[ SECRET POST #7035 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #7035 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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04. [WARNING for discussion of ableism, racism]




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05. [WARNING for discussion of JKR/transphobia]




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06. [WARNING for discussion of JKR/transphobia]




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07. [WARNING for discussion of IRL murder/true crime]



















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1004.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Are the criticisms warranted? Or is it just "Rowling's a transphobe, therefore (insert 50 sins found in the books that are obviously born of the gateway transphobia)"? Because I don't think anyone cares if you call her writing mid or say other stories are better. It's not like they're false statements.

I know the temptation to shit on something just because someone is an asshole. But people also say things that just flat-out ignore why something is popular in the first place.

[(Anonymous)]

It's more like "JK Rowling is a transphobe, so you should stop enjoying her books because they're mid and other stories are better."

That's just... a mess of unrelated statements. The quality of her writing shouldn't be tied to her transphobia. It's okay to enjoy mid books, and it's okay if books that are considered mid are near and dear to your heart. That doesn't automatically change because of the author's personal character and actions.

And there are so many decent people whose writing is mid, JK Rowling being blasted because her writing is mid and conflating it with her transphobia is unfair to them. Bottom line, people who want to criticize her for her transphobia should stick to that and not bring her writing quality into it, and people who want to criticize her writing quality should stick to that and not bring her transphobia into it. And also maybe chill because being a mid writer isn't a horrible sin.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, there are definitely plenty of warranted criticisms. Yes, some people lump the issues with the author in with the issues with the books. But there are plenty of places that unexamined biases show up in her writing that can be off-putting to anyone outside the white middle class. A lot of fatphobia. And if you don't care about the stuff about race, class, beauty standards, queerphobia, that's fine! I mean, not 'fine' in that people won't judge you, but like... it IS fine if you don't want to make that part of your judgment on a book!

Putting all those things aside, the books aren't as original as they were hyped up as being to American audiences, but they happened to be the ones that got the big buzz and marketing push and for kids who never read Young Wizards or The Worst Witch, they opened up a new world. They have some weaknesses that don't hold up on reread as an adult, the ending was roundly criticized even by big fans at the time. I do not think they are very good books though I was in the fandom back in the day and did enjoy them when I was young, I think they are certainly more entertaining than what I have read of the author's adult fiction, and I think that there were reasons for the popularity, not *all* of which were manufactured. Not everything that is/was popular is trash, but it's not all treasure, either.

Some people do get very defensive about the books being called mid. I think the bigger problem is the people who can accept criticisms of the books themselves, but because of what the fandom was for them, they are unable to step away now, and keep supporting something they fully acknowledge isn't that good because of what the fandom part meant to them.