are POS or problematic for different reasons. A lot of products are owned by problematic companies. Some have better alternatives.
Bashing people for it is just going to make people tune you out though. Just be aware. I’m really not interested in the Harry Potter show. But the movies are a staple. If I see Tom Cruise is in a movie I get a lot less interested in it. I still like Edge of Tomorrow though.
There’s a plethora of artists to choose from that aren’t assholes. These folks keep talking about opening mind to other points of view. If that’s their stance then they can open mind to new options.
No, you need to have an open mind to their opinion, they don’t need to give you the same benefit
