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).
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.