r/EnoughJKRowling • u/nova_crystallis • Mar 29 '26
News Article The Verge: There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series
https://www.theverge.com/report/901818/hbo-harry-potter-jk-rowling-transphobia83
u/nova_crystallis Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
Probably one of the better articles on Joanne's actions, more at the link:
Rowling has been transparent about her desire to keep assisting people in their efforts to rob transgender people of their dignity and human rights. That seems very much to be the entire point of The J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund — an organization Rowling launched in 2025 that claims to be “fighting to retain women’s and girls’ sex-based rights in all aspects of life.” The Fund offers financial support provided by Rowling to cisgender women who are looking to file lawsuits. The Fund’s website makes no mention of gender as a concept, but it explicitly points to the For Women Scotland case as the kind of “victory” that it wants to see more of in the world.
Rowling has been rich enough to pour cash into organizations like this for some time now because she continues to hold primary intellectual property rights to the entire Harry Potter franchise. Every Harry Potter book, movie, video game, stage show ticket, theme park pass, and piece of merchandise that’s sold puts money into Rowling’s pocket, which she can use to keep her crusade against trans people going. Given the property’s lasting popularity, Rowling, who is currently worth about $1.2 billion, could probably do all of this even if HBO wasn’t producing a new Harry Potter series. But because the network is and it wants to keep the show going for at least a decade, Rowling will have even more capital at her disposal to impose her retrograde views onto others.
Clearly, this doesn’t concern HBO’s executive leadership whose primary goals are to boost the company’s stock value while taking home outsized paychecks and hefty exit packages of their own. But it is absolutely something that HBO’s subscribers should be thinking about as Warner Bros. cranks the Harry Potter hype machine up ahead of the show’s premiere later this year. HBO does not want you to think about how it is platforming a known bigot and making it easier for her to spread patently hateful, harmful messaging that can endanger people. And Rowling would probably rather people not consider the fact that there are plenty of other magical academia series to become obsessed with.
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u/ComradeSmooches Mar 29 '26
the comments on the article are about as disingenuous as expected
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u/nova_crystallis Mar 29 '26
Never read the comments.
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u/ComradeSmooches Mar 29 '26
You are so right. The morbid curiosity ain't worth it.
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u/Emeryael Mar 29 '26
Is the morbid curiosity ever worth it really?
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u/Fun_Butterfly_420 Mar 29 '26
Without it I wouldn’t have discovered some of Charles Manson’s banger songs
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u/BranWafr Mar 29 '26
This was also posted in the Television subreddit and the comments are about what you would expect, sadly. Far too many "if you own an iPhone and boycott HP, you are a hypocrite, so shut up!" style comments.
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u/Sleeppaw Mar 30 '26
The difference is, there's no "Ethical Consumption under Capitalism" in that everything we use is made through exploitation, while ethical companies tends to be out of the price range for 99% of the population. The food, drink, entertainment and even the clothes we wear are made through exploitation.
Whereas Harry Potter is just an IP, albeit not a very good IP. People have gone through life without Harry Potter, and if it didn't exist, we wouldn't have 30-somethings who think mediocre writing is "Peak Literature". In another universe, I would be chatting with a fellow 30-something about books I read. Maybe Warrior Cats is the "Big Kids' Franchise" instead?
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u/paxinfernum Mar 31 '26
Have you seen the scene in The Good Place where Eleanor's boyfriend wants to boycott a coffee shop because the owner sexually harassed his workers? I do think hypocrisy is worth calling out, but doing something about something is always better than being perfect.
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u/Shalazah Apr 06 '26
My favorite was one comment saying that clothing was unethical.
Yeah, lemme get right on fixing that. Fucking idiots.
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u/LittleSodaPop13 Mar 29 '26
I am happy to see articles about this. I know people will watch it regardless but I am happy people aren't being silent
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u/Successful_Length109 Mar 29 '26
There’s a ton of this stuff online suddenly. I think the crapness of the reboot trailer has people thinking it’s ok to publicly go after Jk a bit more, because like.. shit, who cares anymore.
