Mass cultural boycotts of Russian culture such as banning books by Dostoevsky, the Bolshoi, pulling Russian films from film festivals, operas, plays etc is extremely wrong because a disgraceful autocrat is carrying out atrocities that is not in the name of the Russian people. The bastardization and degrading of culture is always wrong and it can expand to wider barbarity and dehumanization. Censoring Russian art is not an anti-war position.
I wonder how many people who treat stringent content moderation and cancel culture as civilization’s first, last, and only line of defense against a world of widespread misogyny and racism understand how many of their favorite bits of entertainment would be unacceptable by today’s standards.
And no, I’m not talking about books written in 1884, when Mark Twain could drop the n-word more often than a hyperactive squirrel with paws coated in butter would drop an acorn and have no one bat an eye. I’m not talking about movies released in 1961, when a white actor could play a racist caricature of a Japanese landlord to widespread praise from critics. I’m talking about 2006.
That year, Markus Zusak gave us The Book Thief, an eerily beautiful coming-of-age book set in Nazi Germany whose virtues would be drowned out by the flood of trigger warnings modern gatekeepers would attach to it. Opening with the death of Liesel’s brother (tw:death, tw:child death, tw:parental abandonment) it includes a loud, abrasive foster mother (tw:abuse, tw:child abuse, tw:verbal abuse, tw:mental abuse) who is portrayed as a headstrong protector of her family (tw:abuse apologism) and the Jew they hide in their basement (tw:white saviorism), as well as a meek foster father who kowtows to his wife’s ways (tw:domestic abuse) and teaches Liesel to roll cigarettes (tw:smoking). It’s narrated by Death (are there even enough trigger warnings for that?) who, rather than condemn characters who have embraced Hitler and Nazism, points to the bitterness, grief, and misinformation catalyzing their fervor (tw:Nazi apologism).
For those of you readying a barrage of rebuttals to that summary, scrolling down to the comments to tell me that I stripped the book of any nuance—that’s the whole point. The Book Thief is a very nuanced story that conveys its message in shades of grey. Few characters are wholly good or wholly evil. Death is a neutral figure, condemning the horrors of war while pitying those who fight it no matter their side, portraying the nightmarish consequences of hatred while showing the reader how it is born. But since when has nuance ever mattered to someone riding high on a wave of righteous anger?
Moving on, 2006 was also the year My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade, which sees Death (tw tw tw) telling the story of The Patient, a man whose life was filled with war, depression, political unrest, PTSD, religious guilt, self-loathing, broken relationships, and near-constant suicidal ideation—a life that ends in his thirties from heart complications due to a long, painful, emotionally draining battle with cancer. Millions of depressed kids, teens, and adults have found catharsis in the album’s raw, honest lyrics, but those same lyrics would earn the band a #CancelMCR hashtag today. To wit:
Another contusion, my funeral jag/Here’s my resignation, I’ll serve it in drag: Mocking drag queens and men who crossdress. Using a very real expression of gender identity for shock value. Blatantly transphobic.
Juliet loves the beast and the lust it commands/So drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands Romeo: Toxic relationship. Probably violently abusive. #DumpThePatient, lady, and #MCRStopRomanticizingAbuse.
Wouldn’t it be grand to take a pistol by the hand?/And wouldn’t it be great if we were dead?: Oh my fucking god, they’re romanticizing suicide now? How was this album even allowed to be made? Who let this happen and how soon can we #cancel them?
If you’ve heard the album, you know none of the above interpretations are remotely true. You’ve probably shaken your head at the Daily Mail’s infamous claim that My Chem promoted self-harm and suicide, but the sad truth is that if The Black Parade were released in today’s climate, that claim would probably be taken up by the very people who now consider themselves fans. The raw honesty that resonated with so many could easily be taken as a stamp of approval on the very suicides its songs have prevented. The anti-suicide anthem, “Famous Last Words,” could be ignored or twisted into a mockery of those who condemn suicide, and the darkly wholesome “Welcome to the Black Parade” music video would likely be taken as enticement toward teens who want to end their lives: “Look at all the cool things you’ll get to see once you’re dead and gone!”
