Why Harry Potter TV Series Boycott Is A Bad Idea
Overzealous public condemnation of Rowling's work has backfired in some unexpected ways.
The announcement that Harry Potter is getting a new TV adaptation that will cover each book in the series with each season has received a mixed reaction from fans.
While some agree that such a format will allow for a more complete coverage of the events of the books, which the movies could not do due to limited screen time, others feel that it will never be able to top the original films that millions know and love.
Another major reason for the negative reaction is the involvement of the book's author J.K. Rowling in the creation of the series, as her highly controversial comments about transgender people continue to spark backlash from fans.
Some fans even intend to boycott the upcoming series just because of her involvement.
In response, Rowling escalated the conflict by writing on Twitter that she had "taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne."
While the anger of the fans is completely understandable, as this controversy has been going on for a long time with no intention of ending on either side, a public boycott of the series might not be such a good idea.
This is obvious because a similar situation happened not so long ago with the release of Hogwarts Legacy, a video game set in the Wizarding World universe.
Many people publicly denounced the game for the same reason, along with accusations of including anti-Semitic tropes, escalating to the point that some streamers even had to stop streaming the game.
The situation backfired, however, as it created a Streisand effect that only increased the game's publicity, and some people even bought the game just to spite the activists.
All of this made Hogwarts Legacy arguably the most talked about video game of the past few months, selling over 12 million copies two weeks after its release and becoming the best-selling video game of February 2023.
It's an individual choice whether or not to financially support someone whose views contradict your own, but as the situation described above suggests, publicly calling for a product to be boycotted will only bring it more publicity.
Everyone is aware of Rowling's controversial views at this point, so maybe it's wiser to just calmly ignore her products if you don't like them.
Source: Twitter