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Post by Tim on Jul 9, 2020 23:31:32 GMT -5
Not a problem for me, since I was never into HP.
However, as most of you know, I am a big fan of Mr, Lovecraft, however that does not mean I'm blind to his flaws. He was racist, but that was far more the norm a century ago than it is now. And he's been dead for 83 years. Modern readers of his works will not be influenced by his views (since he can't express them on Twitter every day).
However, Jo Rowling reaches more people than Mr. Lovecraft ever did. Many do listen to what she says, and that's bad.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Jul 10, 2020 0:22:55 GMT -5
However, as most of you know, I am a big fan of Mr, Lovecraft, however that does not mean I'm blind to his flaws. He was racist, but that was far more the norm a century ago than it is now. And he's been dead for 83 years. Modern readers of his works will not be influenced by his views (since he can't express them on Twitter every day). However, Jo Rowling reaches more people than Mr. Lovecraft ever did. Many do listen to what she says, and that's bad.
This is another thing, too. Like it or not, we expect better of people living in the present because the bar for decency has risen. Lovecraft's racism was the product of an earlier time, so it has far less impact than similar levels of racism coming from somebody living in the present with an active social media presence (like a certain *ahem* president). This is what makes JKR's words so hurtful. She is a modern celebrity with a very active social media presence and very large, young-skewing fanbase that is using her platform to espouse very hateful and retrograde views. Her transphobia can directly impact people.
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Post by Katie on Jul 10, 2020 0:48:52 GMT -5
This is why you shouldn't have social media if you are famous, stuff like this happens so often. You'd think people would know that using their platform to espouse very hateful and retrograde view would have backlash.
Didn't JKR learn anything from Roseanne.
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Post by Tim on Jul 10, 2020 11:23:53 GMT -5
With great power comes great responsibility.
Guess not. Of course, unlike Rosanne, this hasn't torpedoed Jo's career. Not yet at least.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Jul 10, 2020 16:08:32 GMT -5
Guess not. Of course, unlike Rosanne, this hasn't torpedoed Jo's career. Not yet at least. Emphasis on "not yet." It's still too early to tell, and given how much shit she's stirred up, I can't see her walking away from this without any impact on her career. Especially since she has only doubled-down on her transphobia over the last month. This isn't something that people will just forget after a few months.
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Post by adzpower on Jul 10, 2020 16:47:53 GMT -5
Guess I'll just be as blunt as I can, she needs to shut her damn mouth. Not only are her views ignorant and completely contradictory to her own series (the thing that made her a billionaire), what with Harry Potter being a series that tells the tale of OVERCOMING prejudice, but a lot of people my age grew up with this series, have re-read it time and again, in our childhoods eagerley anticipating each new release to see where our hero went next, and what next evil he overcame in his fight for EQUALITY, something I now know that JK herself does NOT believe in at all.
I'll continue to read the books that I have previously purchased myself if I ever want to again, but she won't be getting one pence, cent, pound, dollar, euro etc from me ever again UNLESS she educates herself and overcomes her middle-ages attitude and issues one hell of an apology to the trans community. I'm bisexual myself, I grew up being bullied for it, teenage life was hell for me, and because of it I have a variety of mental health issues that I am gradually putting behind me. One of the things that kept me going, and kept a lot of people including trans people going during these kinds of difficult times was Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe made an excellent point about not letting her hateful views taint our memories of the books, and I get what he is saying, and to some degree I can do it. But there's a limit. She is literally a walking, talking contradiction, a human rights fraud. Its a struggle for me to think about sitting and reading those books, knowing that possibly she didn't mean an iota of what she was writing. Luckily she's rather easy to ignore, especially since for years now she has been bombarding fans with awful "tidbits" about the series that she makes up on the spot and then tweets about. The now infamous quote about how in the wizarding world, before bathrooms were invented, they would simply urinate on the spot and use magic to tidy up. Yes, she really tweeted that.
Her tweets are an abomination, Cursed Child is a fanfic written by a 6 year old, and the second Fantastic Beasts movie took a giant crap all over Harry Potter continuity. In short, she needs to get her act together or sell her brand to someone who will stop ruining it. That way I might not feel so bad if I buy something Harry Potter related.
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Post by Tim on Jul 10, 2020 17:05:46 GMT -5
Jo should have quit while she was ahead. And kept her yap shut (as we see, and as Lindsay pointed out in her video, Jo has even alienated the former cast of the HP movies).