Again, anyone who is even a casual fan of The Black Parade knows this is a deliberately malicious misreading of the material. My Chem’s music has been gratefully embraced by LGBTQ+ kids looking for a place to belong, and the band members have been outspoken in their support. They’ve been quoted, on multiple occasions, speaking out against suicide and self-harm. We know Parade is not pro-anything except pro-keep on living. But we know this because we gave the band a chance to tell us. We assumed good intent when we listened to their music, and so their intended message came across without interference. Were Parade released today, in the era of AED (Assume the worst, Exaggerate the damage, and Demand outsized retribution), the resulting furor (and refusal to hear their objections to the rampant misinterpretations) could very well have forced My Chem to vanish into obscurity.
And look. I’m not against content moderation wholesale. I actually think it’s done some good in the world of entertainment. Podcast hosts and book reviewers who warn audience members about triggering content allow them to avoid that content before they suffer an anxiety attack. As a librarian, I have personally and enthusiastically recommended Does the Dog Die?, a website (doesthedogdie.com) that tracks hundreds of anxiety triggers in media, to colleagues who work with kids so they can allow their students to request a different book or movie if the assigned one would cause undue distress. Trigger warnings can prevent anxiety attacks. Content moderation allows audiences to make informed choices.
But some things are toxic in high amounts, and when it comes to content moderation, we’ve long since passed that mark.
When trigger warnings are used not as honest labels of content, but as a means to frighten people away from material they might otherwise enjoy, trigger warnings become toxic.
When self-appointed content moderators tell others what interpretations they should take from a piece of entertainment, rather than allowing them to come to their own conclusions, content moderation becomes toxic.
When artists are afraid to produce their most honest work for fear their honesty will be twisted into something dark and ugly, the world of fandom becomes toxic.
Content moderation is not bad in itself. It can actually be a valuable tool for sufferers of anxiety, PTSD, and other disorders. But when it goes hand in glove with cancel culture, it becomes a monster, keeping audiences from discovering something they might otherwise enjoy by twisting the content into something it’s not.
By all means, tag your triggers. Warn about your content. But don’t tell your followers to expect something horrible that isn’t even there.
you don’t have to cancel everyone the second they misstep or do something dumb but you also DON’T have to defend everything that your fave does. you can say “hey this particular thing sucked” without getting into this all-or-nothing mentality. you are not an extension of the things you like. you can think freely and criticize the things (and people) that you like, and a criticism of something you like is not something that you should take personally or feel the need to correct/defend.
You can say “I don’t eat meat, it’s morally wrong” and that’s fine, but you can’t say “nobody should be allowed to consume meat and dairy because it’s ethically wrong”.
Also if five or even ten thousand people are vegan that won’t stop meat processing from happening. Animals will still be slaughtwred, milk and honey will still be gathered and sold in every country.
What I’m saying is you can say “I refuse to consume art made by this terrible person” and that’s cool, I respect that, I can’t watch American Beauty the same way ever again. Or at all. But to say “if you enjoy art by this person then you’re a bad person” that’s wrong. Shaming people, kids, adults for enjoying Harry Potter and making them feel like if they love those books and movies that they are bigots is…wrong.
Saying that Marilyn Manson’s music should be banned from everything and that HP LoveCraft books should never be sold again is wrong. Read LoveCraft Country or at least read the part where the protagonist explains that just because a bad person made something beautiful that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it anymore, it’s important to know history, and it’s important to appreciate the beauty in something ugly.
The best you can hope for is that people who committed crimes will face punishment for their actions, but those bad people don’t cease to exist because you decided to stop consuming their art, they still exist.
