Do JK Rowling's transphobic statements impact your interest on WB's upcoming Harry Potter game?

[Muitnorts]

Honestly no. I doubt she has any first hand involvement and I don't know that I have it in me to avoid something I'd enjoy to send a message to a literal billionaire who clearly doesn't give a shit. I doubt anything will change her shitty views.

I totally understand why this sort of thing would colour other people's view of the game, but hundreds of people are involved with games now. I have no idea what the opinions are of most of the people involved with entertainment I enjoy.
I get that this is probably massively privileged of me but I'd rather the game stand on its own and its writers rather than the bigot who created the franchise.

 

[Deleted member 5028]

Seen the latest revelation?

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Eddie Redmayne Joins ‘Harry Potter’ Stars Disavowing J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets

“Respect for transgender people remains a cultural imperative,” Redmayne said in a statement. “Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.”

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Mur2thetaugh]

'Separating the art from the artist' sounds more like a position of privilege and apathy than a skill, to me.

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Are we talking about the same thing?

 

[Heynongman!]

Not even a little bit. She sucks shit, but the devs of this game shouldn't have to suffer for her statements. Avalanche has had a rough go of it in the last few years with Infinity's cancellation.

 

[noyram23]

Definitely, HP is part of my childhood and she pretty much destroyed that part. I can't buy the game knowing she will profit from it.

 

[JoJoBae]

'Separating the art from the artist' sounds more like a position of privilege and apathy than a skill, to me.

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Bingo. Nobody wants to admit that though.

 

[Failburger]

No, while JK is gonna get royalties there's also a lot of other people who worked on this game.

but its safe to say that I'm not reading any more of her books.

 

[Coi]

I don't care about what she is saying on Twitter. Her books will not turn horrible books just because she said that. Also still interested on the game, looks promising.

 

[Mekanos]

Technically speaking, yes, I am less likely to purchase it, but the chance I was ever gonna purchase it was infinitesimal to begin with.

I'm certainly never going to spend money on her work again, regardless.

 

[KaCo]

Yes, even if I wasn't interested in the first place.

I find if pretty easy to drop games no matter how popular the IP is.

 

[Dalik]

I usually separate the artist from the art. JK is her own thing while HP is another.
I know, not a popular way of thinking.

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Pretty popular actually
Also dishonest, apatic and reeking of privilege too.

 

[rochellepaws]

I've loved Harry Potter from as far back as I can remember and it's something bigger to me than just the books or the author but it's undoubtedly tainting the property to learn how hate filled and cruel she is as a person and makes me rethink the motivation behind some aspects of the story.
I'm conflicted at the moment feeling both excited and uneasy for this game.

 

[orochi91]

Nope, it doesn't affect me.

She already has all the money in the world, so this support is for the devs and the HP universe.

As long as it has a single-player mode, I'll buy it~

 

[BDS]

Harry Potter was already a profoundly overrated work of fiction even before Rowling outed herself as a hateful bigot. I grew out of the need for that politically stagnant nonsense long ago.

 

[Deleted member 11370]

I will definitely not touch anything Harry Potter-related ever again. Fuck JKR.

No, the statements of an author of a book series only tied to a (rumored) game taking place in the same universe has not affected my interest at all.

If the game ends up manifesting itself into reality, and it's revealed that she played an active role somehow in the game's creation, then we'll see.

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You are still supporting her, since she is still getting your money. The property is hers, whether she has direct input or not.

 

[Owlet]

Yes and no.

I honestly wish WB would scoop up the rights and cut her out of future Harry Potter stuff.

 

[imapioneer]

No

 

[crimilde]

I wasn't interested in the first place, but yeah she's an awful human being and I don't plan on buying anything that will give her money.

 

[derFeef]

Nope, it doesn't affect me.

She already has all the money in the world, so this support is for the devs and the HP universe.

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This is a bad view of things.

