Whenever I see another example of how that woman is attacking marginalized people who are just trying to live their life multiple things happen:
-
I feel horrible for trans people - especially (former) Harry Potter fans. And I remember that her comments have real life impact directly and indirectly leading to more trans deaths both self inflicted and by violent attacks.
-
I wonder how I can best publicly boycott her work as she has stated that she sees any support for her work as people agreeing with her bullying
-
I remember that there is no way in which a well adjusted, mentally healthy, happy person would act this way. So I at least rest a bit easier knowing she’s miserable.
Her walls are covered in mold
Those books were such a huge part of my childhood.
She turned out to be a real disappointment
Couldn’t agree more. Those books were my safe space growing up. I miss being able to enjoy them. Sadly it doesn’t work that way for me anymore. They feel tainted and wrong to me now.
-
JK Rowling is a poster case of why it’s a good idea to disassociate an author from their work (Harry Potter), followed by Anne McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern), Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek), and some more.
The saddest part, are the nonsense arguments her kind are using. I’ve participated in some trans communities, and the largest issue I’ve seen, is that some are breeding grounds for gaslighting narcissists. That would be a much more concerning point to address, than all the BS these people are spewing.
I think the concept is frequently called “Death of the Author”. It’s the idea that you can see a text or piece of art as entirely removed from the artist themselves. In the case of Rowling I would argue this is a bad idea as she is actively seeing support for any of her work, regardless if fictional or otherwise, as active support for her view on trans people.
Also on closer inspection, her writing really revels in grossness like natural hierarchies. I liked HP when i was younger, but knowing who Rowling is now, I can’t help but see her sick fingerprints all over that work.
It’s possible to fashion a new, better nostalgia for yourself. For my part I’d rather just reread any Discworld book for the dozenth time.
Yeah, I too just can’t unsee her influence in her work. I would have made a deliberate choice to no longer support her with my money, even if I could still enjoy HP. But it turns out my brain just won’t let me enjoy any of it anymore. Things I used to enjoy suddenly being almost revolting to me only ever happened to me with 3 different artists and she is one of them.
Yeah it’s also not many for me. Kevin Spacey is another one for me, mainly because he came out as gay and tried to accuse his (often also gay) victims of homophobia. The third one for me is something hyper-local, a band where the lead singer was accused of sexual assault by an overwhelming number of people in the span of 24hrs, where the singer claimed it was transphobia even though most (all?) of her accusers were queer themselves. I just feel extra gross about that because when the first person accused her I did immediately want to defend her because of being a trans woman. But then within the space of the next 24 hours three more unrelated people publicly accused her as well.
The other ones for me are: Neil Gaiman because of the recent sexual abuse/ coercion thing with multiple victims and the band Disturbed because of the political views of their lead singer.
Not from the 800K+ fanfics , or in general from all the fanart.
The Death of the Author is a pre-Internet reflection on personal interpretation over an author’s views.
Nowadays, it’s way more than that: whole fandoms can tear an author’s work to shreds, run with only the parts they like, and not look back. Rowling is no longer in control, or much of an influence, she’s merely coasting on her previous fame for those unaware. Right now, most of the fandom is quite critical of her views, not only on trans people, but also some other troubling aspects of her work… and they make the overwhelming majority of works in the Harry Potter universe.
Fair. I do really hope that the fans who think like that do make a point of differentiating between HP stuff that does line JK’s pocket and stuff that doesn’t. It’s one thing writing or reading fan fiction but a wholly different thing to buy the latest game for example. I personally lost interest because I can not unsee her influence on the world she created. Wish I could though. It used to be such a comfort when I could still enjoy it.
The key difference is that McAffrey and Roddenberry are both dead, and see no benefit from you tuning in to Star Trek or reading a Pern book (though I might suggest Eathsea instead). Supporting paramount is probably not great, but i do not know of any direct harm they are doing. Rowling directly benefits from purchasing Potter media, so purchasing supports transphobia.
There is this:
Paramount Is Rolling Back DEI Initiatives to Align With Trump Mandates
…but guess that’s been normalized now?
Fortunately, one doesn’t necessarily need to purchase any of the media to enjoy it. When an author or publisher changes flags, so can people 🏴☠️
Oh, for sure, consuming outside the system that fuels that shit is probably the least harmful. And good to know about the Paramount DEI BS.
Just wondering what have McCaffrey and Roddenberry done/said to be included with Rowling? I’m OOTL on those two.
McCaffrey took a turn towards homophobia, adding to her books that only inferior dragons would pick LGB riders, that then were used as a sort of cannon fodder, and a gold dragon queen would only choose strictly hetero riders because they were supposed to be breeders.
Roddenberry was a sexist nuisance, both on set and in the themes he tried to constantly write into the scripts. While claiming tolerance, he chased away some of the actors with his antics. Sexual tolerance themes got written more despite of him, than thanks to him, and mostly appear after he passed away. It can be claimed that he was “a man of his time”, but still.
It’s been ages since I read McCaffrey, but wasn’t there a whole book about an aroace white dragon overcoming that in-universe prejudice and being generally awesome?
Not sure how we feel about “protect the dolls” for a variety of reasons but we’re glad he’s showing support, and he’s such a lovely guy from what we are aware of. 🙂
Yeah, not a fan of the slogan, but at least the profits from the sale are going to Trans Lifeline
We love Pedro Pascal
What a lad
Reading the article makes my blood boil. I want justice.
He’s a treasure 💜