Shane Dawson coming back to the Internet being all uwu sweet wholesome baby and not mentioning anything that has happened but instead vaguing about like he’s the victim is so infuriatingly hilarious dude you’re a grown ass man HFJDHSJJSHDS
For the past 2 years, I’ve been stalked on reddit, 4chan, tumblr and various other websites. These people have a whole forum dedicated to me, spreading lies about me, and stalking my friends and family in efforts to “finding my nudes” which do not EXIST! First of all its CHILD PORNOGRAPHY (real or fake) and second of all its just not what kind of person I am. So what these people ended up doing was cutting my face off of a selfie (from when I was 15 years old!) and photoshoppingit onto a naked body to make it seem like its me.
I was horrified when I saw the picture floating around tumblr with thousands of reblogs, my image is virtually ruined. I felt panicked thinking what if my parents or school saw that and thought it was real!? how could they ever get that image of me out of their head? How can I?
This misogynistic obsession with exposing young girls naked pictures needs to stop. I dont even know how to properly address this because it freaks me out, but I just want to make this post to warn people that this could happen to anyone, be careful what you see and post online. I don’t know what to do at this point except put this out there to clear my name.
Conservative Republicans less likely than other partisan, ideological groups to describe ‘cancel culture’ as actions taken to hold others accountable, 2020
the whole “fiction doesn’t affect reality” argument is actually kinda racist…
people talk about like how finding nemo and jaws are great examples but nobody ever talks about how fiction has shaped our perceptions of different racial and ethnic groups
like do you think the media has no hand in why alot of ignorant white people think africa is a desertland and not a continent of different countries, full of rich and diverse cultures, beautiful buildings and riches? or why they think asia is only japan, korea and china? when asia is also india, bhutan, the Philippines, nepal, etc?
do you think that media and fiction hasnt allowed whites to view black people as ignorant and lazy thru cartoons and minstrel shows?
like if you really think what youre seeing on tv doesnt affect reality and how people think then like. you must be fuckin stupid.
i know i know water is wet, all these studies to tell you what common sense could. but like … there is very real research out there that shows fiction has a very real harmful impact on minority communities. and that positive representation has a positive effect on these communities.
so no. fiction is never just fiction. and frankly people who think fiction is just fiction can fuck off.
And as creators of fiction we owe it to ourselves and our audience to be aware of these things and to do our very best not to feed that particular beast.
Whoever is using Jaws or Finding Nemo as examples of fiction not influencing people is wrong. Both of those had a huge ecological effect and negatively impacted conservation efforts.
If a fictional shark can put a species on the endangered list just think of what centuries of racist portrayals of people of color has on society.
Fiction is where people learn their first lessons on interacting with other people, other cultures, and new ideas. Fiction can change minds and save lives, but it can also destroy lives.
Never, ever underestimate the power of fiction
Yup. We are the stories we tell ourselves. The good news for writers is that fiction DOES matter. But that good news comes with the responsibility to be thoughtful, ethical, and progressive with the characters and narratives we put forth into the world. Let’s not reinforce the same old shit!
Sidenote: I think the whole “It’s just a story” argument is a weak excuse made by people that want a blank check to write whatever-the-fuck-they-want. Then, when confronted about how they’re perpetuating racist/sexist/etc. bullshit, they come back with “It doesn’t matter.” Ironically, those are usually the same people who freak out when they do an all-female Ghostbusters reboot or something, but whatever…
Reblogging again because I need to pull this up for some TikTok videos about “The Pawn and the Puppet” aka a super ableist and transphobic book written by a popular indie BookTok user.
A lot of trans people, including myself, have called out this book but we keep getting told “it’s just fiction!”
The problem is that this argument exists in two forms on Tumblr.
One form says “fiction affects reality” and what they mean is, representation matters. Accurate portrayals of other cultures matters. Exactly the argument made above. And they’re talking about mass media, Disney and Warner Bros and Paramount and all them, the movies, the TV we all watch. Netflix, HBO. The books we tell our children are important to read, the books we find for ourselves that speak to us. This is an argument for better representation, better research, more roles for a greater variety of people and plots that let different kinds of characters shine.
