I made the same decision with Brandon Sanderson and his fuckin fanclub takes it extremely personally when I point out how problematic he is as an author.
Yes, his writing is good. Yes, his writing is remarkably inclusive with regards to sexual orientation, disability, and mental illness.
However, Brandon is a Mormon first and foremost, and actively tithes to his church. That means a significant percentage of ALL Dragonsteel profits go directly towards the suppression and disenfranchisement of LGBTQ+ programs, sex education, and effective mental health services.
He might write a good story, but his IRL politics are repugnant.
I would love to understand why saying “Don’t support cunts” is such a non-controversial statement.
Until it comes to Harry Potter.
Especially considering how simple it is to do.
I’ll never. Ever. Understand being rich enough to enjoy the rest of your life and choosing to spend that wealth harming innocent people.
I think these hard line stances do more harm than good.
My wife and I are active in not supporting any new things, but to talk about how you think it’s morally wrong to even talk about the franchise is going to alienate a ton of people.
I feel fine talking about it, and the memories I had with it. Because everyone I surround myself with is completely aligned that Harry Potter was meaningful when we were kids and also JK Rowling is a complete fucking asshat.
This sort of purity testing has got to stop. If mentioning the name of Harry Potter marks someone as a transphobe who is equally as bad as politicians actively stripping them of their rights… The movement will never build a coalition.
Saying that financially supporting JK Rowling is actively harming the trans community is a reasonable argument. Saying that talking about Harry Potter, even if you note that JK Rowling sucks, makes you an outright transphobe is not reasonable to me.
it does seem extremist as a perspective, but that extremist might think talking about the franchise is akin to marketing or a more passive or subtle way of the franchise receiving funding.
Probably a better argument is that JK Rowling is not as influential as some anti-trans activists, and our behavior and norms should ideally be rational and reflect those priorities.
I agree with you that coalition building is important, and in this particular case probably more important to trans rights than strict adherence to rules like never speaking of Harry Potter.
JK Rowling is probably the most influential anti-trans activist.
Fuck stopping. Steal it all. Take it and enjoy it without her getting anything. Reclaim the art. Make it your own. Piss her off with fanfic and fan art based on things stolen from her.
You don’t need to stop doing any of this.
Just pirate all of it.
That’s what I did.
That’s still boosting the cultural impact of her work. In some cases piracy increases total sales.
STOP fucking talking about it
Proceeds to post it everywhere
