Goodbye JK Rowling - A Mega Potter Fan’s Perspective

JK Rowling was my childhood hero. Then I learned how awful she is. But I still love Harry Potter and you can too!
(Apologies for the rushed nature of the video, but I wanted to get my thoughts out as quickly as possible.)
Lindsay Ellis did a fabulous video on JKR you should watch: • Death of the Author 2:...

[@jokerofMI6]

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

[@laylai.3087]

First of all, I LOVE HARRY POTTER and I greatly dislike JK Rowling since loooooong ago, not just now because she is losing it by the second. BUT, girl... "She barely developed the metaphor"?? She gave a whole character's arc to develop THAT METAPHOR, being that PROFESSOR LUPIN. As a so-called-fan, you should have at least that clear... His fears, his despise of himself, his solitude not wanting to have a relationship with others for the fear of "spreading his disease"... What did you expect? For him to say he had AIDS? That would kill the definition of METAPHOR... plus, he wasn't the main character. The problem, in this case AIDS, was addressed and showed properly in the books, as many other ideas; so no, it's not "easy writing", perhaps you are NOW looking for a different story about AIDS and not just Harry Potter... "She'll introduce a concept but only use it as background for her main story". (Don’t get me wrong, but that sounds a bit what you are doing in this video) What do you expect of any author then? That the main characters of their stories go through all sorts of troubles there are in the World? That is called “soap opera”, and they are not really relatable since one character can develop 10 characters' lives troubles. About the fans wanting to know more about what happened with the rest of the characters, the magic world, and how everything continued after the seventh book, is not her fault for not giving more information on that as the books where rightly named HARRY POTTER AND... So when his story ended, so did the rest of that world. It's up to us, the fans, to keep on wondering or creating what was of the elves or the dragons or the werewolves, etc, but it's not right to blame it on her for not giving more information on what happened with ...X... after the series was over. Of the "goblins being the anti-Semitic stereotype", I guess there will always be people looking for further interpretations of things than what it actually was meant. Just because goblins are the bankers of the Wizarding World, that made them "the Jewish people" of that world? In my opinion, that very thought is anti-Semitic on its own by making the Jew community a stereotype of bankers... (I'm not Jewish but this point in your video is so shallow that becomes pointless). By the way, it’s the first time I hear about this problem. Then you go on and off throwing the whitewashing/racism words as if the books were written nowadays and with the recent views and concepts of life that we're living. Yes, the books aren't a hundred years old, but they were written under the knowledge of their writer's life. Authors write about what they know, what they have experienced in their lives. I have no idea how many black people, Asians, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, gay people, etc. JK Rowling had known in her life before she began writing. So I can't demand all types of inclusiveness IN THOSE BOOKS if that wasn’t implemented in her life back in that time. I can do so in the books that she is writing now, because she should know better NOW. About all the crap she is doing/talking on media about gays, Trans, changing Harry Potter characters’ skins, etc. I have nothing to add there. She is mental since long ago and I DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THAT. I liked your video about the Harry Potter videogames and I agreed with all your point there. However, I believe this video-essay has taken the wrong road, most of your points are just pointing out some issues without addressing or exploring them in detail. I reckon that as a HP fan, you would have discarded them from the beginning if you had done so. We are all entitled to our own opinions, of course, but we can’t demand from creations/creators of past times to fit in present standards of life. I think we have to accept the flaws that those creations may have, learn from them and ask of their creators to do better now. Cheers!! :D

[@timdagod]

are you gonna do a hogwarts legacy video?

[@rgkong8783]

She still hasn’t...

[@HOTD108_]

@@rgkong8783 The game isn't out yet...

[@Bluemilk92]

My first ever flirting was around 12yo with a girl on a Harry Potter fan site. I later met that same girl on Facebook at around 19yo and learned she joined the British airforce and got married. It was really heartwarming. Rewinding time a bit, when I met my first IRL girlfriend at like 14 on Myspace, I remember trying my hardest to talk like Dumbledore, in an attempt to sound smart. I always cringe at how hard I was obsessed with Harry Potter.

[@rgkong8783]

I got scared reading your comment till I realized you met her at 12 years old as well xD, that is sweet though!

[@azuk4727]

Found your channel from the video game video and then looked at your channel to find this.... seriously it’s really incredible to see you make a video this powerful. Can’t wait to see that other Harry Potter vid you mention in here

[@07rayrod]

Imagine thinking shes a terrible person because she says there’s biological women and there’s differences between trans women n women. Gotta get out ur bubble

[@joelrosario7798]

Just discovered your channel and your work is really passionate, well defined, and outstanding. You got yourself another subscriber.