The other form says “fiction affects reality” and what they mean is, portrayals of bad things will normalize those bad things, even if it’s clear from the portrayal that it’s bad. And they’re talking about fanfic. Fanfic, where if you get an audience of 100 people you’re doing great. This is an argument for censoring fanfic and demanding that no one write pedophilic relationships… or age gaps… or age gaps of 1 year if they’re 17 and 18… or a short cute woman and a tall man because that’s “coded” as pedophilia… you get the idea. And it’s not enough to properly tag those materials to keep them out of the hands of people who take responsibility for curating their own experience, and choose not to read those things. They have to not exist.
It’s a good idea to clarify which argument you’re making, or arguing against, when you’re talking about fiction affecting reality. Because one of those arguments is about pushing back against mass media’s tendency to amplify stereotypes, and the other is about censoring a form of expression that’s created mostly by young women and afab people to express sexual and romantic feelings that women (and anyone society thinks is a woman) are told they should not have.
I do absolutely agree with the points made above. But I have to admit, I’m so much more used to the second argument, at first I didn’t recognize that the posts above are arguing the first argument.
here’s the thing about “fiction affects reality” – the effects of fiction are 1) cumulative, 2) not universal, and 3) not direct.
it’s not “you read one story about a black person who’s a gang member and immediately you assume all black people are gang members.” it’s “90% of black characters you see are gang members and so over time you associate the two with each other because it’s just so common.” it’s “you never see a single bisexual character or hear the word ‘bisexual’ so you don’t even have the vocabulary to describe your own experiences.” it’s “you and a friend read the same story, but come away with two completely different interpretations of it because you are different people with different experiences.”
and finding nemo is actually a great example of something being actively opposite to the intended message of the movie. like, the reason they need to find nemo is because nemo was kidnapped by an evil tropical fish hunter and sold as a pet to live in an aquarium, which is portrayed as a horrific prison that slowly turns you insane and at any time you could be shaken to death by a kid with headgear. and a bunch of people watched it and went “ooh! clownfish as pets! sounds neat!”
when people say “fiction affects reality” in the context of fanfic they don’t like, it’s never articulated like this. it’s “you write one story about a 30-year-old dating a 50-year-old and everyone who reads it will immediately start thinking pedophilia is okay, and also, that was your deliberate intention when you wrote the story, fic writer.”
Can we talk for a second about how extreme cancel culture has gotten? It feels like every week I find out some dirt on a Korean actor came out and before even hearing the public’s response (which will be a brutal attack) the industry cancels that actor out of fear. It really has gone too far. I’m all for believing the victim, I don’t want to say “But what about their career and reputation?” because that’s a lame excuse in any situation but here I am thinking just that when someone is canceled over completely unproven claims. If a crime has been committed it should be thoroughly investigated by the police and private matters should stay private.
For example, I used to like Ji soo In Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and he was cast out very quickly. Maybe he is a piece of shit, maybe not, I don’t KNOW anything about him. Last I checked nothing was proven and while he did apologize for bullying in school he denied the sexual assault allegations. But whatever, we’re never gonna see him again.
This is a problem because if false accusations are on the rise that will make things so much more difficult for actual victims of actual crimes. The way things are going we’re going to either cancel every single Korean actor or stop believing people when they speak up for themselves. My personal beliefs are that anyone, including celebrities, should face harsh consequences for sexual assault, rape, and violence. School bullying, being a possessive girlfriend, getting a divorce, having a messy end to a relationship, etc. are not anyone’s business.
I hate the cancel and hate culture of the series fandoms, solely on the basis of their OTPs and ships.
