Hello everyone,
I saw recently another post on Lemmy which was fairly negative towards fans of the HP universe (some people announcing that they would block other people because those are HP fans)
I guess we can all agree by now that JKR's transphobia is bigotry and should be condemned.
However, that still does not say what do to with that universe that we love.
I found an interesting article on that topic: https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/harry-potter-fans-jk-rowling-transphobia-essay-49214964
I guess the most important part is
Still, there may be a way to enjoy Harry Potter as a trans person or ally. Over the years, many fans have found creative ways to engage with the series's magic while also acknowledging its creator's bigotry. In her paper "Transformative Readings: Harry Potter Fan Fiction, Trans/Queer Reader Response, and J. K. Rowling," Jennifer Duggan, an associate professor of English at the University of South-Eastern Norway — says that it's possible to interpret the text of Harry Potter itself in ways that would certainly horrify its writer. "My central thesis—one which has also been argued by other academics like Thomas Pugh and David Wallace — is that the Harry Potter novels are deeply queer," she tells POPSUGAR. "I mean this in both senses of the term: they champion nonnormativity through the contrast of the 'perfectly normal' Dursleys and Harry, and they are, at their heart, a story about a boy with an 'abnormality' (as the Dursleys call his magic) who comes out of his cupboard under the stairs and discovers and finds and affinity for a hidden, colourful, queer world. I take this argument further to argue that the novels are easily read through a trans lens, since there is a focus in many of the books on shapeshifting, including several cross-gendered transformations."
Fandom, she adds, can provide spaces where Harry Potter fans can explore the series's queer undercurrents while celebrating their own sexualities. "From what I have observed, I have concluded that for the most part, the Harry Potter fandom continues to offer queer and trans fans a positive space," she tells POPSUGAR. "The two main trends I have seen in fan works are an 'answer hate with love' reaction, in which fans focus on trans positivity, and so-called 'spitefic,' which are works that are framed as revenge on Rowling for the hurt she has caused. These works are usually trans-positive, too. That said, I fully understand why some fans feel they can no longer engage with the texts in any way."
Link to the research paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10583-021-09446-9
Seems an interesting way for me to re-appropriate the universe, what do you think?
I knew Edgar Allan Poe was pro-slavery before I read anything he ever wrote.
Arthur Conan Doyle fully supported the British empire.
Pretty much any comedy from the 20th century is going to have at least one homophobic joke.
Learn to pick the battles that matter. Rowling is going to be a billionaire if you read her books or not.
There's a difference between being a bigot that grew up and lived surrounded by bigotry and little else and being an anti-Semitic TERF in 2024.
As the article I linked shows, most of the fandom has an issue with JKR, which makes sense due to her bigotry.
However, the fandom also still enjoys the work she created. If the argument is about money she makes out of her work and gives to hate speech groups, I know hardcore fans that stopped buying any merchandising or anything that could benefit her years ago.
Now that I think about it, did watching the movies cast reunion shot by WB a few years ago benefited her? They purposefully left her out of it.
So, you think someone is likely to become pro-slavery if they read 'Tell Tale Heart' or turn on their friends if they read 'The Maltese Falcon?'
Interesting that you have chosen to continue your disingenuous arguments about dead authors from a different time who don't, for example, actively donate proceeds to hate groups today.
Especially when you keep going back to Poe, whose most published works don't actively promote any of his beliefs beyond being emo.
You'd have been better off using The Murder in the Rue Morgue for your "point" btw.
You can tell people not to read the books, or you can use the books to educate. I prefer not setting the precedent of banning books, but you can do whatever you feel.
Yet another disingenuous argument, pretending people are "banning" her books.
Interesting.
In any event, just as you can get free copies of Poe, Lovecraft, Kipling, etc, because their works are public domain, I would suggest if you're willing to ignore her personal views, which don't really come up that much anyways, you always have the option to just acquire her work in ways that don't financially benefit her.
Whether that's a used copy or a... More open view of intellectual property, there's options for people who like the setting yet don't feel like making a billionaire more of a billionaire.
Sounds reasonable
dis·in·gen·u·ous [ˌdisənˈjenyəwəs] ADJECTIVE disingenuous (adjective) not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one does.
That word doesn't mean what you seem to think it does.
Where wasn't I candid or sincere?
Damn, you're just actually incapable of making an honest argument, huh?
Where was I dishonest?
There is an entire section of the fediverse that makes shaming anyone who shows any appreciation for the HP universe their life’s purpose and you are NEVER going to change their opinions. Don’t waste your time or energy.
Thanks for the reminder
You may want to look into the "circular firing squad"
People are going to be people and you cannot stop people from being unique so I think the circular firing squad may be somewhat of an inherent property of humanity that pops up sometimes when people from the same group disagree woth each other
Interesting concept
I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the warning. Amazing what people dedicate their lives to, isn't it?
Good intentions… road paved to hell… you know the line.
Take a book suggestion for your troubles.
"How Can I Help You" by Laura Sims. A wannabe writer and a serial killer are both working at a small town library. Really fun read.
Just wanted to come back to this and let you know I just finished this book.
That was a lot of fun, thanks for the suggestion!
That's great!
I've been recommending it to everyone since I read it. Glad you likedit.
Thanks! I’ll give it a look :)
Might a decent takeaway here be instead to pick the battle of pushing to tax the rich such that one cannot become a billionaire bigot to begin with?
vaguely gestures at the US south and midwest A lack of money doesn't prevent bigotry.
Ahem, just learn to hoist the sails.
What does that even mean?
Piracy
Silly me. Some one else in the thread was talking about slavery in the HP universe and I thought it was a slave ship reference.
You don't have to pirate HP. I see the books and movies at pretty much every thrift shop I go ot. For the record, I've seen one movie I got from the library and never read any of the books.
If you want a good fantasy book that takes all the tropes and kicks them in the groin, try 'Glory Road' by Robert Heinlein. In the early 1960s a young Vietnam veteran is recruited by a Princess to fight dragons and find a mystical treasure.
Interesting recommendation!
Indeed. Tolkien's works shows some concepts of racism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race). The list goes on forever.
There was a TV version of Tarzan, set in Africa, on the air at the same time Star Trek TOS was on the air. iirc it was canceled due to poor ratings, not viewer outrage
Questionable elements in Tolkien's work come nowhere near the vile pro-slavery content of Harry Potter, and when asked about race, Tolkien always had something good to say about the oppressed and something bad to say about the Nazis.