[@uchihasflame1]

Found this after checking out your retrospective and it was great to see your views on this subject. Personally ive always had some issues with rowling never really trusting her since her first comments on dumbledore saying he was gay etc it truly only seemed like she was trying to virtue signal due to it never making sense as she never hinted even in the short term that he was only saying it when prompted then running with it. If u checked out her tweets as time goes on she either said stupid stuff or tried to seem like an inclusive person which ive learned through years on twitter is usually done by those that hold some very narrow views which showed here during her tweets on trans community. Personally as someone like me who is bi i could care less if some ones a girl or a guy with the advance of tech we all now have that choice and every human has that basic right to choose it due to this advance. Dont get me wrong i still think 2 basics is that those who are trans should warn people if they are pre op due to some people being straight which is not cool to do to them and also that those who used to be men should not fight women in things like boxing or ufc because i think that would still be unfair since its been proven to not be fair. I personally just draw the line at these two things due to the fact that both effect other people directly unlike the actual change which is a personal journey THAT SHOULD BE YOUR OWN CHOICE and to deny their humanity is truthfully the worst thing she did to them which hurts since alot of the frame work of the series is about inclusion.

[@n4m1k]

Why ? Because she had an opinion ?

[@DaveLH]

I'd love to see you do a video about your "with a more critical eye" thoughts about the HP series. My biggest issue is how she had this massive buildup for six books about how the power of Love was stronger that anything, and that Harry's pure and loving heart was what was going to save everyone, and then she undermined it all with an epic battle at Hogwarts, umpteen heartbreaking deaths, Harry casting Unforgivable Curses, and in the end everything coming down to who commanded the Elder Wand. Someone in an HP group I'm on joked, "Why didn't someone just obliviate Voldemort's memory like happened to Lockhart? Would have saved countless lives and everyone a lot of bother!" -- It was said in jest, but I think there's some truth there -- It's like JKR just couldn't conceive of a resolution that didn't involve war and a gratuitous bloodbath. IMO it shows an ultimate lack of imagination on Rowling's part, but then again, I now think a lot of other things indicate that as well.

[@AmbivalentMind]

As a trans woman and potterhead, the support among the fandom helps me feel better regarding this

[@ThePrettyNerdie]

I'm so glad! This is why I made the video and plan to make more HP content; I want the fandom to be a safe, inclusive place for the trans community, even if its creator does not. Much love!!

[@Cinnabar5]

Fun fact: Harry Potter was actually made a long time ago but was published in 1997

[@thxverymuch6962]

She has given more to people in need than you will ever, in your entire life. And yet you seriously try to argue that she is a bad person? Who are you to judge this woman so?

[@Vinicam]

It's actually funny listening to this, she's saying that JK is no longer billionaire because of charity acts and still she's a bad person because the snowflake who did this video lives in a progressive bubble and don't agree with her views or with the idea she had of how the HP universe should be. Quite funny that someone is so entitled like that just because she is(or was) a huge fan of the series.

[@radarmua2316]

I would looove those Harry Potter book retrospective videos!

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

This was in response to a comment about goblins, but I figured I'd repost it as a standalone comment to encourage conversation and see if anyone else feels this way. Hope that's okay. Anyway: I think if anything [Goblins resembling the antisemitic caricature of Jewish people in nazi propaganda] is an unfortunately easy comparison to draw, but the way goblins are used in universe does not fit, especially in relation to Death Eaters as nazis. The Goblins weren't treated much differently at all when Voldemort seized power; the oppression and culling was almost exclusively targeted at Muggles and muggle-born witches and wizards. They DO admittedly resemble that unfortunate caricature on a physical level, but it just doesn't seem that they were meant to be a metaphor of any kind. Besides, goblins typically look like that when you think about their portrayals (small, hooked noses, beady eyes, hoarders, fairly vindictive and spiteful if not outright malicious and aggressive) in most works that feature goblins, and I remember the goblins being greedy thing as long predating HP. I've got similar feelings on House Elves. The "happy slaves" thing is unsettling, but it was also intentionally portrayed as such, and the paradox was nothing more than interesting to me. It's a fictional species of magical creatures, and their own cultural logic seemed to be formed around servitude. It is treated like an actual inherent compulsion, and I can't find an analogue to that IRL, even in propaganda, unless you go WAY back to levels of racism that Rowling even now is in no danger of hitting. tl;dr: Rowling's a kook, and I've lost all respect for her, but the series up until CC and the last two films (Fantastic Beasts) still holds up and I see no large underlying problems.

