Harry Potter Fandom

Friday 2 November 2007 HP Fandom

So, I’m breaking my streak of chapter discussions here with some thoughts on what’s been going on lately in the Harry Potter fandom. I’m a little annoyed at certain people at TLC/LL who are taking everything so personally. Not everyone…I love my Leaky family! It’s just that some of them take everything Jo says the wrong way and don’t bother to listen to other opinions or read what actually happened. Granted, I think we’re all stressed right now. We’re all tired from school/work. And the fandom has been in the spotlight, the eye of the world a lot since the news about Dumbledore and all. Wee aren’t used to that, just at book releases. We’re used to being our quiet little fandom, full of geeks who understand each other, having most people just ignore us obsessed ones. Or maybe that’s just me…I feel like we’ve been getting too much attention from the media lately. And it certainly IS stressful.

But, where did all this arguing begin? Personally, I think it started with Jo’s suit against India. All I know is that an Indian festival replicated Hogwarts and the Hogwarts Express for their theme and some of Jo’s “representatives” sued them. But, if I heard correctly, India rejected the claim and nothing happened. Personally, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with this suit, but the story caused a lot of disagreement. I don’t know if that’s actually when all this happened, but…maybe.

Anyway, then there was Jo coming out about Dumbledore at Carnegie Hall. We got media attention from EVERYWHERE on that. And goodness, that practically split or normally pleasant and agreeable fandom down the middle. I argued with people I never thought I would ever! There was so much flaming of Jo and her decision. All I did was politely get my opinion out there. I was appalled at how some people acted! A lot of it was disgusting and horrifying. I mean, just because he’s gay DOES NOT MEAN HE’S A PEDOPHILE! Sheesh! Dumbledore is still the same intelligent, wise, friendly old man and the best headmaster Hogwarts ever had. It doesn’t change anything about his character, just like having brown eyes or the favorite color of orange. It does add information to the story—the reason he waited to go after Grindelwald was that he loved him. So, yeah, it’s important to the story, sort of, but Dumbledore is still the same. He’s witty and perceptive and Harry’s most important mentor and guide to destroying Voldemort. I know it’s against some people’s religion (lol, stamp collecting), but that religion also says to be respectful and understanding to everyone. All the flaming of Jo and gays broke my heart. Jo doesn’t want any more publicity, money, or attention. She gets plenty of it and didn’t do any of this for attention in the first place. A fan asked her a question about Dumbledore’s love life and she answered truthfully. She’s an honest, beautiful, and giving woman. And I will love her forever. She’s given me and the world so much, mainly friends. I don’t exactly have many friends (being Luna), and most of the ones I do have I connected with through Harry Potter :D

All right, and now there’s this news about Jo suing Steve for his book he’s planning to come out with. I think it makes perfect sense. Harry and his world belong to Jo, and Steve shouldn’t be making money off her creation. I love Steve, really, I DO. He’s spent long hours and late nights making Lexicon for us so we can look up facts. But it’s free—he’s not making money off of the website. And it really does seem like he doesn’t listen to Jo…I was wondering though, if we would be reacting differently if this was someone other than Steve, who we didn’t love so much.

Well, the fandom just seems to have changed a lot. It’s not the same. *sigh* But I still love (almost) everyone in it! ROWLING’S WOMAN THROUGH AND THROUGH!