People Going Apeshit over Hogwarts Legacy

[marc]

My wife is loving the game, so much to explore. Spent a couple hours decorating the Room of Requirement.

There are gay characters, and at least one trans character in the game. No sign of racism, sexism, or anything like that other than some Slytherins being arrogant jerks.

Only disappointment has been you can't go into the common rooms of the other houses.

 

[Bomb#20]

Well, that's the real problem, isn't it? Nothing to do with the game, just a generation with a lot more access to authors' opinions than we ever used to have, and an author who refuses to respond to critique in any way but doubling down. She is ill-adapted to the modern media landscape, and if the "wokes" had anything like the mythic power often ascribed to them by fearful conservatives, she would have dragged down her entire franchise with her by now. But they don't, and she hasn't, and the game will probably sell plenty of copies no matter what she types.

Anybody who is able to make a billion dollars selling stories to children is evidently supremely well-adapted to the modern media landscape. Turns out having a billion dollars is rather like emigrating from China during the Cultural Revolution -- it's enough to protect you from having to stand up and participate in one of the insincere "self-criticism" public shaming sessions thought-police take pleasure in inflicting on infidels in order to silence opposition to their authority to suppress heresy. Most Chinese didn't have the option of emigrating; consequently, anybody who pointed to some ex-pat's anticommunist publications as evidence of the CCM's weakness was a damn fool. "Wokes"'s being able to do that to everyone but J.K.Rowling still qualifies as mythic power, even if you guys get off on telling one another fish stories about the one that got away.

 

[Bomb#20]

Why not? What's the functional (morally, ethically) difference between financially supporting terfs, or nazis?

Um, Nazis want Jews, Roma and gays to die, and terfs want trans people to use the other bathroom?

Also, the whole 'nazi' angle is a bit disingenuous isn't it? JK may be a bigot when it comes to trans people, but that does not make her a nazi,

I expect during the Reformation an awful lot of Catholics felt Protestants were [fill in 16th-century pejorative equivalent to "bigot"] because they didn't automatically accept as settling the matter the Pope's self-identification as a person with a privileged channel to God.

Honestly, I think she is privately a Nazi for her Goblins: critters with big, prominent noses who run banks greedily and privately think they own all the gold and contents and only don't "for now" because they don't have the power to seize it.

If that isn't a metaphor echoing antisemitism of past eras, I don't know what is.

The fact is, there are stunningly deep moments of racism in British culture.

The entire Harry Potter story arc is a thinly veiled metaphor for Britain standing up to the Nazis. Muggles are untermenschen, "pure" Wizards with no muggle ancestry are Aryans, Death Eaters are Nazis, Voldemort is, well, He Who Must Not Be Named, and Dumbledore is Winston Churchill. Calling J.K.Rowling a Nazi is imbecilic.

 

[Politesse]

Anybody who is able to make a billion dollars selling stories to children is evidently supremely well-adapted to the modern media landscape.

A great deal has changed since 2007, especially in the publishing world.

 

[Politesse]

Nazis want Jews, Roma and gays to die, and terfs want trans people to use the other bathroom?

How did the Nazi regime start? What were their original demands on the government with respect to gay and trans people?

 

[Jarhyn]

Um, Nazis want Jews, Roma and gays to die

And she paints a set of things which together are an antisemitic stereotype.

I suspect she wants more than for trans people to "use the other bathroom" as the political tenor on the core of the right is attempting to label trans people "likely child abusers".

There's so much bad faith packed into a tight little ball there in her head that I'm not going to take the time to unpack it.

It started as soon as gay rights happened and continued in an increasing pitch right up to the present day.

This was the first note in that overture, the one JK Rowling speaks now.

 

[Bomb#20]

 

[Toni]

Why not condemn those who support people with problematic opinions?

Sure, condemn the opinions, and those that support it. Just don't confuse the person with the product they helped produce. Just because say John Travolta is in a movie doesn't make it a pro-scientology movie for example, and I won't condemn someone for liking the movie. I will have a problem if they support scientoloty.

