Comic Strips

Attacking people for liking Harry Potter is the epitome of pointless performative action. It does nothing to help with the root problem.

You can, you know, read another book

For Harry Potter fans in particular, may I suggest The Guy We Don't Mention in the Same Sentence. You know. Terry Pratchett.

While I agree it’s logical to boycott her, portraying HP fans as trans abusers is a bit much. If buying the HP books is equivalent to punching a chained down trans person in the face then absolutely none of us, including the artist here, haven’t done worse.

I’d bet anything they have bought products on Amazon, which makes them responsible for Bezos. Does that artist have an X account for advertisement? That gas they buy makes them responsible for violence the middle east. Are they one of the remarkable few who ethically source clothes without child labor? Bet not.

I boycott all kinds of stuff, but demonizing people for not joining you is nonsensical in this consumerist hellscape where complete harm avoidance isn’t possible.

The really weird thing is how many LGBTQ folks latched onto HP in its early releases as what was recognized to be a kind-of pro-queer YA novel.

You had a young boy who was literally in the closet, disowned and disrespected by family, who is spirited away to a magical school where his differences are valued and cultivated. He's got a bunch of friends who could easily sub in for queer icons. There are gender-bending magical spells, the bad guys are explicitly fascist, most books end with some kind of "The power of friendship and love will triumph!" rejoinder. FFS, Dumbledore is canonically gay.

It is far more a testament to the psychologically corrosive power of plutocracy that JK Rowling went off the rails. I don't think it's unfair for people to like the books and hate the author. Just remember not to pay for anything and you're fine.

Your outrage is meaningless. You're screaming into a void that either already agrees with you or doesn't give a shit.

I don't give a shit. Your argument is hollow and rings of hurt feeling and betrayal. Of the hundreds of upvotes most consume corprate media that funds worse people.

This isn't a noble grand stand, you're just butthurt and picked a popular target to hate. Manufactured transphobe Nickleback.

Even if a book I read as a teenager was the best book of all time and the author was the greatest person to ever live who was literally Jesus I would still read other books because being a literate adult requires one to read a wide variety of new material over time lol

O don't mind anyone enjoying media from problematic figures if they enjoy it. I just don't want those fans to monetarily support those figures.

Sail the high seas if you wanna partake in such content.

I personally feel that it's perfectly fine to boycott problematic figures. Speech has real effects and should be treated like it.

But once you accept the equivalence of speech/reading and violence you can start choosing to regulate speech/reading as violence, or free up violence as speech. I don't think either is a great idea. Do you think that any of you have never said something hurtful to others? Should you be jailed for it?

I await all the civil and non-hurtful replies from peaceful and sympathetic people I am likely to garner for this stance.

When I see this shit I want to read HP. Not because I like it, I hated the books, just out of spite.

I'm over 40.

I gave up Bill Cosby. I gave up Kevin Spacey. I gave up all of the 80s and 90s movies about toxic masculinity and misogyny. I gave up Aerosmith (maybe Steven Tyler hasn't been canceled yet but COME ON have you heard the lyrics to any single one of his songs). I gave up Michael Richards (and Seinfeld too). I gave up Michael Jackson.

You can give up Harry Potter. It's the right thing to do, it's worth it, and it's the adult decision. Grow up and check your allegiances. They'll define you.