Good for you, Adam. That is the only way to hurt her, stop buying her stuff and going to see her movies.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Jul 10, 2020 21:24:24 GMT -5
Guess I'll just be as blunt as I can, she needs to shut her damn mouth. Not only are her views ignorant and completely contradictory to her own series (the thing that made her a billionaire), what with Harry Potter being a series that tells the tale of OVERCOMING prejudice, but a lot of people my age grew up with this series, have re-read it time and again, in our childhoods eagerley anticipating each new release to see where our hero went next, and what next evil he overcame in his fight for EQUALITY, something I now know that JK herself does NOT believe in at all. I'll continue to read the books that I have previously purchased myself if I ever want to again, but she won't be getting one pence, cent, pound, dollar, euro etc from me ever again UNLESS she educates herself and overcomes her middle-ages attitude and issues one hell of an apology to the trans community. I'm bisexual myself, I grew up being bullied for it, teenage life was hell for me, and because of it I have a variety of mental health issues that I am gradually putting behind me. One of the things that kept me going, and kept a lot of people including trans people going during these kinds of difficult times was Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe made an excellent point about not letting her hateful views taint our memories of the books, and I get what he is saying, and to some degree I can do it. But there's a limit. She is literally a walking, talking contradiction, a human rights fraud. Its a struggle for me to think about sitting and reading those books, knowing that possibly she didn't mean an iota of what she was writing. Luckily she's rather easy to ignore, especially since for years now she has been bombarding fans with awful "tidbits" about the series that she makes up on the spot and then tweets about. The now infamous quote about how in the wizarding world, before bathrooms were invented, they would simply urinate on the spot and use magic to tidy up. Yes, she really tweeted that. Her tweets are an abomination, Cursed Child is a fanfic written by a 6 year old, and the second Fantastic Beasts movie took a giant crap all over Harry Potter continuity. In short, she needs to get her act together or sell her brand to someone who will stop ruining it. That way I might not feel so bad if I buy something Harry Potter related. I couldn't have said it any better myself, Adam. I really, REALLY wish JKR had just laid low and moved on after the last book came out. Those 7 books, plus the movies and merchandise, already gave her enough royalties to set her for life. She didn't need to open her mouth or write anything else. She could've just quietly retired and gone down as the woman who wrote the most beloved YA fantasy series of the last 30 years. Nothing more, nothing less. But, greed ended up getting the best of her. She wasn't content with just letting HP fade away with Deathly Hallows. She wanted to be a full-blown celebrity and not "merely" a famous author. She wanted to be in the spotlight for as long as possible and wring every last drop out of the HP brand. And, in doing so, she ended up tanking her entire career and reputation. Whoops.
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Post by Tim on Jul 10, 2020 23:51:28 GMT -5
It's only a matter of time before Jo joins Rosanne Barr on the list of celebs that blew up their own careers.
If she had stopped after that first Tweet, she might have been able to pull back. However, she kept going, and it's too late now.
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Post by adzpower on Jul 11, 2020 4:04:49 GMT -5
The sad thing is that if she had decided to stick to focusing on her work, instead of enjoying being a celebrity, she probably could have written many more books set in that world that would have ended up just as good, without the influence of celebrity and social media, she could have just continued making great stories in her world, instead she's bombarded it with inaccuracies, continuity errors and now I guess transphobia.
There was a lot of potential for the series once the Harry Potter portion of it was over, she wasted it. At the very least if she wasn't going to continue it, like you said Betty, she could have just retired with her literal billions of dollars and lived a relaxing, quiet life with no problems. But now she thinks she's some kind of feminist activist, who only champions SOME women.
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Post by Squad 51 on Jul 11, 2020 8:29:45 GMT -5
JKR started once simply but her wealth shows another side of her. Unfortunately, it isn't good when even the actors of her movies go against her. That's just sad!
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Post by Tim on Jul 11, 2020 11:35:10 GMT -5
There was a lot of potential for the series once the Harry Potter portion of it was over, she wasted it. At the very least if she wasn't going to continue it, like you said Betty, she could have just retired with her literal billions of dollars and lived a relaxing, quiet life with no problems. But now she thinks she's some kind of feminist activist, who only champions SOME women.
Yeah, she blew it. She could have stayed off Twitter, or stopped after that first Tweet. Yet, she kept going, alienating many, including the cast of the HP movies.
I wonder how many will now stop buying her books and such. This will show how much damage to her career she's done.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Jul 30, 2020 13:27:43 GMT -5
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Post by Tim on Jul 30, 2020 16:25:09 GMT -5
Saw this bit:
WHAT?? She's threatened to sue a children's website? The people who read her books? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
Looks like poor Harry is up against a menace he can't defeat, the bigot who created him.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Jul 31, 2020 11:47:43 GMT -5
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