Is it only the ones you feel don't matter?

Not sure what you mean here

If lots of people are buying nazi paraphernalia to fund fascist politicians, is that ok? Should you just STFU and let them buy what they want?

Of course not. Because that is directly supporting the horrible ideals, rather than something that is unrelated to the ideals that just happened to have been produced by an asshole.

Ok. So if I'm buying cute stuffed animals that have no obvious connection to nazis, but just happen to fund nazi propaganda (as an example). That's ok?

Cool cool.

Is buying JK Rowlings' products/merchandise/movies/games funding an anti-trans movement? To me, that's the real issue. Not that Rowling is not just incorrect but problematically incorrect on this issue and not quiet about it.

I am a big fan of Bob Dylan who, aside from being a famous musician and song writer (among other things) has been credibly accused of being abusive to his former wife. I'm tremendously against spousal abuse.

I still like his music.

Michael Jackson was a bit more problematic. Bill Cosby? I was a fan for almost my entire life. That's just a couple of examples.

 

[Playball40]

Why not? What's the functional (morally, ethically) difference between financially supporting terfs, or nazis?

Um, Nazis want Jews, Roma and gays to die, and terfs want trans people to use the other bathroom?

Also, the whole 'nazi' angle is a bit disingenuous isn't it? JK may be a bigot when it comes to trans people, but that does not make her a nazi,

I expect during the Reformation an awful lot of Catholics felt Protestants were [fill in 16th-century pejorative equivalent to "bigot"] because they didn't automatically accept as settling the matter the Pope's self-identification as a person with a privileged channel to God.

Honestly, I think she is privately a Nazi for her Goblins: critters with big, prominent noses who run banks greedily and privately think they own all the gold and contents and only don't "for now" because they don't have the power to seize it.

If that isn't a metaphor echoing antisemitism of past eras, I don't know what is.

The fact is, there are stunningly deep moments of racism in British culture.

The entire Harry Potter story arc is a thinly veiled metaphor for Britain standing up to the Nazis. Muggles are untermenschen, "pure" Wizards with no muggle ancestry are Aryans, Death Eaters are Nazis, Voldemort is, well, He Who Must Not Be Named, and Dumbledore is Winston Churchill. Calling J.K.Rowling a Nazi is imbecilic.

You think transgender rights is 'using other bathrooms'? You clearly have no idea about what you are speaking.

 

[Oleg]

You think transgender rights is 'using other bathrooms'? You clearly have no idea about what you are speaking.

Isn't about men telling women what it is to be a woman? But women are just to irrational to understand?

 

[Patooka]

Not to mention their anti-mod EULA...

How the fuck is that not the issue here? A game that doesn't support modding is pushing shit uphill in this day and age. I remember when everyone flipped their shit because Skyrim fucked players over with its creation club bullshit.

As for the manufactured outrage, I don't see what bringing a streamer to tears after they said they are donating all their earnings to the Trevor Project is going to accomplish. The game has character customisation, right? I can't think of a better way of pissing J.K off than playing the game as a trans character. I suspect using her intellectual property as a trans icon/rallying point would have her seething if enough people do it.

 

[Politesse]

An interesting admission.

 

[Politesse]

I remember when everyone flipped their shit because Skyrim fucked players over with its creation club bullshit.

They got better eventually, though.

 

[repoman]

The risk/reward gamble that is at the heart of adolescent transitioning youth can be in Jazz who did not have enough testosterone have the penis grow enough to make a standalone substrate for a neo-vagina. On the other hand, Kim Petras does not have a masculinized voice from male puberty. Kim Petras having only the recourse to singing falsetto would quite a downgrade.

Experiment with being gay or whatever then "go straight" and besides some societal fallout (lots of women used to not ever want to touch a man who did any guy on guy stuff - still the case? who knows I am old and out of touch) nothing is permanent.