 

[gabegabe]

I think we should just pretend she never wrote the books like we did with Minecraft and that creator that I forgot the name. That's how I'll be enjoying the (if it exists) Harry Potter game.

 

[Just That Simple]

I'd like to imagine all the people who "must" support the developers despite the creator would say if JK Rowling held the view that, say, black people should exist, rather than hold the actual view of "trans women aren't women" that you all seem to be cool about supporting financially.

Everyone pretending that JK Rowling is "suddenly" transphobic and that WB wasn't making a decision to support a transphobic person based on public knowledge years ago are doing a great job of supporting pride month.

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People on Era seem to sweep LGBT-phobic comments under the rug. See Atlus games being popular here.

 

[Castia]

Nope.

 

[rras1994]

It's the fact she profits from it is my issue, I feel kinda bad because she probably did not work on it and the people who did can't control her but I don't like the idea of her getting more money from me either? I still haven't made a full decision yet but it is definitely making me less likely to buy.

 

[Deleted member 925]

Bingo. Nobody wants to admit that though.

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I feel like some people here say it proudly tho. It happens a lot with other topics as well, where people of privilege are able to hand wave problematic shit because it doesn't directly affect them... but they still want to be called allies.

Fuck them, they're a part of the problem.

 

[Spine Crawler]

No, because I had zero interest to begin with.

 

[Patsy]

Not like I ever had any interest in HP to begin with, but I for sure know that if she's gonna profit from this game I'd avoid it even if it looks fun. She still profits from HP shit, you can't say it's the same situation as with Lovecraft who's been long dead or Notch who doesn't own Minecraft anymore. She's openly voicing her transphobic shit & sharing transphobic & lesbophobic shit and on top of that her works supposedly have transphobia, recism & antisemitism too, so yeah, fuck her & her books & whatever else.

I'd like for them to at least openly denounce her transphobic views & show support for trans women, but Gamers would have a fucking meltdown so I guess that'll never happen.

 

[Meg Cherry]

Yes and no.

I honestly wish WB would scoop up the rights and cut her out of future Harry Potter stuff.

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I feel like they're close to publicly distancing themselves from her - but I can't see them getting wholesale rights to the franchise without paying her an enormous buyout - largely defeating the purpose of such an action.

 

[SunBroDave]

Assuming it ends up being a good game, I'll definitely want to play it with my partner because she's a massive HP fan, however I'll match the cost of the game with a donation to the Trevor Project, and I urge everyone else to do the same

The Trevor Project

give.thetrevorproject.org

 

[MintMuffin]

I always see people complain about her being too "woke", first time heard she's a transphobia. Bigots come with different flavors I suppose.

Tokyo Story is considered a masterpiece in film making despite the fact that Yasujiro Ozu was enlisted in the chemical weapon troop of Imperial Japan (nobody cares about it, it's not even in his Wikipedia page, despite himself writing about releasing gas on civilian in his diary). I figure if the world can tolerant, even laud, a war criminal that committed crime against humanity, then what's the matter with a few more bigots?

 

[Midgarian]

I think a person that really wants to play it can do so and still have a guilt free conscience, perhaps donate to Trans causes to offset any guilt felt by giving money to JKR.

I understand the sentiment behind boycotting, but those who boycott something they like will always lose more than the Capitalist will. Let's be honest.

This is one of the bugs of Capitalism. A piece of media that is enjoyed in a communal way by countless people Worldwide, but the monetary profit is gained by someone with vile views.

Unless you can get a boycott momentum going that seriously fucks the profits up, you are just depriving yourself of an experience you will enjoy, while JK remains unaffected either way.

I am all about protest and consumer action. But just trying to approach it rationally.

 

[HardRojo]

Not really. I enjoy the world and, fortunately, she isn't fatured by voice, likeness or anything like that in it and her books or films. It'd be much harder to do this if we were talking about a performer like an actor, a singer or an artist in similar roles.

 

[Spine Crawler]

Bingo. Nobody wants to admit that though.

