Because it's popular, approachable, has a good adaptation to film, and timed the aging up of its narrative and characters to perfection, allowing readers from a wide age range to keep engaged with it as they developed their taste in fiction.
It's not high art, but I don't think it's difficult to see why it's enduringly popular
Because for the vast majority of cis people the link between Harry Potter as a media property and TERF advocacy is pretty tenuous, while their emotional connection to it is pretty strong.
For most cis people trans issues are a fringe political concern with relatively low salience that they don't know much about, and aren't particularly interested in; not necessarily in any malicious way, but just that it isn't something particularly on their radar.
To explain to those people the chain that Harry Potter funds JK Rowling, and Jk Rowling funds advocacy that claims to be feminist but that is actually a guise for pushing to marginalised and expunge trans identities from society, and that advocacy has had real material impacts on law that have directly made the lives of trans people notably worse, to the point of driving some to harm or suicide, is at least 3 links too many for the average voter on such a marginal issue to them. Meanwhile, their attachment to harry potter as an IP is very clear-cut and strong, and usually has nothing to do with JKR as a person.
Humans in general aren't very good at dealing with the generalised abstract comsequnces their cumulative actions, and the link between Harry Potter and harm to trans people is much more abstracted than a lot of other harmful relationships people already engage in. They simply do not know about, or sincerely do not comprehend, that engaging with the IP does harm to trans people.
I mean, people know and they still don't care. Look at the Hogwarts Legacy situation. A lot of them know, just don't care. I know it's normal that people don't care if it doesn't involve them, but it makes me spiteful towards the whole fanbase. I feel like a giant, well maintained float is going over my head, crushing all my friends and family and cis people wagging wands on top of it trying not to look down.
Edit: What's Your Patronus Houses, cis bitches not liking this? Sussie and Johnny Downvote on their way to Askabarn 🖕
What I hate about that situation with HL is that money was CLEARLY flexed behind the scenes with the massive Twitch campaign. Those “big name” streamers just got a fat stack of cash to promote and play it, but would rather double down on “separating the art from the artist” instead of admitting they’re being paid to play HL.
Because for the vast majority of cis people the link between Harry Potter as a media property and TERF advocacy is pretty tenuous, while their emotional connection to it is pretty strong.
Yes, we know, this is the "being crap about it" part.
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u/goldensabbath 12h ago
Why won't this fucking franchise just go away...