[@Rihcterwilker]

Late comment, but i agree. Her opinions on real-world situations seem to have influenced alot of people to retro-actively look for flaws in her work, that are not there unless people look for it already wanting to make analogies and add symbolism where there was none. Her work was fine for what it was, a rich universe for a children's book. Whatever drama she get's involved next, i'll still be fine in enjoying the content that came from her until around 2009, be it movies or games.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

I have a very similar opinion of Rowling now, and personally have just resigned myself to loving the original series of books and films, and just essentially separating the author from her work, and ignoring new lore she adds. My hope is that she eventually just starts coasting on the franchise as a property and leaves actually managing it to people who give a shit about the Wizarding World and its characters, rather than using them as a vehicle for politics that are shifting into batshit crazy territory alarmingly fast. In regards to not giving her more money; it won't affect her no matter what we do. She's so stinking rich that she won't notice no matter how many of us boycott her; she made her money already. If good HP and general Wizarding World content comes out-- official or fanmade-- that doesn't shit all over the original work and what we loved about it, I personally will invest in it. If nothing else, it'll show that we love the WW, not Rowling herself, and that her books have become bigger than she could ever hope to be, and essentially exist independently of her. They're above her.

[@shimoto668]

I find that you managed to perfectly put into words my own thoughts on the whole matter. Like you, I have always been a huge fan of the universe, though kept mostly outside of fandom circles. But it was me being a fan that brought me to your channel at first, via the Harry Potter Video Game Retrospective which might just very well be the best review out there for these childhood memories of mine. Because I did never follow her too closely it came as a shock to see Rowling reveal herself as a TERF and a generally terrible person. Your video is a great summary on the issues with her and I am glad that I had subsribed to you and saw the video in my feed just now. For all I care the author is dead and so I will not have her take away my experiences with the books and the universe.

[@sugandhakohli]

You nailed it! Her virtue signalling and retconning for the sake of "inclusion" without any actual inclusion was a time bomb waiting to explode. I too went from a big JK fan to a big JK hater after her blatant Transphobia.

[@Grandmaster_Dragonborn]

There is no transphobia. It’s all a complete cock and bull story. Stating the stupidity of the term “people who menstruate” is a good thing; because only women can menstruate!

[@Ickarichi]

I know you don’t make a lot of videos and the chances of you seeing this is probably near 0 but I’d love to hear what you have to say about the new Harry Potter game it seems like it’d be the best one ever made.

[@JoshuaMSP1995]

'Very white, very heterosexual series' - yeah, I imagine it would be, given that the series is set in Britain (90%-95% white when the series was set) and the vast majority of people are heterosexual (although sexualities of characters are rarely discussed). The orgy thing with Hufflepuff is false, by the way. And of course Rowling's criticisms of anti-semitism would have died away after Corbyn ceased to be leader of the Labour Party. He was the reason for it. His successor is trying to eliminate anti-semitism in the Labour Party. I doubt that the Tories and UKIP have been worse than Labour on anti-semitism, given that the ECHR found Labour acted 'unlawfully' on multiple accounts in this regard, while the other two have never even shown behaviour to be worthy of an investigation. Er...you say this is a persuasive essay? Your disagreement with Rowling on transgender issues starts with an ad hominem (TERFs and attacking a supposed lack of education), then you claim Rowling's essay contains 'debunked lies', without giving examples. Apparently scientific studies provided by Rowling have been debunked, again you don't list examples. This is the opposite of persuasive. It doesn't sound like you've read what Rowling said. The Cursed Child was written by Jack Thorne, not by JK Rowling, by the way. Harry Potter and the universe within will always belong to JK Rowling, also.

[@davidbreault3283]

Thank you for this post, amazing work as always

[@Codomannus331]

for sometime I thought jk Rowling was in the right even after I saw many youtubers saying how wrong she was as I just assumed they didn't know what they were talking about because they weren't real fans until I saw this video you have really opened my eyes cos you are not just a massive fan or her series but have really brought up some compelling arguments. By the way I subscribed and if anyone is reading this you should to.

[@GuyOnAChair]

What a shame. Must be nasty to have been a fan of someones work and find out they have some extraordinarily nasty views. Subscribed after having seen the Harry Potter game reviews after having been on a CallMeKevin video spree.

