andrewducker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andrewducker) wrote2020-10-01 11:06 am
andrewducker) wrote2020-10-01 11:06 am
Now is not the time to criticise the quality of JK Rowling's prose.
I've seen multiple posts in the last week or so saying "Well her worldbuilding wasn't great, and I wasn't impressed by her prose style, and she didn't credit her inspirations very well, so it's not like she was a huge loss as a writer."
And I think these posts are massively lacking in empathy. I mean, hurray, you don't have a huge attachment to a writer that's doing a lot of damage to a maligned minority, but please have a thought for the people who *do* care.
Because she wrote books that enlivened people's childhoods, which led to people meeting new friends, which gave great joy, led to endless fun conversations, and were generally a phenomenon that hundreds of millions of people were very attached to.
Many of those people (and I count myself amongst them) are now going through a situation where whenever they think about a thing that gave them joy it triggers much more difficult feelings. This is a grieving process, and if you feel the need to stand up in the middle of it and say "Well, I'm not grieving, because I never cared about it in the first place" then you should probably take a long look in the mirror and ask why you need to make a public declaration about it.
(I'm not trying to shut down discussions of actual issues with Rowling's works. Or people who are enjoying them.They have value. (Although this post probably isn't the pledge to discuss those things.) I'm just boggled at the self-described "non carers" who somehow need to have their lack of caring broadcast to the wider world.)
And I think these posts are massively lacking in empathy. I mean, hurray, you don't have a huge attachment to a writer that's doing a lot of damage to a maligned minority, but please have a thought for the people who *do* care.
Because she wrote books that enlivened people's childhoods, which led to people meeting new friends, which gave great joy, led to endless fun conversations, and were generally a phenomenon that hundreds of millions of people were very attached to.
Many of those people (and I count myself amongst them) are now going through a situation where whenever they think about a thing that gave them joy it triggers much more difficult feelings. This is a grieving process, and if you feel the need to stand up in the middle of it and say "Well, I'm not grieving, because I never cared about it in the first place" then you should probably take a long look in the mirror and ask why you need to make a public declaration about it.
(I'm not trying to shut down discussions of actual issues with Rowling's works. Or people who are enjoying them.They have value. (Although this post probably isn't the pledge to discuss those things.) I'm just boggled at the self-described "non carers" who somehow need to have their lack of caring broadcast to the wider world.)
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I do like the Harry Potter books & also enjoyed the detective novels and I am sad.
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