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.
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.
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’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!”
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.
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.
I think you’re underselling how much she spends on country club memberships and private planes.
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.
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.
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.
With enough time and a vacuum of marketing dollars, it will. The reboot is already flopping.
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!”