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The Harry Potter Taint
A breakup with the franchise hasn’t removed all my negative feelings
I haven’t seen the first Harry Potter movie in ages. For reasons, I got a chance to rewatch the beginning. And despite everything, John Williams’ theme made me remember things. Like rewatching the first movie on DVD over and over again, reading fanfiction, and discovering what it was for the first time.
There’s many mixed feelings. A taint that washes over me any time I see Harry Potter-related stuff. The wistfulness for why I got into the series.
Note that this is not an article with moralizing or sermonizing. I believe that every Harry Potter fan has the right to decide how they will process their relationship with the franchise without outside judgment. This reaction is based on pure emotion.
What Did the Author Do?
The bigger question is what has J. K. Rowling not done? She’s hit all the marks of being a terrible person: casual racism, transphobia, and now acephobia. When called out for it, she doubles down. First it started with appropriating skinwalkers from Navajo culture and refusing to apologize. Then it was the letters of transphobia. Third was the Anti-Semitism released in a video game that implemented dangerous stereotypes like child kidnapping. And now the casual…