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you can do that for artist that are dead a long time ago. for living artist I wouldnt do it because they would profit from my money.

 

[TheIdiot]

I will definitely not touch anything Harry Potter-related ever again. Fuck JKR.



You are still supporting her, since she is still getting your money. The property is hers, whether she has direct input or not.

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I understand that I would be indirectly supporting her, but this is a very hypothetical situation. First off, we don't even know if the game exists. Secondly, if it does, we don't know what deal she'd have struck with regards to royalties. As one person mentioned in this thread, for all we know it's an initial payment for a legal license to use the Harry Potter universe, meaning my individual purchase of the game would support the studio and developers, not JK Rowling who would already have laughed her way to the bank.

I think she's a POS, but I think it's perfectly valid for someone to be interested in a game taking place in the Harry Potter universe without JK Rowling's explicit and direct participation.

 

[LuuKyK]

Not really I still adore the series for what it meant to me through my childhood etc, I can't simply delete these memories/nostalgia. I just stopped admiring JK as an author and more importantly as a person.

 

[Sesha]

Love how people are talking about rewarding the devs, as if their purchase makes the slighest bit of difference when millions of others will be buying the game anyway. Don't worry. I'm sure poor lil' Avalanche (and WB) will be completely fine.

 

[Deleted member 5865]

Im more concerned with if her involvement with the game vs how she profits. If this is just a team of people that made a cool Harry Potter game and had to pay for the rights to use that IP, then I don't mind paying for it. JK has enough money for several lifetimes at this point so while I won't be doing something like buy anymore HP books, because the money is pretty much going to her, I don't mind renting an HP movie or something, being that a ton of other people made that art what it was, and profit off of it more than she would.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

No. I still enjoy the Harry Potter books, movies and general universe despite Rowling's statements. You'll more often than not have to distinguish between art and artist, or be left with increasingly less art to enjoy as artists can be terrible human beings yet produce great art.

 

[Meg Cherry]

I think we should just pretend she never wrote the books like we did with Minecraft and that creator that I forgot the name. That's how I'll be enjoying the (if it exists) Harry Potter game.

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The difference is that Minecraft is a service-based game with essentially no narrative. By the time Notch was bought out, the game was much bigger than his initial creation.

Harry Potter is always going to be most famous for Rowling's novels, and those are novels dense with political & social allegory. Her opinions are hard baked into the core of this franchise. Just pretending she doesn't exist won't really do much.

 

[JoJoBae]

I feel like some people here say it proudly tho. It happens a lot with other topics as well, where people of privilege are able to hand wave problematic shit because it doesn't directly affect them... but they still want to be called allies.

Fuck them, they're a part of the problem.

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It's because acknowledging a shitty situation and poopooing it in discourse is the absolute bare minimum. People want to say they're against a thing and then continue on living their lives unchanged. Privileged people all over with all kinds of hobbies are guilty of that hypocrisy. It isn't a problem necessarily unique to here but it does stand out with how left leaning it tends to be.

you can do that for artist that are dead a long time ago. for living artist I wouldnt do it because they would profit from my money.

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You do need to draw the line somewhere, yeah. I would argue that if you are going to indulge in separating art from artist you should at least not do it for art that is extremely visibly shaped by the artist's bigotry. Which Harry Potter is absolutely steeped in it.

 

[Deleted member 925]

I always see people complain about her being too "woke", first time heard she's a transphobia. Bigots come with different flavors I suppose.

Tokyo Story is considered a masterpiece in film making despite the fact that Yasujiro Ozu was enlisted in the chemical weapon troop of Imperial Japan (nobody cares about it, it's not even in his Wikipedia page, despite himself writing about releasing gas on civilian in his diary). I figure if the world can tolerant, even laud, a war criminal that committed crime against humanity, then what's the matter with a few more bigots?

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You would be surprised by how many people are transphobic, even those in the queer community.

But so many queers don't realize that their rights and the modern pride movement is because of a trans woman of color. People are ignorant.