Like dudes, wake the fuck up. Your ship is a tiny dot in the vast, colorful and astounding universe of the show. Y'all behaving rudely just because something that you wanted didn’t happen is basically a slap on the face to the creators of all these amazing shows that they spend so much time and hard work on. It’s their show, they can make it however they like it. Remember that they’re the one with the whole story and plot, not us, and that they always strive to present the show in such a way that every single aspect is intertwined, making sense in the end.
Fucking wake up and look past that one percent faulty and appreciate the other 99 percent mastery. Idiots.
Actually really sad about John Mulaney. Can’t wait for the wave of people smugly implying that they always knew he was trash and anyone who liked him was stupid and/or bigoted as if he wasn’t hugely popular and memed constantly on here.
Like it’s okay to say you were wrong. Or that you are let down and disappointed because you were a fan. Like it doesn’t make you morally corrupt for having liked someone who ended up acting shitty…
The more we can sit with our own discomfort, recognize it, and do something for ourselves about it, the better we are. this used to be pretty much the default way of dealing with shit like this, and it’s such a disappointment to see how extreme things have become :\
Great looking one-day symposium: Queer Utopias.CFP: Camps, (In)justice, and Solidarity in the Americas – Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camps. CFP: Kinship in the Fiction of N. K. Jemisin: Relations of Power and Resistance. CFP: SFRA Panels at ASLE 21. CFP: Migration and Exile in Science Fiction. CFP: Black Feminism on the Edge. CFP: The Routledge Handbook…
I have said it before and I will say it again, just because you have been marginalized or discriminated against, does not mean you are then allowed to marginalize or discriminate against other people.
In this week’s FFR we have a pipin’ hot entertainment roundup! ☝
Who’s being tragically transphobic this week? What’s the latest in video game labor? What brave artist can tackle the dreaded menace of cancel culture?
We talk all this and more. Find it with the link in our bio!
never want to hear people say anything about onlyfans again while lin manuel m*randa is selling 70 dollar framed lip bite selfies
deranged
It really is deranged how the post left out this:
99% of stage crew and cast are UNEMPLOYED UNTIL 2021.
99% ARE UNEMPLOYED UNTIL 2021!!!
So get off his dick over him trying to help keep stagehands and cast members alive while congress is about to pull our fucking $600 unemployment relief money at the end of the month. What the fuck have YOU done for the crew of the plays and shows you like??? Fucking nothing- or you COULD support them by buying something like this but fuck 99% of an industry out of work atthat pricetag, rite?
Because you realize none of your other favorite tv shows that have fucking gotten you through this pandemic are working too, right??? That NO ONE is working?? That we’re all fucked?? But most of all STAGEHANDS AND CASTMEMBERS are UNEMPLOYED UNTIL 2021. And you guys want to shit all over an effort to try and help them out.
Never ever get near a playhouse, opera house, concert venue, or ballet house ever again. You’re all banned. You ungrateful pieces of shit.
thank god
i really could not give less of a shit about these people and their “struggles”
Yiiiikes. So the people working behind the scenes can just go fuck themselves? Most crew make SIGNIFICANTLY less than that, and that’s not even going into the non-unionized workers doing smaller productions off Broadway. And the folks like me, who are both non-unionized AND still new to the industry, ie. haven’t had enough consistent work to even pay bills, let alone build up a safety net.
Also, the idea that he’s asking for “donations from his broke-ass fans” is just bonkers. First off, these are not donations. These are sales. 100% of sale proceeds are donated, meaning he’s the one paying production costs for printing and framing. And maybe his former popularity in tumblr circles makes it seem like exclusively young broke people follow him, but this man is a BROADWAY star. You do realize the general Broadway-going demographic is wealthy, right? Why wouldn’t he use his clout with them to benefit the many, many people in the industry who can’t make ends meet right now?
