For posting all the anonymous reactionary bullshit that you can't post anywhere else.
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Link to post: https://www.reddit.com/r/HarryPotteronHBO/comments/1s5exuz/anyone_else_feeling_a_kind_of_intense_sadness_in/
Pictured: Millennials talking about the silly wizard power fantasy like it's Shakespeare. Harry Potter truly is to Generation Y as Star Wars was to Generation X. It reminds them of a "better time" when they could remain ignorant of all the horrible things happening in the world (paid for by their tax money).
When Harry Potter came out, I was already reading shit like Fafrd and the Grey Mouser and playing Warhammer and as I've gotten older, I've branched out more and started reading more shit and writing my own shit
I do not understand the mindset that locks these people into this situation where all they fucking care about is the same fucking thing they experienced when they were kids
you're even allowed to look at stuff you liked as a kid and say "wow this sucks, i had shit taste lmao" while simultaneously appreciating the role it played in your developing tastes or hobbies
like why does it have to be literally the same goddamn thing forever
Yeah, it seems like they never read any books after Harry Potter.
This is exactly how I feel about Power Rangers. Loved it as a kid. I tried watching it as an adult once, and oh my god it's completely horrendous.
Ok, but the theme song still slaps though.
On the reverse of this, I never watched Sailor Moon as a kid, but I started watching it recently, Just to know what the hype was.
And y'know what? It's a repetitive, incidentally pro-social, barely animated anime slop for little girls...
AND THAT'S WHY IT FUCKING RIPS!!! I adore that it looks like ass! The Japanese economy crashing after the consumer electronics boom went bust, meant that animation houses suddenly had way fewer resources to work with. So, they had to do everything they possibly could to cut corners, while still making something that, on some level, manages to be visually appealing.
Its not deep, but it's dumb, and fun, and campy as hell!
It’s like only listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers for 40 years
It's sad
But since the average USAan can only read at a 4th grade level, it's also not surprising that they're permanently locked into children's media
And I say this as someone who loves cartoons and comic books
I read a queer, middle grade, children's novel recently, called Too Bright To See, and it was such a wonderful and evocative exploration of grief and self discovery.
Obviously it was written at a low lexical level, but these people aren't even reading good quality children's literature. They're reading the lowest quality slop out there, not on its own merits, but because they're blinded by their own nostalgia.
cartoons and comic books touch on serious themes all the time. boomers just think everything is silver-age schlock that they grew up with.
I've been listening to RHCP since I was a kid and boy was it a moment when I realized what Purple Stain was about
For certain people nostalgia just hits them super hard. They get stuck going full Uncle Rico about the good ol' days. They get locked onto something that never really was that great and can never move on or experience new things or change or learn more. It's sad to see.
Had a coworker who was like this back in the day
Went to the theme park and bought the robes and wands and everything
When I suggested some other fantasy novels he could read and would probably like, he kind of scoffed and said "Do they have merch?"
I stared at him for a moment, fighting the urge to laugh and just went "Buddy. You read stuff to enjoy it, not justify buying tchotchkes"
And he said, deadass "But the merch is what makes it fun!"
I really wanted to go and burn something after that conversation
Everything has merch these days. It's honestly such a weird thing to ask.
But the best I can figure is that this person warns somethng shareable or some sort of community from the product. Like part of the appeal for Potterverse people is that they can connect with a fandom that's so widely recognized that there's almost always another fan around. And merch becomes an easy way to identify and be identified as within a fandom.
And even if something doesn't have official merch, I'm sure they can find some sicko on Etsy.
It feels like weebs who love Ghibli movies more for the Totoro plushies than their value as works of cinema. Like, cool I like some slop merch sometimes. I wanna hug the big fluffy guy! But these are, first and foremost, pieces of art that we can engage with, as art.
I mean... I first saw the Simpsons when I was a child and I still get a kick out of your Simpsons memes, should I be ashamed about that?
Not trying to sound snarky, it's a genuine question because the part of my brain that understands social norms is neurodivergent as fuck
That's the thing though, The Simpsons was not made for children, but it is so well-written that there are gags that everyone can get but at the same time have incredibly deep cuts that I only appreciate now that i'm older
Like, it was only a few months ago that I learned that the scene where Homer drives his plow over a rickety bridge is a direct reference to the 1977 film Sorcerer, which just makes it even funnier now that I've gone and seen it
Harry Potter on the other hand, is very basic, almost contemptuously so. Every character falls into very clear categories, there is no deeper meaning to any of their actions. Hell, Harry wins against Voldemort because his mom loved him. Not because he was talented or practiced at doing magic, but just because he was assigned to be the hero
I don't behoove anyone for ever liking it, because I liked shallow things when I was young. But, as someone who enjoys reading and writing, someone who wants to make things that explore the gamut of the human experience, it's infuriating to see people being incurious, but even more infuriating is knowing that the main reason Kid Wizard and the Tropes gets sold so hard is because it's simple and easy to sell to children, it's mainlining sewage to children to kill their love of fiction and hook them on The Product™️
Even fucking Looney Tunes had more passion and love put into it and it drives me fuckin' batty
I think this is the issue. HP is slop and it is ok to enjoy slop sometimes, but these people who have never read anything else in their lives act like it is the highest of high art and there would be no point reading anything else because they've already read the best.
That's true and you're correct, especially because Harry Potter is trash for a number of reasons. But I still find the whole idea 'thing for adult only and thing for kid only' confusing and frustraiting because there is plenty of media marketed as adult media that I find shallow and vapid, and there is plenty of media that appears childish that has more to it than on the surface. It sounds like marketing demographic jargon simililar to "This is for men, this is for women". There seems to be mostly arbitrary rules involved that change with whatever social norms deem appropriate at the time. Maybe I'm just dumb or immature and will never get it, I don't know.
the best kids' stuff is the kind like animaniacs, freakazoid, or the 90s batman where they're clever enough to make jokes and references that the kids don't even notice, but are hilarious to adults.
You don't get Adam West to do bit parts in batman media for the kids who have never seen the 1960s show.
gender segregation is mostly about marketing, there was a Young Justice cartoon a few (10?) years ago that was really popular and critically acclaimed but the action figures didn't do the numbers the suits wanted and the show was cancelled because they had made good television instead of a boys-only toy commercial.
Agreed, I think a more modernish (I say 'ish' because it's like over a decade old now) equivalent would be something like Gravity Falls which I hardly ever admit to liking because it's Disney, but it's a genuinely funny and well written show, same goes for Owl House, which got cancelled for being too gay.
I think when I use the terms, I am going with more of a matter of complexity rather than subject matter
The difference between a picture book and a novel, as an easy shorthand
I am complicated sometimes
In conclusion, flakesbongler is a land of contrasts
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking the time to deal with my bullshit.
And it's cool to be complicated. Continue being rad as fuck 👍
No worries, you continue being amazing too!
Same people who watch marvel slop and only read shonen manga.