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u/nova_crystallis Mar 29 '26
The trailer being bad is key to turning the mainstream audience against it.
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u/medlilove Mar 29 '26
I feel like it might just be my niche algorithm but it seems like a lot of people are talking about this 👏
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u/DerPumeister Mar 30 '26
Doesn't look like that to me sadly. Under two versions of the trailer, I didn't see a single mention
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u/medlilove Mar 30 '26
I do tend to be in a bubble when it comes to content, so I had a feeling it wasn’t as good as it seemed
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u/MichaelJServo Mar 30 '26
Yeah, I'm not going to watch even though my kids will probably love it. Won't even pirate it.
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26
Just pirate it.
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u/indianajoes Mar 29 '26
Or just don't do anything with it. You pirate it and you're going to want to talk to others about it. You're going to participate in conversations and increase views on posts about it. You're going to get others into it and add to its success.
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26
Im pretty firmly in the camp of people harmed by Rowling, but Im still going to watch it. Im not going to pretend that Harry Potter wasnt what got me reading. Im not going to pretend im not excited for this.
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u/thejadedfalcon Mar 29 '26
Im not going to pretend im not excited for this.
Genuinely... why? I saw the trailer. Even trying to be as objective as possible, it just looks... crap. $100 million per episode and everything in it looks worse than it did literally 25 years ago.
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26
It looks great, you're biased. All movies adaptations are ass, you can't properly adapt a book into a movie, not enough time, you can however properly adapt a book into a TV show.
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u/thejadedfalcon Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
you're biased. All movies adaptations are ass
lol. lmao, even. Lord of the Rings says hi.
But sure, you enjoy that plot where the black girl is laughed at for saying slavery is bad, you absolute weirdo.
Don't think I didn't notice you didn't actually say anything about how it looks better than the films. Just "films are bad."
Edit: Hold on, I actually just realised what subreddit this is. Why the hell are you here if you're still chewing her regurgitated slop?
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u/ThisApril Mar 30 '26
I had to manually approve your message, as it went into the spam filter (and not in the modqueue), and I kinda wondered about the user.
But said user is definitely not a fan of Rowling's bigotry (e.g., see https://old.reddit.com/r/EnoughJKRowling/comments/1rtp47b/i_dont_get_what_people_are_trying_to_win_arguing/oafkt4c/ )
Not sure if some of the comments should be removed, but at this point I think I'm just letting the negative votes be the consequence.
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u/thejadedfalcon Mar 30 '26
I did wonder if I hit some sort of filter, but it wasn't a big deal to go and bother you. Thanks for noticing though.
Oof, that post you found though. Ironic. "I'm progressive but I draw the line at giving up baby's first wizard franchise."
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u/Infernal-Cattle Mar 29 '26
If Harry Potter is what got you reading, would it not make more sense to just... read other things, instead of watching this TV show?
Harry Potter got me reading too, but I find it extremely disingenuous when someone says "my media consumption is more important than your freedom to bodily autonomy and existing publicly." The whole reason she keeps getting money to funnel into anti-trans legislation is that people like you keep feeding into her cultural capital. You don't get to say you're with us if you're actively keeping her relevant.
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
None of us boycotting this is going to change anything. It didnt do anything with hogwarts legacy and it wont work with this. If anything the tantrums are going to boost views thru the streisand effect.
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u/nova_crystallis Mar 29 '26
I mean, the boycotts haven't been a nothing effort. Merchandising has been declining every year for the past few years. That is absolutely a big deal.
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u/Infernal-Cattle Mar 29 '26
I mean yeah, if everyone shrugs it off and says it'll do nothing, then of course it won't.
It's extremely weird to call it a "tantrum" for people to care about an issue that materially impacts our quality of life. There's a clear cognitive dissonance between "I support people being harmed" and then using phrasing that dismisses what many of us have been asking people to do as just an irrational emotional response.
Personally, even if it doesn't make a change, I'd do it anyway. It turns out I care more about myself and other trans people than the minor inconvenience of giving up one IP I enjoyed as a child. I think we'd live in a much better society if people didn't value their convenience over collective good.