JKR is also an ignorant person, no matter how woke she tries to come off.

 

[Owlet]

I feel like they're close to publicly distancing themselves from her - but I can't see them getting wholesale rights to the franchise without paying her an enormous buyout - largely defeating the purpose of such an action.

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Yeah, exactly. This whole thing is a lose lose.

 

[Knight in Shining Armani]

I've never idolized or cared about creators on a personal level.

 

[Amauri14]

No, but mostly because I didn't care for that game in the first place.

 

[Deleted member 30077]

I've mentioned Amazon above.

Do you believe we should just keep making Bezos rich because he's already rich anyway?

I get where you're coming from, but it's a cynical viewpoint to just say well, it's beyond redemption anyway.

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I mean if you go really extreme with this view then you'd have to boycot every company in existence and go live in the wilderness. Whatever you buy or consume somewhere some bigoted asshole is getting richer from it.

 

[xtib81]

Couldn't care less about what she says. I'm there day 1.

 

[Niosai]

I don't consider anything she says anymore. I just enjoy Harry Potter for what it is/was. Anything she posts on Twitter about it might as well be non-canon, as are basically all of her tweets. It's almost ironic that the characters she wrote to be good people would definitely not hold transphobic viewpoints based on their characterizations.

Like, Hermione, the character, would be 100% disgusted with some of the stuff she's saying.

 

[Xumbrega]

She most likely earned the money when she sold the rights to the Studio making the game, so boycotting the game would just hurt the developers I think, so no, I'm still excited.

Fuck her tho.

 

[Deleted member 64666]

(EDIT: I was provided with quotes of things she has said in the past, and please understand that I was not aware of these. It's heartbreaking to read one of your childhood icons say something as irresponsible as this. My heart goes to the trans community).

I don't think it's fair to say that J.K. Rowling is a vile person. Does she have an incorrect opinion about a scientifically proven subject? Absolutely. But to call her flat out, a vile person is just exaggeration . She wrote a whole book about the importance of love, humanity and the necessity to learn how to sacrifice certain things for a greater cause. I do believe she has a lot of humanity to her... She just does not understand, and does not want to further understand her views about gender. Does that make her any less problematic? Absolutely no.

It's like discussing with my parents subjects they are uneducated about, like sexual health, because they were not lucky enough to have this discussion or brought up in an environment where sexuality was not vilified. I would never say my parents are vile, but do I strongly hate talking about sexuality with them, because they have apparent ancient views about it. I do not have a relationship with them, but I can't say that they are bad or vile people, although they did wish me dead at one point in their lives because they were consumed with the notion of pride and ego.

Rowling needs to push past her ego, and understand that being a trans woman does not take anything away from her being a woman. I'm a gay man, and I did not understand the concept of being trans, before educating myself on the subject. I was lucky enough to not have to do that in the public light as well, and I'm sure a lot of you can say the same thing. Let's all not pretend we were all born with the notion of equality for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people.

Hopefully, she'll choose to let go of her personal ego.

 

[MazeHaze]

I will not purchase. None of my money will go to support this piece of shit. She is out here actively hurting trans people who found solace in her work, in the meanest possible way, on a constant basis. Nah, I'm good. I have trans friends and family members, HP is ruined for me.

 

[Mekanos]

I think we should just pretend she never wrote the books like we did with Minecraft and that creator that I forgot the name. That's how I'll be enjoying the (if it exists) Harry Potter game.

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I don't think it's fair to say that J.K. Rowling is a vile person. Does she have an incorrect opinion about a scientifically proven subject? Absolutely. But to call her flat out, a vile person is just exaggeration. She wrote a whole book about the importance of love, humanity and the necessity to learn how to sacrifice certain things for a greater cause. I do believe she has a lot of humanity to her... She just does not understand, and does not want to further understand her views about gender. Does that make her any less problematic? Absolutely no.

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She wrote books about how slavery is fine and slaves actually want to be enslaved lmao

Fuck her