But for transgender stuff, this is the definition of measure twice cut once.

For an average parent not to have some even micro level of anxiety about this is crazy.

 

[TomC]

The risk/reward gamble that is at the heart of adolescent transitioning youth can be in Jazz who did not have enough testosterone have the penis grow enough to make a standalone substrate for a neo-vagina. On the other hand, Kim Petras does not have a masculinized voice from male puberty. Kim Petras having only the recourse to singing falsetto would quite a downgrade.

Experiment with being gay or whatever then "go straight" and besides some societal fallout (lots of women used to not ever want to touch a man who did any guy on guy stuff - still the case? who knows I am old and out of touch) nothing is permanent.

But for transgender stuff, this is the definition of measure twice cut once.

For an average parent not to have some even micro level of anxiety about this is crazy.

Did some TV producers model Sheldon Cooper, from the sit-com "The Big Bang Theory" on you?
When your mom had you tested, did she follow up with the specialist in Houston?
Tom

 

[Gospel]

My wife is loving the game, so much to explore. Spent a couple hours decorating the Room of Requirement.

There are gay characters, and at least one trans character in the game. No sign of racism, sexism, or anything like that other than some Slytherins being arrogant jerks.

Only disappointment has been you can't go into the common rooms of the other houses.

Yeah, I picked it up for the open world gameplay (only type of games I play really) to tie me over until a Starfield release date is announced. I haven't read the books or watched any movies so if this game is loyal to the books I can understand why people love the series. As for me, I like the game, it's up there with Skyrim, The Witcher 3 and Zelda Breath of the Wild as far as replayability but at the bottom of that list. Damn shame J. K. Rowling waved her wand & summoned a storm upon Potter fans waiting ages for a game like this.

The next Video Game outrage will be Atomic Heart. Allegedly, it's a Russian Military propaganda game. Coming to a tweet near you on February 21st.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

For those who haven't read the thread yet, here is what I find to be an appropriate summation of most of it.

Show

Roald Dahl had some pretty awful ideas. He also had some incredible stories to tell (other than The Glass Elevator which was nothing but a few short stories poorly stuffed together). It sucks that he had some really crappy ideas. It was good that I was able to share some great stories with my daughter which didn't impart any of his shitty ideas. If we simplify default people down to their worst attributes, that becomes a problem for society. It isn't pretty, but humanity isn't pretty.

 

[Juvenal]

Shouldn't we start the discussion by laying out what JK Rowling has said over the years that is troublesome? I recall she said some things a few years ago to the effect of "transwomen aren't real women", but has there been anything more recent?

Sounds like a reasonable request to me. This is from February, 2023, and includes a lot of details I hadn't previously seen.

A Complete Breakdown of the J.K. Rowling Transgender-Comments Controversy​

 

[TomC]

Shouldn't we start the discussion by laying out what JK Rowling has said over the years that is troublesome? I recall she said some things a few years ago to the effect of "transwomen aren't real women", but has there been anything more recent?

Why would I do that?

I read the first few Potter novels. I had young relatives. I wanted to have a clue about what they were talking about. The books were more fun than I expected, or I wouldn't have bothered beyond the first one.

But I really don't care about the author's socio-political views about anything.

Tolkien is a big favorite of mine. His racism and classism and sexism is appalling, and his novels are full of the stuff. I don't care because it's fantasy fiction. I don't expect it to reflect reality. I don't judge the quality of the work by the adherence to my social views.

Why does anyone care about Rowling's views on trans issues when deciding whether or not to buy or play a game?
Tom

 

[marc]

if this game is loyal to the books I can understand why people love the series.

From what I've seen it is very loyal to the books, if taking place about 90 years before them.

Loved the books. The first two movies were great, but then they started having the problem of an accurate book to film would be about 6 hours long, so they started changing stuff. Still not bad, but would recommend the books to anyone interested.