Therapist Reacts to JK Rowling

Therapist Reacts to JK Rowling //

What do you do when an icon lets you down? As a fan of the Harry Potter series, it's hard to not feel disappointed with JK Rowling. Watch this video as therapist reacts to JK Rowling's stance on transgender.

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[samanthashaw]

I took an unexpected takeaway from this: Despite having to cut off an ex boyfriend because of abusive behaviours, I was not wrong to treasure the ways he brought inspiration and goodness into my life through the ways he tried to aspire to do good. He just came short in kind of ways that cannot be reconciled with simple apologies, at least not anymore.

[linesyverinsen]

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” - Dumbledore

[laurenbraswell]

Honestly though, I think it's a different story when those artists who made things that you love are targeting and attacking people like you. If you're not part of the group that they're scapegoating or have wronged, then it's easy to still enjoy their work. But for me, a queer woman with a trans wife, things hit differently. Because they are talking about people like me and my family. It drastically changes how I feel about the art. The creators' hatred and ignorance has poisoned their work for me, and I just can't experience it the same way any more.

[Alegend.]

When people say, “you don’t care if the chef is a jerk as long as your food is good”, I asked then if they’d say the same of a politician or a teacher. Some professions just have the power of influence as part of their job description, and so they are going to be held to a harsher critical standard 🤷🏽‍♀️ It’s not cancel culture, it’s accountability culture. Plain and simple free market, with demand, offer and feedback.

[lifelikelisa]

Joss Whedon wasn’t a disappointment because I never thought of him as a feminist. I love Buffy but when a grown man creates a show that sexualizes teen girls, feminist is the last word that comes to mind. Again, I’m a big fan of the show but honestly his creation of Buffy feels Weird Science to me.

[whimsylore]

As a writer, it's actually quite reassuring to know my characters can be better people than I manage to be, and that they come from a place that's not from me but from their own souls, directing their own paths, making their own decisions from what they've been given. I hope to be friends with them on their journey, hearing about and recording their lives and learning along the way, rather than smugly claiming I am responsible for every good trait they own.

[gray_mara]

I had a book series I adored as a teenager. I read it again and again. As an adult, I learned that the author kept a foster child in a cage. I can't read those books again with the same eyes, because every word gets weighted against the thought that the author didn't have a problem with abusing a child. I can understand how for some people reading Rowling's once-beloved books would bring similar feelings of betrayal.

[elainagilbert]

I always try to separate the art from the artist, but sometimes when the art is the artist it can be difficult. In the case of R. Kelly who sang about the things he did, it feels weird and wrong to allow him to continue to profit from his crimes by buying/consuming his music.

[OdinsSage]

"We've All Got Both Light And Dark Inside Us. What Matters Is The Part We Choose To Act On—That's Who We Really Are." --Sirius Black

[WolframKKM]

When studying literature at uni, we often had this discussion around other authors who are long dead and held terrible views indicative of their time (or even views considered terrible _during_ their time). Obviously, we were still studying the works of those people because there was some merit to doing so, but we didn't study them without that necessary context of who the author was either. I think it's important to be conscious of the issues with this author as well, and keep talking about them if we're going to continue enjoying the world/stories she created.

[tamibader]

Maybe letting JK Rowling financially down will not hurt her but it will hurt me if I don‘t do it.

[odnarlo]

You brought the “separate the art from the artist” together really well. As a trans person I actually really respect this and am glad you expressed all that you did here where I could hear it over the noise of all this going on that I’ve stayed far from. I can definitely see your point in not boycotting as well as just enjoying the works they're separately from the creators. If good can come from it for you then keep it in your life, "None of us ever find enough kindness in the world, do we?" - (Boris, TGF)
The comments sections are always a good reminder of this, create some goodness for yourself in the world and keep it safe... and try to share it as often as you're able. <3

“As long as I am acting out of love, I feel I am doing best I know how.”- Boris, TGF

Same vibes as many other quotes but I just wanted to share cause dang we really need more hope and love in the world, and I really feel that starts with allowing imperfect things to exist and accept them as such... and love them anyways. (I'm not speaking on the author merely the works and what it's created)

[Kirajde]

My TRUTH is that the world of Harry Potter created a safe place for a large and diverse community of people to come together and feel accepted. A community where standing up for your rights, and embracing the differences in ourselves and others was something to be celebrated. My thoughts on Rowling herself has changed... but the community that came together from it hasn't. Harry Potter got many of us through some incredibly difficult life challenges while growing up, and the HP community is still a huge source of comfort to me to this day. This Hufflepuff will continue to use the teachings and wisdom that the HP universe has gifted to us. The HP community is far more powerful then the artist who lost her way.

[Adm]

I think the summation of this topic is simple: all people will live in a shade of gray. No one is all good or all bad, and we exist on a scale based on our actions. The question is, how much gray are you willing to find acceptable? How dark are the glasses you can view their artistry through before you can’t see anything in the dark?

