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Settare (on hiatus)'s Reviews > Harry Potter Series Box Set
Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7)
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It's time for a disclaimer. It's 2020, and many Harry Potter fans are disappointed with Ms. Rowling, so much so that they're starting to resent the books themselves.
So I want to say that for me personally, what Rowling shares on social media and how fans react to it haven't changed my love for the books. The controversies have of course made me go back and reflect on all the imperfections, problems, and ridiculous bits in the books (because they do exist) but they haven't made me cancel the books altogether. I also want to clarify that I don't agree with everything Rowling randomly feels the need to say on Twitter.
I have a soft spot for Harry Potter books. To be fair, these books are not overtly problematic or racist or anything, but they're not really inclusive either. They were written in the 90s, when critical discourse about inclusion and diversity wasn't a mainstream demand as it is now. The general British audience didn't passionately demand visibility for ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ in media and literature. And that's totally fine. But after the franchise became an international success and stayed popular in the 2000s and 2010s, things started to get complicated. Ms. Rowling was facing a new wave of fans and children who wanted visibility, inclusion, and diversity among the characters. But instead of acknowledging the fact that the Harry Potter universe is not as diverse as Gen Z fans would like it to be and moving on, Rowling tried to force diversity on characters, and she tried to pretend that she'd meant to make them that way. She failed. Because these books aren't diverse. Dumbledore wasn't meant to be gay. Hermione wasn't initially written as black. And that's fine, the characters as they were written were totally fine, so 'pushing it' and pretending you "meant" to write them as gay or ethnic minority is just not a cool thing to do.
Personally, I don't have a fixed opinion on the “separating the art from the artist” debate. Sometimes I do that and sometimes I don't. For the Harry Potter books, I think the books, the fandom, the universe, everything goes beyond the author herself, and I don't feel the need for Rowling's views to align with mine to keep loving the books. The books are what they are and the author can't add to them or take away from them anymore.
The bottom line is: I still love the books. But five-star ratings for the books do not mean endorsement of the worldviews of the author.
P.S: I have individual reviews for each Harry Potter book if anyone's interested in checking them out.
So I want to say that for me personally, what Rowling shares on social media and how fans react to it haven't changed my love for the books. The controversies have of course made me go back and reflect on all the imperfections, problems, and ridiculous bits in the books (because they do exist) but they haven't made me cancel the books altogether. I also want to clarify that I don't agree with everything Rowling randomly feels the need to say on Twitter.
I have a soft spot for Harry Potter books. To be fair, these books are not overtly problematic or racist or anything, but they're not really inclusive either. They were written in the 90s, when critical discourse about inclusion and diversity wasn't a mainstream demand as it is now. The general British audience didn't passionately demand visibility for ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ in media and literature. And that's totally fine. But after the franchise became an international success and stayed popular in the 2000s and 2010s, things started to get complicated. Ms. Rowling was facing a new wave of fans and children who wanted visibility, inclusion, and diversity among the characters. But instead of acknowledging the fact that the Harry Potter universe is not as diverse as Gen Z fans would like it to be and moving on, Rowling tried to force diversity on characters, and she tried to pretend that she'd meant to make them that way. She failed. Because these books aren't diverse. Dumbledore wasn't meant to be gay. Hermione wasn't initially written as black. And that's fine, the characters as they were written were totally fine, so 'pushing it' and pretending you "meant" to write them as gay or ethnic minority is just not a cool thing to do.
Personally, I don't have a fixed opinion on the “separating the art from the artist” debate. Sometimes I do that and sometimes I don't. For the Harry Potter books, I think the books, the fandom, the universe, everything goes beyond the author herself, and I don't feel the need for Rowling's views to align with mine to keep loving the books. The books are what they are and the author can't add to them or take away from them anymore.
The bottom line is: I still love the books. But five-star ratings for the books do not mean endorsement of the worldviews of the author.
P.S: I have individual reviews for each Harry Potter book if anyone's interested in checking them out.
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Reading Progress
2008
–
Started Reading
2008
–
Finished Reading
September 29, 2012
– Shelved
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نسترنّگار
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Jun 08, 2020 03:39AM
یه روز تاخیر داشتی 😂😂
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نسترنّگار wrote: "یه روز تاخیر داشتی 😂😂"مدتهاست تاخیر دارم هانی، اینو باید همون نوامبر که اون زر اولی رو زد میگفتم.
Miss Maya wrote: "I actually read the HP books a few years ago, so it's not really nostalgic for me in that sense, but I was also quite annoyed by the way she tried to force some kind of diversity years "after" her ..."Exactly! Accepting the lack of diversity is a lot more honest than trying to push it on fans, years after publication.
(At least the fanon is cancerous with slash.)
I have been separating jkr from hp too, there's just one things that shows through is the fatphobia
You're right, Kimia 🤦🏽♀️ I'm trying to not "overthink" how problematic all of my favorite childhood books are, but I don't even know where to draw the line between "acknowledging something is problematic' and "oversensitivity", but you're absolutely right.