[@DarkMlpfan91]

are you not going to play the new harry potter game???, also I agree it's sad to see jk fall so hard there's no way she's coming back from this

[@Lia-uf1ir]

I love Harry Potter and i could identify with him on so many levels, from the fact that he was a loner in primary school to the facts that he wore glasses and was skinny, just as I was. I was shocked and angry when I heard more and more about the transphobic things Rowling wrote and, as a gender-fluid person, it hurt me deeply! I still love Harry Potter and I currently wirte a fanfiction set after Deathly Hallows which explores the question of whether the Statute of Secrecy is outdated in the 21st century with Muggle technology threatening to expose wizardkind for good. Meanwhile, the story also explores the uprising of various magical beings such as goblins, vampires, Veela, Centaurs and House-elves as well. And many Muggle-borns fight for a live WITH the Muggles using direct action to help them while the wizarding leaders struggle to keep their power. Also, discoveries are made that turn the understanding of magic upside down such as the revelation that wands are not actually needed to perform magic (basically, I tackle all the issues Rowling has made when writing things on Pottermore such as her horrible history of magic in North America and her statement that wands were a European invnention implying that European magic was superior to non-European magic.) I would love to hear your thoughts on the two Fantastic Beasts movies as well as the issues on the Harry Potter books with your critical eye. :)

[@Vinicam]

It's actually funny listening to this, saying that JK is no longer billionaire because of charity works and still she's a bad person because the snowflake who did this video lives in a progressive bubble and don't agree with her views or with the idea she has of how the HP universe should be. Quite funny that someone is so entitled like that just because she is(or was) a huge fan of the series.

[@ArtemisStern]

So....I just watched the video. And I have to say that my heart broke just a second ago. Recently I got back with HP world on every field possible, for example playing the first HP game, watching movies etc. I have all of the books, even some not written in my native language. I ha a tattoo of deathly hallows mark. And recently I have even thought about writing a message to JK to say thank you for creating this world as it formed not even my childhood but most importantly it has created me as a person. And now though I am not super LGBT, though I am not fully straight, I do not support every move of this movement, this video destroyed me.....I would love to be a part of the community to create and talk about HP every day but I do not know how to start. If you are a super patient person and you are reading this comment until this point ( Or if I even drew your attention Nerdie) Can you please somehow help me out to start being a part of this world? Like to create HP world without her and reclaim my faith in wizards? I would love that. I could go on and on and on and...you know, about HP in this comment but I think there are other places to do that so If any kind soul got through my shit I would be very thankful for you to reach me through my FB (Artur Bartołd) or through my IG pot8o.cpp

[@nerdie8758]

Don't worry! I will address this in a future video soon, because part of my reason for making this video was to show you can be a major HP fan and still disassociate from JKR while still acknowledging her faults and all (because I do not subscribe fully to Death of the Author). But it IS fully possible to love HP and be involved in the fandom and all while still separating from JKR herself.

[@Grandmaster_Dragonborn]

Well it’s all pointless, because there is absolutely no reason to do that to JK. And that’s because *she did nothing by wrong*

[@nastynas7]

I would listen to you talk about Harry Potter all day

[@Fire91ful]

Sometimes the way she tweets it feels like trolling. But seems dead serious. Strange lady. Great video!

[@crocodileman94]

More like trowling.

[@sugandhakohli]

I would love to listen to your views on Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts.

[@Fbonin]

the fantastic beasts films are alright they don't hold a candle to the og hp films though.

[@PeverellTheThird]

Why was this recommended to me?

[@Bolter024]

I disagree with you on your opinions

[@Lionstar16]

You hit the issue on the head - before the invention of social media, problematic authors could hide their awful beliefs or actions from the public which would only be revealed after they were dead (I'm thinking Charles Dickens' appalling treatment of his wife or HP Lovecraft's racism). JK Rowling's insistence on being a Twitter presence reveals a very rotten side of her personality. For me personally, it was JK Rowling's approval of the awful Cursed Child play that destroyed my respect for her - like you said, it didn't just contradict the books, it destroyed them and I look forward to your video on the Cursed Child.

[@TheJedux]

I'm probably gonna sound like a jerk but it was always obvious lovecraft was racist

[@fauzanramadhan9046]

1:41 *Morgan Ross (From Movie Flame Channel): Excuse me

[@DaveLH]

I agree with most of what you say. One thing that has really angered me is how she said Dumbledore is gay, and then it got totally whitewashed in "Crimes of Grindelwald"... As one KZbin reviewer put it, addressing JKR, "If you really think he's gay, put it in the damn story; you don't get brownie points for just saying it in passing in an interview."

