Why? I have a HP tattoo and don’t regret it. The fandom has gone past the author at this point. She’s a hateful removed but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still love the world and characters she created. We’ve made it our own.
You mean the world where slaves like to be slaves and trying to release them is wrong, apartheid is right because the other sentient people look different, the bankers are antisemitic stereotypes and the main character becomes a literal cop enforcing all this?
If they’re a reader of fanfiction that is typically one of the major changes to the story that’s done. Fanfiction has effectively rewritten the entire series to be more palatable at this point. Bonus points that you can read it without giving Rowling any money too.
That’s a tall order with how most people act. Disney vibes anyone? There were few things that could capture a whole generation’s imagination so strongly, and people want to bond over it. My stance is taking what you like and making new things is how we get new series’s, and fanfic has it’s place in that.
Have you seen the two hour video by Shaun on the books? I highly recommend it for a look back on the books and the issues that we couldn’t have picked up on as kids but are pretty obvious on a reread.
They’re not as great as we remember them to be (if I have to read the phrase “mannish hands” or another word about a 16 year old girls “square jawline” again I think I might vomit) and if the best parts of the world are the bits created in spite of the author, why continue to associate it with her work. Obviously, it’s easier said than done when you’re talking about an entire community, but there’s plenty of other worlds created by nicer authors.
The best thing to come out of the series was the cast from the movies being as cool as they are today, but any time I think of the world, all I can think of is the token diversity characters named things like Shacklebolt and Cho Chang (almost, but not quite Ching Chong), the young Irish boy obsessed with whiskey and explosives, and the defense of slavery that’s identical to arguments from actual slave owners in the US.
Plus, there’s the whole thing with the hook-nosed bankers that totally aren’t Jewish stereotypes. You know who created a fantasy race based on Jews that doesn’t feel like an offensive stereotype? Tolkien. Tolkien’s dwarves are based on Jewish stereotypes, but don’t come off that way at all because of how they’re presented in the world.
I know several “ally” and one trans HP fan. They all just “separate the art of the artist” as cope. They’re also a bunch of adult children and I don’t really respect their opinions on media.
When you separate the art from the artist, you still have:
a slaveowner cop main character
an Asian named Ching Chong
slavery abolitionism as a joke
genetic superiority of certain characters (the bad guys were just wrong about which people are superior)
rampant fatphobia
Jewish goblin bankers
slaves who like being enslaved
slave heads decorated in Santa hats by the “good guys”
freeing slaves is bad because they become alcoholics
a black guy named MLK Shackles
a Jewish guy named Goldstein (I did not have to change this name to make the racism more clear)
none of the systemic issues that created the villain are ever addressed by the main characters beyond a surface level so nothing has actually been fixed, they’ve just delayed the takeover of society by fascists another generation or two
This is why I said I don’t trust their opinions on media. This group lacks any media literacy and just looks for “roller coaster” type experiences. There’s so many better children’s/YA fantasy out there, many a direct response of HP, but to them, they’ll just be imitations to the sort of people who can’t read subtext.
i feel bad for all the people i know who got harry potter tattoos 15 years ago
edit: it’s really fucking weird how people are trying to invalidate my criticism of the bigoted bigot who loves bigotry, j.k. rowling
Why? I have a HP tattoo and don’t regret it. The fandom has gone past the author at this point. She’s a hateful removed but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still love the world and characters she created. We’ve made it our own.
You mean the world where slaves like to be slaves and trying to release them is wrong, apartheid is right because the other sentient people look different, the bankers are antisemitic stereotypes and the main character becomes a literal cop enforcing all this?
It’s really a magical world /s
If they’re a reader of fanfiction that is typically one of the major changes to the story that’s done. Fanfiction has effectively rewritten the entire series to be more palatable at this point. Bonus points that you can read it without giving Rowling any money too.
If the fanbase needs to rewrite the entire series to be “more palatable” that might indicate something about the series itself.
Might be time for people to just move on to a different series.
That’s a tall order with how most people act. Disney vibes anyone? There were few things that could capture a whole generation’s imagination so strongly, and people want to bond over it. My stance is taking what you like and making new things is how we get new series’s, and fanfic has it’s place in that.
None of that is correct.
Oh, and thanks for the ‘/s’. You know, otherwise I really would’ve thought you were giving it a compliment after a full paragraph of invective.
This is what the fucking bad guys believe, it’s not like the books are advocating for apartheid. What the hell kind of criticism is this.
What species are allowed to use a wand and attend Hogwarts?
What other species has wizards?
At least goblins and giants and the wand ban is broad enough to imply more.
Have you seen the two hour video by Shaun on the books? I highly recommend it for a look back on the books and the issues that we couldn’t have picked up on as kids but are pretty obvious on a reread.
They’re not as great as we remember them to be (if I have to read the phrase “mannish hands” or another word about a 16 year old girls “square jawline” again I think I might vomit) and if the best parts of the world are the bits created in spite of the author, why continue to associate it with her work. Obviously, it’s easier said than done when you’re talking about an entire community, but there’s plenty of other worlds created by nicer authors.
The best thing to come out of the series was the cast from the movies being as cool as they are today, but any time I think of the world, all I can think of is the token diversity characters named things like Shacklebolt and Cho Chang (almost, but not quite Ching Chong), the young Irish boy obsessed with whiskey and explosives, and the defense of slavery that’s identical to arguments from actual slave owners in the US.
Plus, there’s the whole thing with the hook-nosed bankers that totally aren’t Jewish stereotypes. You know who created a fantasy race based on Jews that doesn’t feel like an offensive stereotype? Tolkien. Tolkien’s dwarves are based on Jewish stereotypes, but don’t come off that way at all because of how they’re presented in the world.
Anyone who thinks “shacklebolt” is some sort of callback to slavery need to have their brain rebooted. That’s Qanon levels of pattern-finding.
I am once again asking you to please read a different book
Harry Potter tattoos have a higher regret rate than gender affirming surgeries.
That’s a low low bar to try to beat in the first place lol
I know several “ally” and one trans HP fan. They all just “separate the art of the artist” as cope. They’re also a bunch of adult children and I don’t really respect their opinions on media.
When you separate the art from the artist, you still have:
This is why I said I don’t trust their opinions on media. This group lacks any media literacy and just looks for “roller coaster” type experiences. There’s so many better children’s/YA fantasy out there, many a direct response of HP, but to them, they’ll just be imitations to the sort of people who can’t read subtext.
This is so absurd I can’t help but laugh.
To be honest, I am Chinese and that easily can be a legit Chinese name.
I’ve definitely seen a few Chinese names that made me do a double take, come to think of it.
The fuck is this dense comment? Rowling being a cunt doesn’t change anything for Harry Potter. Jesus fucking Christ.