Could Miranda be doing more? Sure, maybe. However it’s not like we know what his private donations are, and frankly I don’t think he should have to produce receipts or whatever just to prove he’s meeting your personal quota of good deeds. Yeah, I doubt he’s the perfect uwu angel people initially made him out to be here. No one lives up to their pedestal. But going searching for ways to tear apart even the positive acts of public figures the second someone decides they’re “cancelled” is helping absolutely no one, least of all the people actually in need.
you know how some parents do that toxic thing where they don’t notice or reward kids for improving their behavior, but every screw-up gets remarked upon and used to inflict shame? so you’re stuck in that awful cycle where there are no rewards, only the inevitability of eventual punishment?
and how that makes it extremely hard to judge your own actions or grow into a better person, because there’s no one to confirm that you actually are doing better, and are capable of improving, and are not doomed to forever be a terrible person incapable of growth?
ok so: I don’t know how to explain to you that we’ve built a social media culture that treats people the same way. with the same abusive cycle.
That sounds like cancel culture
I don’t know what to call it anymore. people get heated about terms like “purity” or “cancel” or “call out” culture, or can’t seem to agree on a meaning. I’m not talking about like. no longer supporting rich and powerful celebrities when their abusive actions come to light. I’m not talking about holding people accountable, or warning people about active abusers. but I am seriously concerned about how we treat social media users once they get even a small amount of attention, even in small niche spaces.
I am concerned about this culture of combing through years of people’s social media accounts, looking for “problematic” shit they’ve done. I am concerned with the whole culture of using “call outs” as a tool to harass and ostracize users large and small. I am concerned about the malice we spread behind people’s backs, in screenshots and posts they aren’t able to see. I am concerned with this culture of demanding apologies for things said years ago, things already outgrown and regretted, and of ignoring those apologies even while pilling on more censure. I’m concerned about this whole culture of accusation and misinformation, where the most outrageous claims and holier-than-thou performances are rewarded with notes and views, even as facts are ignored and context removed. I am concerned about the lack of accountability, the way the accused is given no opportunity to defend themselves from the onslaught, the way their responses and explanations go ignored, the way any charge can be made at any time on any evidence, with no ability to appeal or exonerate. I’m concerned about the way this culture targets minority users andturns their own communities against them. I’m concerned about the actually harmful and predatory behavior that gets lost in the bog, and how we have lost the ability to distinguish between shades of gray with any level of sanity. And I am concerned by the sheer number of people who fail to realize they are perpetuating bullying and harassment.
I am enormouslyconcernedwith the way people who are “called out” are never forgiven, never allowed to make amends, never allowed to grow, how their efforts to learn and do better are ignored even while strangers callously repeat and reblog and retweet the same criticisms ad nauseam.
And I see this everywhere,happening to anyone. And yes, this applies to larger accounts and youtubers and “influencers,” and a bunch of content creators who may or may not be making a decent living off of their work, but who are certainly not “rich and powerful celebrities.” (Because apparently we spend so much time in online microcosms that ya’ll can’t tell the difference???) Christ, my blog isn’t nearly as large as some people seem to think, it’s obscureby most measures, and still I’ve been the target of mass harassment for years. I’ve seen bad and watched others go through worse, seen users with far larger and far smaller followings driven off of this and other platforms—driven off with a violence and bloodthirst that had nothing to do with making a community safer and everything to do with a toxic culture gone wrong. Fucking fix this already.
Abuse is still abuse when it happens online,when done by strangers, when done en masse, when sanctioned by a community, and when done with “good” intentions. Do BETTER.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: it’s more important to know and understand fully why something is harmful than it is to drop everything deemed problematic. It’s performative and does nothing. People wonder why nobody has critical thinking skills and this is part of it because no one knows how to simousltansly critique and consume media. You need to use discernment.
This is ultimately why propaganda is going to work on you. Because you never learned how to think for yourself and the actual ideology behind things. You simply rely on group think and the bare minimum explanations to tell you what’s good and bad.
Sawthis article linked on twitter yesterday and…. yeah. YEAH.
Okay I have a lot of thoughts on this so this is probably going to get super long.
