JK Rowling Cancellation

[Dane_Sherbet]

Soft power is simply being in good odor with a lot of people. To counter it, you have to make a stink.

People have done a lot of damage with a lot less than what Rowling has. Constant vigilance!

[WhiskeyMadDog]

I think this pretty much explains why we shouldn't meet our idols.

[indagold]

congratulations, you're giving her what she wants lol more money and publicity. You know she's trying to rile people up right? It's exactly what notch was doing and other rich people on twitter once they got bored with their money.

[WhiskeyMadDog]

I’m here to clarify on my post. I did not defend anyone. I was just trying to point out that we saw the worst of human nature, and that this is how some humans are. I knew about the transphobic thing, I just never knew that it was this bad, that she published a whole fricking essay on it. I was ignorant about this topic. Rowling might never change, and this is what we have to accept, that she will never say she’s sorry. We don’t have to forgive her. While I never liked her books, I’m disappointed. People should still read Harry Potter if they feel like it and enjoy the movies but enjoy them with the consciousness that what she did was horrible. We shouldn’t to give her attention. I will say no more. Agree, or disagree but I will not add on because this debate has already gone up in flames. I suck at debates anyway.

[Aims]

I always fallowed the "separate content, artist and fandom" rule, so yeah, harassing someone just because they enjoy something that was created by a problematic person just sounds stupid, especially because they might just not know who they're supporting.

If you want to cancel someone, do not go after their fans with pitchforks and such, just inform them, and if they still want to consume the content, show them how to get it without supporting whoever you're canceling.

But if they still support the problematic creator after that... Then still don't go after them! You'll just give them a martyr complex and they'll assume a "us vs them" mentality, and then they'll just get worse than members of a creepy cult, trust me.

[Dane_Sherbet]

There seems to be the implication that there's no way to push back against the rich and powerful once they reach a certain level. That after a certain point there's no such thing as bad publicity. And to an extent this may be true . . . but I refuse to buy into the idea that there's nothing we can do, that we have no control over how the cultural conversation goes. Culture belongs to everybody because it comes from everybody. Learned helplessness is not the way forward and we ought to distrust anyone trying to push it on us.

Someone has to say that something is wrong when it is wrong. Someone has to call out the ridiculous. Someone has to say that the emperor has no clothes.

[TAMAnnoying]

There’s a really easy answer actually- you stop talking about them

Cancel culture is shit cause it only hurts the little guy; all that happens to the big guy is that rumors start happening and WOM starts happening- and that ONLY helps the people your upset with- there’s plenty of people who had no idea that JK had a crime series and NOW people know and some people are even like “well the magic system was shit in HP but the mystery was good so maybe crime books are better?” And they don’t give two shits about the controversy cause - as I’ve already stated - humans only have so much brain power each day to be responsible consumers especially where we’re talking about consuming entertainment.

This only helped her.

You wanna make a statement and reduce her income? Stop talking about her.

[Dane_Sherbet]

But first we all have to agree to shun her, and that means a certain amount of conversation and maybe a sign for the latecomers.

And if someone hears that something is hate speech and then goes out if their way to buy it, that's not the fault of the people calling it hate speech. If I advocate being a responsible and ethical consumer, that doesn't make me an accessory to someone's irresponsible and unethical purchases.

[byelacey]

Yes! Also, Karl Popper's paradox of tolerance:

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them."

Basically, if you allow sheep and wolves, you're only going to end up with wolves in the end. Tolerating transphobes endangers lives. We cannot tolerate JK's intolerance.

[DiegoPalacios]

Remember when JK Rowling was awkwardly trying to pander to SJW with bizarre random trivia?.......those were wild memetic/cringy times.....Maybe those are the consequences of trying to appeal to a group she doesn't understand and now it's reaching its logical conclusion......

Now, to wonder if she is transphobic.........Can someone sumarize what did she say/do that was transphobic and who would be kind to share links to the tweets or whatever?

Saw the links to long winded videos about the issue, but i wonder if i am asking too much when asking people to:

[byelacey]

Now, to wonder if she is transphobic.........Can someone sumarize what did she say/do that was transphobic and who would be kind to share links to the tweets or whatever?

I don't think you can summarize the depth of the situation in 20 words or less. There are resources provided, and articles out there. If you google "JK transphobia" you'll find plenty of examples. She generally hides her transphobia behind her "feminism" (hence: TERF), so any tweets from her you'll see are her defending cis women against the trans women she perceives as a threat. And therein lies the problem, and the danger to trans womens' lives in particular.

