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There’s just something for everyone in there, isn’t there?
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I dunno, i haven’t read her books but as a Latino i wonder what kind of caricature she has ready for me
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TF did I just read? Holy crap. Slavic eyes!!! Really!!! I mean…racism aside, that’s just some lazy ass writing.
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So much hate… so few books…
I would watch that, actually.
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Maybe when she’s dead people can engage her work despite her character?
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I don’t know if you’re being serious, but that’s my (perhaps naïve) yardstick: Does paying money on a work - or encouraging others to spend money - support people who are trying to hurt other people?
I’m sure there are people out there who will agree that Rowling is hurting people, but argue that she wasn’t involved in the design and buy it because their purchase makes so little difference. Then in the same breath agree that it’s pretty wonderful what JM Barrie did with the royalties of Peter Pan and how that makes a difference.
ETA: Someone told me when I was young that every dollar I spent was a vote on what kind of world I wanted to live in, and I like that explanation of the effect of money. It ignores a lot of harsh realities about diminished choices, but it’s a start for me.
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I’m not sure myself.
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I finally listened to the books a few years ago (from the library) to see what all the fuss was about, and found them mildly entertaining, but I absolutely don’t understand the desire to inhabit that world. Even putting aside Rowling’s bigotry and just looking at the fiction, it’s an uptight strict boarding school full of backstabbing, petty friends looking for the slightest excuse to turn on each other, an entire quarter of the students are openly fascist bullies, the magic is mostly disfiguring and dangerous rather than wondrous, and the school is full of slaves and tormented spirits who live in toilets. I can see how that all is an improvement for a kid whose abusive foster parents make him live in a broom closet, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go there.
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I wouldn’t ever make “do I want to live in this particular fictional universe” my yardstick for enjoying its portrayal. To offer a random example, my favorite webcomic is Girl Genius, but the thought of having to live in the Mad-Science ravaged Europa it depicts would send me screaming.
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I think it does figure into the game aspect of this though, since you would be virtually inhabiting the world.
It’s like I would probably enjoy watching the Last of Us TV show, but I have no desire at all to play a game that mostly seems to involve bludgeoning people (and monsters that used to be people) to death with a hammer and watching cutscenes
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I wouldn’t say it’s that exactly- if that were the case, I certainly wouldn’t be a fan of the horror genre. It’s more that the world and characters are so problematic and unappealing to me that there’s nothing to latch onto that would make me want to revisit that setting once the main story has been resolved. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of players who love Hogwarts so much that they’re willing to give their money to Rowling, even if they don’t like her behavior, just to get to spend more time in that world. That strong attraction is what’s confusing to me.
EDIT: Is it the pumpkin juice?? If it’s just the fantasy cuisine, y’all should go to Redwall or something instead.
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Just for the record… I read and enjoyed the original books, but have no particular desire to re-read them, and Rowling will never get another dime of my money. A creator being an absolute and aggressively public turd in real life IS a reason to stop visiting their fictional universe.
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meh is right. i had read the devs added the character, not rowling. and they’re a background npc. they’re not integral to the story in anyway. pure tokenism.
presumably it’s an attempt to deflect criticism. or worse, it’s the devs trying to make themselves feel better for making a game that’s going to line the pockets of a bigot
a great low stakes way to raise awareness then maybe?
@anon58741709 , ah yes. i too have my father’s eyes. i keep them in a box on the mantle.
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Rest assured, I didn’t take the point you were trying to make as defense of Rowling. It did make me think a bit harder about the other fictional settings I do enjoy, and why.
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If anything, this is just more evidence that we need to promote Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series more.
Forget Harry Potter. I much, much prefer Peter Grant’s journey from brash young constable to becoming a detective sergeant and loving father. Oh, and a wizard in the traditions of Isaac Newton as well.
Come on now, someone get the rights and make a series. My preference would be a co-production between the BBC and AppleTV+, but Amazon Prime seems to do good quality. Netflix has the quality, but would cancel after only one season.
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Interestingly, i enjoyed the books the first time, but its one of the few book series that i’ve been unable to re-read later. I now can’t even finish the first book.
Too many issues that i’d glossed over or gave the benefit of doubt for (example the antisemitic caricature goblin race, i originally thought that there was no way that was deliberate, now i’m certain it was)
Totally done with the series now, i have no intention of even attempting to pick it up again.
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I had lampposts in mind.
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In terms of ethnic stereotypes, “frizzy hair and very clever” would suggest a Jewish Hermione.
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