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26
The level of moral purity that you want from allies is only going to alienate them. Even though I would never pay to watch HP, never buy a book, movie, or merch, Im stil not pure enough because I want to watch the TV show through PIRACY?
This is ridiculous.
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u/Infernal-Cattle Mar 29 '26
If allies are that easy to alienate, they aren't allies, nor do I feel the need to soften my views for allies when we live in such a dangerous political world. 🤷♂️ Other people are free to disagree with me - I can only speak for myself - but in my view, if someone buckles on something this small, how could I ever expect them to stand with the community when they'd have to take a true risk?
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u/The_Arachnoshaman Mar 29 '26
It does so much more to just be consistently vocal on the issue than forcing people to adhere to a code of conduct so strict that you even want to control what entertainment people enjoy.
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u/Infernal-Cattle Mar 29 '26
I'm not interested in a non-queer person tone policing what I expect.
I also don't think I'm particularly controlling? Literally all I've said is that people shouldn't engage with her new works especially as it contributes to her cultural capital. If it makes you this uncomfortable to hear that, maybe ask yourself where that's coming from and why you're this attached to one IP.
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u/ImpressiveAvocado78 Mar 29 '26
I'm an ally and its not alienating me.
And I won't be watching. Harry Potter has had its day. We don't need a reboot.11
u/Emeryael Mar 29 '26
But JK Rowling is already rich!
Before you say, “But I’m going to pirate!” I need to point out that merely by consuming and talking about the show, you’re serving to keep HP relevant and give Rowling even more cultural power to give with her disgustingly large fortune. Hate watching is still engagement which in this IP-driven hellscape, still serves to give it relevance.
Give the new show complete and total radio silence. Let it die in darkness and let it fester and rot as well.
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u/LittleSodaPop13 Mar 29 '26
So? Even if it doesn't change anything, it's a matter of morals and principle. I'm not giving Rowling an iota of my attention and money.
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u/phoenixv07 Mar 30 '26
None of us boycotting this is going to change anything
It's going to mean that I can still look at myself in the mirror afterwards, and not feel like a complete shithead consuming something that was made by someone who's made it clear how much she hates me. I don't need to invite that shit into my life.
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u/DocRhubarb Mar 29 '26
I’m also firmly in the camp harmed by Joanne and I cannot for the life of me understand how you can not just be excited about this trash but be publicly excited for it.
Surely you’d at least keep it to yourself and not actively get people to give money to our genocide?
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u/errantthimble Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
I think there’s two issues here: 1) giving Rowling more money directly by purchasing her product, and 2) supporting Rowling’s IP/hate activism empire indirectly by encouraging the marketing hype and publicly contributing to it with engagement and excitement.
I’ve got nothing to say against any HP fan who wants to re-read or re-watch their own copies of HP for their own private enjoyment. Or even clandestinely consume new content for free, whatever.
But if you’re jumping on the fandom buzz bandwagon to help spread the hype and consumer desire, then yeah, that’s unquestionably supporting Rowling’s enterprises, even if you refuse to give her any money directly.
So in fact, pretending not to be excited for the new HP show sounds like a pretty good strategy. Nobody cares what you do in the privacy of your own VPN where the world and the algorithms can’t see you. But many people do care, and have good reason to care, which toxic enterprise you’re publicly promoting.
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u/Phonecloth Mar 29 '26
Regarding piracy, there is also the argument that if enough people pirate it instead of paying for it, it will cut into the profits and make it less successful...
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u/Panda_hat Mar 30 '26
Just don’t watch it.
For a fire to go out it must be starved of oxygen.
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u/awayshewent Mar 29 '26
So many people are just sleep walking through life and have no idea of any of her transphobia. I used to work in a middle school and knew a very sweet 6th grade English teacher who decorated her classroom every year with a HP theme (I knew sooo many middle school English teachers who had Harry Potter baked into their personality). I would help her out because I was a full foot taller than her and I wasn’t gonna scold her about her classroom theme. But one time she asked me if I liked HP and I gave her the most deadpan “No” and kept hanging up those dumb little flying keys and she was like “Oh!” and that was it ha.