This "I wonder if she's REALLY transphobic though" sentiments are kind of exhausting after people have provided myriad examples that you just don't want to bother with.

[DiegoPalacios]

Thanks a lot for the reply. Maybe i am feeling lazy for just waking up. Anyway, will follow your advice and do a quick google search to see what i find.

[Mobby]

the fact that you use FoxNews scares me...
however, I agree with you...
also, Rowling's original statement wasn't against transgenders however it was a tweet that could be interpreted differently
what actually made things go downhill was when she tried to defend her statement and didn't properly express herself and I admit she shouldn't have said some of the things she said ...
harry potter came out in 1980 and for its time it's very open and isn't against LGBTQ+ at all
Rowling's original statement was about how after surgery you can't go back and you can no longer have children of your own which is a big thing ...
You shouldn't feel conflicted, if you enjoy something you should enjoy it regardless of what people say ... cancel culture is a joke anyway it was good at the start and now it has literally reached a point that it walks over other people's human rights I have seen nothing good from it .
for someone who has been popular for such a long time I'm surprised Rowling managed to last this long without tripping over all those people who want to drag her down
the internet is scary

don't just take my word for it do your own research on the subject and make your own opinion

[Dane_Sherbet]

So I did a bit of my own research. The first Harry Potter book came out 26 June 1997.

Admittedly cancel culture can be way too heavy-handed and stupid. But you can't fault the sentiment behind it. In this ongoing culture war, it's the side that stands for the people.

[DiegoPalacios]

@byelacey Reached some of her tweets to judge better......there are probably way more out there, but these are what i found on a quick search.

This is a whole topic that would go on a massive tangent......if anyone is interested here is one of the topics that discussed it https://forums.tapas.io/t/getting-rid-of-gender-hear-me-out/28496

Gotta say i agree that surgery and hormone therapy is not a decision that should be rushed because of the health risks. Specially on children and because of the fact that children are on a life stage where they are figuring out their identity.

While i disagree with the analogy, the point about the health concerns are still valid. Pretending that those risks dont exist is irresponsible and people who has gender dysphoria deserve to take a fully informed decision.

Medication for any health issue, physical or psychological need a prescription. This law was made to protect the health of any person.

And here is a point i heavily disagree......there is a thing called menopause and another called not reaching puberty yet, so.....mentruating is not what defines a woman. Also, the "Wumben?,Wimpund?,Woomud?" was an insensitive move that doesnt help her case......

[Mobby]

lmao you are right I ended up typing when Harry Potter was born instead of when the book was published
However, I disagree I am part of no culture war. Culture is culture. because someone tweets something controversial does not give you the right to cancel culture...
you can't say you stand for the people if you are bullying people who just want to enjoy harry potter regardless of this whole tweet thing.
also did you research the tweet of just the books? tbh the books are a lot better than the movies

[KRWright]

https://twitter.com/Carter_AndrewJ/status/1270787941275762689?s=20

This thread goes through most of her concerns and debunks them. The thread creator is the owner of a platform that seeks to end disinformation being spread across social media. Take a look if you want to learn more.

[Mobby]

you really did research it! I like you!!
people like you make my day!
but yeah I agree with what you said... the initial statement defo isn't something that can just be summed up in a tweet...
and she kinda dug her own grave ... she had a valid point but ... wtf why would you explain it that way.
she did kinda make cooked herself up as the perfect prey for cancel culture
but from these I still can't see her being homophobic or against LGBTQ+
idk I never liked cancel culture and I'm not gonna like it now it attempts to just cancel Harry Potter for some tweets

[Dane_Sherbet]

I appreciate that you're going into detail on this, and explaining exactly which parts of cancel culture you think are ridiculous. Yes, I don't agree with bullying either, and especially not bullying casual fans or people who just want to keep having fond memories of the franchise.

But I must respectfully disagree when you say you're not part of the culture war. We're all part of this culture, which means we're all in the struggle whether we like it or not. There's been too much social engineering this last century, and very little of it has been in the public's interest.

@DiegoPalacios I also appreciate that you're moving away from having a twenty-word opinion. May I ask where you think Rowling stands at present?

[Iris-Grimoire]

Giving a ear to a known prejudiced someone "just asking questions" is exactly how we got vulnerable people buying conspiracy theories and some facist lines of thought(Folding Ideas' recent video on this is a good watch if you have the hour and feelings to spare). There's a limit where you just gotta say "regardless of your points being valid, you just want an opening to say bad things about trans people, so how about no", and JK has long since passed it considering the content of her newer books.