The main things I’ll elaborate on:
1. Critical thinking is important.
2. Nuance (also important) and critical thinking are not the same thing, as the repost above is conflating them to be.
3. Your public support (or lack thereof) of a work deemed problematic has meaning, and you should consider that meaning before engaging.
4. Kindness and empathy need to be present in these conversations for those who have the energy and capacity.*
So the above posts are (I believe) pretty clearly talking about Harry Potter and JK Rowling, and how people have been dumping Harry Potter over the last several years because it’s been deemed problematic. OP is saying that this is due to group think and a lack of critical thinking and/or willingness to look into and fully understand why something is problematic. I will admit I may be wrong, as the repost linked article is about a different work, but I do want to use HP as an example of how this thinking may be flawed.
First, I agree that people need to be practicing critical thinking skills. It happens way too often that things just get shared without any fact checking. The most recent example being “Elon musk said he’d give $6Billion to end world hunger if given a plan and then didn’t do it then bought Twitter for 7x more than that” yes, elon musk is absurdly rich and I am not a fan for a number of reasons, but this is still a bit misleading (“ending world hunger” was not on the table for one, and due to legality with anonymous donations it is *theoretically* possible that he has done it [or at least 5.75billion] and we just….can’t get confirmation of that). That said, is the sentiment that the absurdly rich should be more proactive about giving back and have some responsibility to use a small percent of their wealth to do good in the world or care for their fellow humans still a valid sentiment, and something Elon musk doesn’t seem to be living up to? Is it absolutely ridiculous that an individual can buy an entire social media company? Absolutely. Should he be off the hook because the facts in the quippy little post that’s blowing up are a little off or don’t tell the whole story? I don’t think so, because there’s still some truth to the message the post is really trying to get to. Anyway, critical thinking is super important, especially in the age of algorithmically designed social media ‘bubbles.’ Please fact check things before blindly posting them. And let people know when you choose to post something anyway that may be misleading, and why.
Second, you can’t make a nuanced opinion without talking about specifics. That’s the whole point of a nuanced opinion, is that it’s going to be different depending on the (nuanced) circumstances of each thing. I know OP didn’t bring up nuance in particular and that was the repost, but it does ring true for “you need to use discernment” as well.
In the case of JK and HP (which again is what I believe OP is talking about, but they failed to be specific in their sweepingly broad statement about critical thinking, so I may be incorrect), HP was deemed harmful because of a number of things:
The primary reason, of course, was JK being deemed a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) based on the fact she opposes trans rights bills, doesn’t seem to believe that trans women are really women, specifically doesn’t want to open up women’s spaces to trans women for fear of men taking advantage of that and pretend to be trans to gain access to spaces where they can prey upon women. This is all stuff that was in her blog about it (which I did actually read, unlike a certain fantastic beasts actor who condemned people for cancelling her without knowing things/making judgements without knowing the facts when that’s what he did by judging people who’ve cancelled her without educating himself on it first?), so this is verifiable things people can look up and find it’s true. She’s also publicly supported anti-trans politicians and researchers, and continues to double down on her position whenever confronted about it.
Since then, the negative things about the books have been more in the forefront and people have been calling attention to them. Antisemitic themes in the descriptions of goblins, the gross abusive grooming behavior of Dumbledore, the lack of diversity, the queer baiting (that’s a little outside the books but still), etc.
All this to say: there are very valid reasons to be upset with the state of Harry Potter right now. OP said “No one knows how to simultaneously critique and consume media. You need discernment.” Well, There are reasons why someone would think critically about the situation and not want to consume or engage in it any more; that is discernment.
Especially because the media does not exist in a bubble! JK has made a lot of money off of Harry Potter (and continues to do so), and can use that money and her influence to continue to support anti-trans politicians etc. Her views are harmful to trans people, and her having the influence to spread and perpetuate those views makes it exponentially more harmful.