[TimothyCHenderson]

Watching Shaun's video on Harry Potter is worth a go. It questions a lot of the assumptions around Rowling's beliefs that were not really considered during the time her books were published. Rowling is proving to be more and more of a Neo-Liberal status quo seeker then any kind of progressive force in the world.

[dididey]

Funfact: You can guard your ego/good name and still make & admit mistakes and apologize. Please stop supporting the idea that people who apologize are weak or submissive or whatever. They're wonderful and incredibly smart and strong! 👍💕

[zsmithmyself]

This was really well said. I get where you're coming from, and it was great to hear that things that inspire you are still valuable if the artist turns out to be awful. My only disagreement is that it's not just her opinion. She has a platform of power. A plumber or an architect would not have the same platform. She spreads hate and actual lies that can actively spread to other people (those who value her words) who may attack or remove rights from transpeople based on things she has said. Wanting someone else to lose their rights is not an opinion. It's a lot bigger than that. I can appreciate that people can have different opinions, but between her large audience and her spread of misinformation, it's a real problem.

I think it's okay to still Love her work and to support all the people who are working on the Harry Potter parks and movies and merch. I just don't think it's fair to treat it like it's just feelings that are getting hurt.

Still, this was a great video! Just wanted to offer a different view on it.

[koalaeucalyptus]

I understand your point of view, Jonno. I struggled a lot with the realization that, as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, I was let down by such stubbornness from an author whose work helped shape my very person. I have chosen to love the story, and disassociate it from her.

However, I will argue with you on on point: while boycotting an already rich person is, yes, a bit futile in terms of direct impact on their life, I do not agree it is completely useless, or even cruel to other people involved in the production of merchandise. We pay, they make it. Continuing to pay loads of money for their products is the same as telling publishers, amusement parks, studios and etc that we don't care where they get our entertainment, or how controversial or cruel that person is, as long as we get our fun. I don't like that. Maybe by at the very least reducing our investment of money on those products, if not boycotting altogether, we can collectively send the message that they could be making much more... and maybe influence future choices. Or that, at least, is my hope.

Speaking as an artist and a trans person, I want to say two things: 1) I appreciate how thoughtful and well spoken this was. I particularly liked the way you put it about the artists having those ideas of goodness within them, even though they personally fail to live up to them. As an artist, yes, that hit home. We are just people, and all people will fail to live up to what their better natures. Inevitably. We're not perfect. 2) In regards to still buying the art, that is a valid personal choice, though I would point out that there's a bit of a logical fallacy tucked away in there. There seems to be this unspoken idea out there that there's some sort of shortage of quality art and that those who would boycott people like Rowling are depriving themselves of art in their lives. This is simply not true. There's no shortage of quality content, no shortage of *art* in fact. In fact, we have an embarrassment of riches. There's far more art out there than there is platform for it all. There's so much art out there that doesn't make it big for a variety of reasons, some of which are sheer luck, and others which are societal. There's certainly art better than anything that Rowling has ever written, but it doesn't get the limelight. We don't have to choose between standing up for our values and having a life filled with art. We can have both by making room for artists who are better adept at being decent to others and not continuing to promote those who willfully refuse to be adults, self reflect, and learn from their mistakes.

[kimyoonmisurnamefirst]

I think the problem with giving Rowling money, as a living person, is like saying you'll go to Chic-fil-a. She has dedicated her money to anti-trans organizations and used her money in ways that hurts the community around her. There's a vast difference between giving money to an estate where they are trying to fix the wrongs of the past--like the Seuss estate, and giving money to a person who is actively trying to destroy the communities and kill them through suicide. I mean I can enjoy HP Lovecraft, but I also know he's problematic. But he's also dead and not actively trying to destroy black and brown people with my money. So that's where it gets tricky. JK Rowling has actively donated money to conversion places, and publicized it, which has done a lot of harm to the trans community. She's also used her money to try to fight against Scotland's Free-to-Roam law. And as an author, I know Authors are also subject to being a business, not just individuals. If the person is actively set out to destroy rather than discuss communities, then it becomes a separate issue. It's like saying, subjectively one might like the paintings of Adolf Hilter, so when he was alive, you're going to donate large amounts of money to him knowing he's going to use it to exterminate Jews. (And BTW, I am Jewish. Adopted to Jews, and yes, one of my grandparents is a survivor) and that's a no.

It's like when Chiquita Banana was trying to crush Guatemala in the Banana Wars, my dad set out to make sure he wasn't buying from them so he wasn't doing harm.

Unfortunately, JK Rowling is showing she's using the money from her sales to do harm and thus the reason for boycotting.

One can enjoy a work, sure, that is problematic and argue somewhat for death of the creator, though I would also think about other ways to analyze a text, but one should also pay attention on a systemic level to how the people they are giving money to are spending it because this, too is capitalism. And I want to use my money so it doesn't do harm to not just me and my own, but to the world the best I can, even if I can't always do it, I try my best to be aware of it because THAT is how one becomes a better human being.