[@DaveLH]

And I gather JKR supports the "New" Labour Party, i.e. the pro-globalization, anti-union wing of the party exemplified by Tony Blair (and the Clintons in America), rather than the wing of the Labour party that's actually still pro-working class. It's like all that wealth has made her forget where she came from.

[@josephchambers2000]

your feelings about Harry Potter match mine about Doctor Who.

[@joeduffy4547]

I know I'm a little late on replying, but I'm curious what your feelings are on Doctor Who? If you dont mind me asking.

[@josephchambers2000]

@@joeduffy4547 ruined. not by JW but by CC. The acting is fine but the stories are beyond repair and they simply do not care about canon anymore.

[@paulothx138]

I am reading for the first time Philosphers Stone in english (UK version, im brasilian) and i can separate the author from the art. That book exists without all the trans hate from JK.

[@CJMGalaxy]

I've loved HP since I was eight as well. The number of times I read Order of the Phoenix is beyond count. I even wrote to JKR as a twelve year old writer inspired by her (and recieved a form letter back). I'm also a trans man. This betrayal, this hero of mine who formed a massive part of my childhood, cuts brutally deep. There is no alternative to me other than excising this formative part of my childhood entirely. When cis people declare someone else wrote Potter and that they love it uncritically regardless, it makes it very clear people are prioritizing a fantasy series over trans lives. Thanks for putting in the time to analyze this.

[@ThePrettyNerdie]

Thank you! I think it was important to note that she didn't suddenly become problematic; it's been evident for a while now. It's easy to just pretend the series exists in a vacuum, but I find that impossible given the racism and heteronormativity and antisemitism expressed within the books. My video described the only possible moral course of action I see because there are so many who owe a lot of who we are to the series but also refuse point blank to put sentiment over trans lives. You matter and you are valid.

[@Weird_Beard_]

We all know that JKR is a lunatic, but this video was poorly researched and didn't give good, objective arguments in most cases.

[@32189djsddk]

Cringe. Unsubscribed.

[@ThePrettyNerdie]

ok bye

[@yenneferofvengerberg]

This is a good video.

[@alexgardner4401]

please do more videos!! you are amazing!!

[@junethefox5834]

Im only just getting into the series, specifically the films. Just....wow

[@StormCrownSr]

Subbed.

[@LBryceR]

im a fan but i just cant agree with you

[@MichaelM28]

Correction snowflake: JK Rowling is an amazing person

[@AidanDownes_KH]

?

[@TheJewBagel]

Okay Michael....

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Please go smooch a dementor.

[@Jesio11]

Mmmm another one for the cringe comp.

[@bobthebuilder243]

Harry potters is great because of fandom not jk Rowling. She can go and rowl away . Sorry bad joke . But seriously keep making good content .

[@gothic12fan]

Trans women are not women. I stand with JKR here.

[@whoseclipsaretheyanyway8637]

I think the problem isn't so much she has that opinion, it's the inciting or hateful way she expresses it. I also agree with her, but I don't wish to belittle or hurt trans people, because they are hurting people who need help.

[@gothic12fan]

@@whoseclipsaretheyanyway8637 How did she incited to hate ?

[@MichaelM28]

Transgender "women" are men and transgender "men" are women!

[@ThePrettyNerdie]

Ding dong, you're (so obviously) wrong

[@dylancole3430]

@@ThePrettyNerdie ...how?

[@AidanDownes_KH]

@@dylancole3430 well most transgender people that I’m friends with have had surgery and hormonal injections to change there X into a Y or there Y into an X imagine if you had a friend or family member who is transgender and you only just found out about it would you immediately hate them? I don’t think so unless your that awful of a human.

[@Dshivs]

@@AidanDownes_KH No that's not how it works. No amount of hormonal injections and surgery can change the chromosomes you're born with. Hormonal injections only affect your HORMONES they do not affect your CHROMOSOMES as those are two very different things. Your chromosomes are in every cell of your body, you would have to change every cell which physically impossible.

[@Raccoon.City.Police.Department]

@@ThePrettyNerdie Stay brainwashed all you want, you people are all about your own opinions and attacking others, you deny basic fact and force your moronic brain disease on others, no matter how much people prove you wrong you stick to your nonsense, Psychological issues that a lot of people suffer from is dangerous and the whole world can see your bullshit. Long Live Rowling. Long Live Freedom.

[@adamwalkervfx]

Karen