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).
Y'know, a part of me was hoping that the "intense sadness" OP was experiencing would have to do with the real, flesh and blood, trans people that JKR has dedicated her life to harming. That on some level, these people would feel conflicted about their nostalgia and its current material harms.
But no... Instead I have to hear this 35 year old whinge about how ancient he is (capitalism's youth obsession is genuinely harmful, holy shit), and will surely turn to dust at any moment, because he watched a trailer for a shitty TV show, made by a bigot, and cried about it.
(capitalism's youth obsession is genuinely harmful, holy shit)
They start grooming kids to become consoomers knowing that they'll get their parents to buy them useless shit. When they age up, they're marketed relentlessly because they have disposable income. And when they get even older, they play up insecurities about how fucking old they are that can only be filled with more useless shit from their childhood.
All of those are bots. I cannot handle the idea that this is actually real people bragging about how they are the Special Ones capable of experiencing this magical thing call "Empathy" for characters in a story, like it is an entirely unique concept that only Harry Potter fans know about.
These people really need to not just read another book, but speak to another human being who doesn't share 99% of their interests.
They need to read Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus
I wouldn't be surprised if they were bots trying to drum up hype because as far as I heard even people who like Harry Potter don't like the look of the remake
Yeah, I have one lib friend who is really into Harry Potter, and we hung out today and they didn't mention the remake at all, so they probably aren't interested in it whatsoever.
They also kind of feel like bots because the conversation is just so inhuman, it doesn't feel like they're sharing an experience, just reiterating the same keywords as each other.
35 year old Kid Wizard fan
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.
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
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
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.
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.
Everything has merch these days. It's honestly such a weird thing to ask.
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
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! 
i was almost 20 when the hairy porber books were blowin' up. i had already started reading the game of thrones series, so i was never in the demographic. but i had friends that worked at a nearby bookstore and the release dates were a whole retail phenomenon. the general vibe was, "it's great these kids are reading."
seems like a monkey paw thing though where, for a lot of them, they were the only books they would read for the next 30 years lol.
also, it's still weird to me that it's being rebooted already. it would be like rebooting the game of thrones / a song of ice and fire series right now, again, but as a bunch of movies. which maybe they will, but it would be weird. at least GRRM fiddled around with other story lines that can be adapted. all the HP prequel stuff seems to have fallen flat. probably because JK Boring is a complete hack, while GRRM is an actual pulp writer.
anyway, whatever, i'm still waiting for the Kingkiller trilogy to finish and be adapted. or just to finish. hopefully before i die.
“Elodin proved a difficult man to find. He had an office in Hollows, but never seemed to use it. When I visited Ledgers and Lists, I discovered he only taught one class: Unlikely Maths. However, this was less than helpful in tracking him down, as according to the ledger, the time of the class was 'now' and the location was 'everywhere.”
Pictured: Millennials
I'm 28 atm,
2026-1997=29
Zoomers are not free of the Harry Potter stench. "Generations" are for losers
Any piece of fiction that has even the most barebones of world building will develop a fan base like this, especially if that comes with merch and spin-offs. Slop like RWBY and Naruto Shippuden come to mind. Also all the people saying stuff like this about Netflix Piece.
With literally hundreds of episodes of filler, you'd think Naruto would've fleshed itself out more.... But no
28 is Gen Z, hate to break it to you, generational warfare is stupid
Also, JK being shitty and my personal dislike of Harry Potter aside, I dunno, there's something depressing about pathologizing people for enjoying whimsy. Like, the grown ass man who likes playing with trains has always been a thing. It's normal and human. My old ass mother likes Minions, my dad builds model cars from his childhood. That doesn't mean they don't enjoy mature things either or that there is something wrong with them. That's not even getting into neurodivergent special interests and the judgement those people receive over maybe having a hyperfixation that's considered out of their age range
I dunno, there's something scummy and judgemental about it. If I were to play that game, I could just as easily say it reminds me of the immaturity of teenagers shitting on each other for still liking 'kids stuff' because they want to appear all grown up and cool. It comes across as self loathing, insecure bullshit to me
I think there is a difference between hating someone for enjoying something childish or whimsical, and getting annoyed with someone because they act like their obsession with something from their childhood makes them better than you, that their treat their own emotional stunting as a virtue.
Need someone to kill me if i ever start talking like this about whatever is the gen-z version of harry potter
Five Nights at Freddie's lol
Toy story(?)
Edit: no that was '95, too early
I'm betting on either Minecraft or Your Mom's iPad
It's 100% Minecraft. There are videos on youtube making entire movies / tv series inside the Minecraft engine. I would bet any amount of money that there will be a prestige Minecraft series on HBO (or its equivalent) within the next 30 years.
paid for by their tax money
and enthusiastically endorsed each and every time.
This show must be for the hardcore Potheads, because it looks like a shitter rendition of the material...already covered in like 8 Hollywood movies.
The hogs hunger for eight-ten hours worth of slop for each of the books