Now, that said, as well as getting to the paranoid vs reparative reading point of the reposter: should people drop all things HP because of JK’s views?
“It’s performative and it does nothing” is simply wrong.
Because we live in a capitalist society, we show support by the things we spend money on. Furthermore, in the world of influencers and social media, publicly showing support for something (via tweet, Instagram posts, etc) has an impact on the people around us. It sends a message. To trans people it says “my love for this fictional thing is more important than your need for safety.” To people who may be on the fence about supporting HP, it says that it’s okay.
Now I am pecifically saying public support. This is where my personal desire for nuance, kindness, and empathy in these conversations comes in.
The other side of this story is that there are a lot of wonderful things about Harry Potter. It’s a story that has numerous layers of meaning to it and ultimately is about the powers of love and friendship. It’s a series a lot of people felt acceptance and belonging when they weren’t able to find it in the real world, and a series that brought together many beautiful and lasting friendships. It really sucks for people who grew up loving this series to feel like it’s been tainted and is no longer available to them, especially if it was a social crutch or simply the first place they felt at home. It’s hard to let go of that, and frankly, a lot of the aspects of the story don’t line up with the stuff JK is saying today. It feels like a betrayal we could have never seen coming. So how are we supposed to go on from there? By considering the impact of how you’re going to proceed.
Ultimately, everyone needs to make their own choices with how they interact with problematic media. They should be encouraged to make educated choices, engage critical thinking when making those choices. But you can’t bully someone into making the choice you think is right. And to the point of “a story cannot do everything,” there are a lot of facets to a story and a lot of reasons why someone might find good in that story and think it outweighs the bad elements. But also, there are so many other authors and stories that have similar good things that don’t have all this negative baggage. (Rick Riordan and Tamora Pierce, just to name two examples off the top of my head)
For me, I don’t think the good in HP or the good that JK has done in the past outweighs the active harm it and she are causing trans people today. I’ve moved on from HP. And I believe that others who care about trans people and trans rights should also come to that conclusion and withdraw public support from JK and anything she makes money off of. But am I going to blindly judge and condemn everyone who still engages with licensed HP stuff? No. I’ll have a conversation with them, ask why they engage with it and/or spend money on it*. You aren’t going to change anyone’s mind by just telling them they’re wrong for liking something. Because directing the reasonable anger I have for JK at people who like Harry Potter is not necessarily reasonable (kinda depends on the reason and the person and that’s my point—it’s important to get to the why, and if they are reasonable people, to share your why and what you know about it so they have the information to make a more informed decision*). Assuming hostile intent isn’t going to help anything. And, for example, if someone’s playing the new Harry Potter game specifically because the makers of the game (not Rowling) made the option to make your character trans, I’m not gonna judge them for that. That seems like a pretty important reason. But should they still consider the impact they’d have if they post on social media what a great game it is and how much they love Harry Potter and whatever else? Yea. Should they consider that at least some of the money spent on the game will go towards Rowling? Yea (maybe throw twice as much money at a charity like Trevor Project for example). Will these considerations affect your decision and make you ultimately decide it’s off-limits or that you don’t want to engage? It’s entirely possible, because just because you could simultaneously consume and critique media doesn’t mean you’re absolved of the impact your consumption would have.
It’s tricky water to navigate, and I just can’t find it in myself to be angry at others who are trying to find their own way to navigate it. The best I can do is try to share how I’ve navigated and hope it helps them. Educate, make thought-out decisions. Be open to changing your decisions when new information comes up. Be open to conversations about the ‘why’s.*
*Disclaimer: be healthy and stay safe! If someone literally does not think you or people like you should have basic human rights, that’s not a situation you need to put yourself in. Maybe ask an ally to intercede (hi I will be that person if you need one!), or remove yourself from the situation, or simply leave it for other people to have these conversations and don’t get into those situations in the first place, it is okay to prioritize your safety over changing someone’s mind who may not even change. Please stay safe friends!!
