I mean, I didn’t consider playing it because I’ve never been a fan of Harry Potter, but Rowling’s ramblings definitely didn’t do anything to change my mind.
Comment on Hogwarts Legacy has officially cleared Zelda as 2023's best-selling game worldwide
LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months agoIn that sense, it worked. Let’s face it: The people who don’t care about the author’s raging bigotry were never going to be convinced regardless, but there were a lot of us who didn’t even consider playing it because of the TERF.
JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 3 months ago
LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
I was a moderately engaged HP fan before I learned what a colossally awful human the author is, but her TERF ramblings also made me realize there’s quite a lot of racial and ethnic stereotypes baked into the franchise. It’s probably the fastest I’ve ever totally abandoned an interest in a series. Even if we do separate the works from the author like so many fanbois suggest, they’re still awful.
TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 3 months ago
The whole situation with house elves, goblins and other intelligent magical creatures treated as inferior doesn’t make the story feel to good. It might even be understandable if the heroes realized the deeper problems that couldn’t be solved simply by fighting, but the protagonist ultimately just inherits a slave and becomes an enforcer for the status quo.
In retrospect it makes a lot of words about good and love and doing what’s right feel like going through the motions rather than any real values.
ramble81@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Anecdotally, everyone I’ve talked to about it doesn’t care. They don’t like she’s a TERF and some even condemn her for it, but every single person I’ve talked to separates the world of Harry Potter from her. It basically has a life of its own and the could care less about JKR now, that’s what I’ve been able to surmise of people’s view of it now. It’s like having racist parents but not being labeled as one because you’re a separate entity.
Sage_the_Lawyer@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’m a big gamer, and was a massive HP fan. I did not buy the game, or even consider it, specifically because of JKR’s bullshit.
I may be in the minority, but I guarantee I’m not the only one in this boat. So now you’ve talked to someone who cares, if you count this as talking.
And just to say a little more, no I didn’t crusade against the game, nor do I villainize people who bought it and enjoyed it. I do think it’s possible to enjoy art without liking the artist. Hell, my favorite book series of all time is the Ender’s Game series, and Orson Scott Card is probably just as bad as JKR, though maybe not quite as famous/public about it.
But I can’t bring myself to buy it. I’m trans, and her rhetoric, and how public it is, has been specifically harmful to me, directly. But that’s just me. I won’t tell other people how to live their lives or enjoy their free time, so long as they’re not actively hurting others. And no, I don’t consider buying a game where one person who is profiting from it might spend a sliver of that profit on anti-trans BS to be actively harming others, especially when she already has enough money to do whatever the hell she wants anyways.
This doesn’t make a dent, and ethical consumption under capitalism is impossible anyways. I just hope that some portion of people who bought the game heard about the protests and maybe donated a fraction of what they paid for the game to some pro-LGBTQ groups. I have to believe there’s at least a handful of people like that. I do believe that people are mostly good, and want to do good.
Yeesh, I wrote a lot more than I planned to here. I’ll stop now lol.
Osa-Eris-Xero512@kbin.social 3 months ago
Death of the author only applies if she's dead.
So unless there's been some good news in the last day, those people are just coping
ramble81@lemm.ee 3 months ago
(Thought experiment time) So at what point, if ever, does a universe separate from its creator? Think about Star Wars. There have been a large number of derivative works by multiple authors. However if George Lucas came out against gays and trans people, would you taint the entire franchise? At what point are the two separated, if ever?
LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Yes. I would immediately lose ibr interest in Star Wars and go do something else. There’s plenty of entertainment out there that’s not made by shitty bigots.
Devccoon@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Star Wars is an awkward example because it’s already pretty well tainted itself with mediocre films.
But yes, unironically I would actively stop looking for the shreds of good among the carnage that is the once-beloved franchise if I knew its creator, whose name is still tied to it and who financially benefits at least from the propagation of successful entries under that IP, would be just a little bit more able to get their awful views out there thanks to that success.
wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one 3 months ago
When it stops making them rich as fuck
DadVolante@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
This happens a lot more than you think. It isn’t just coping.
How many movies were produced by Weinstein? How many comics were published by bigots that still re-sell 8n droves today?
Wrestlemania season is here. THAT company is completely vile from the ground up.
Sometimes, people just pick and choose their fiction and legitimately separate the artist from the art. The Harry Potter franchise has outgrown it’s original author, just like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, or almost any franchise.
If you think the world truly is so black and white, you haven’t gone out and experienced enough of it.
wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one 3 months ago
Thats not death of the author, thats you covering your eyes while handing them money.
Death of the author does not exist while the author makes money off the product.
If you pirated the hogwarts game? Then you have room to speak on death of the author. But jkr has a hefty royalties deal on hp products. If you paid for it, the author is living well.
Im sorry you apparently cant face that truth, but that doesnt change it.
TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 3 months ago
So very true.
HP Lovecraft was horribly racist, but his works are in the Public Domain. Neither him, his estate or any causes he supported get any money by engaging with his works. His opinions are still part of his works, but that can be criticized and modified in adaptations and derivative works.
The same can’t be said of living creators who still own and profit from those works. Even if some team deliberately tries to gloss over or alter concerning aspects, the money the author gets might still be directed towards concerning movements.
In all fairness there are concerning aspects in many industries and a lot that we consume, and each person has a lot of other issues to worry about, so while disappointing, it’s inevitable that people won’t care about everything. But I definitely don’t feel confortable giving money to someone who’s spreading hate about people I care for. I used to be a big HP fan but this situation completely spoiled any interest I had in that world… and also helped me realize it was never that good anyway.
Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Lol I said the same thing a bit ago and was down voted for it.