aftermath.site: The r/Crafts subreddit has been debating banning Harry Potter crafts for months, and came to a decision last week: Explicitly Harry Potter-themed projects are no longer allowed. The subreddit's moderation team held a poll two months ago to determine how they should handle Harry Potter-themed projects, which were causing a lot of "off-topic conversations and uncivil conversations," according to a post announcing the results.
4 comments:
I have so many opinions about this, which is probably a good sign that I should spend a little bit more time outside. I think that trying to ban all Harry Potter related crafts in this subreddit is just kinda stupid. I don’t want to support JK as much as the next guy, but I would argue that making harry potter crafts rather than buying official Harry Potter merch is its own form of rebellion against her. As far as I’m aware JK Rowling didn't receive a single cent from me when I knitted a Ravenclaw scarf, but she would have if I had never seen that free pattern online somewhere and instead had to buy one. I understand that everything is controversial these days, but I think this is a strange hill to die on. It's also a little ridiculous that they did this with a 53% majority, that barely made the cut. Just let people craft the way they want to craft.
I find this very interesting. I completely understand not wanting to interact with anything relating to Harry Potter because of how vial JK is, but I am also conflicted on how I feel about the subreddit banning Harry Potter as a whole. I really love the Harry Potter series, it reminds me a lot of my childhood, but I despise JK with everything in me. Understandably, a lot of people can’t separate the wizarding world from her, but I think that those who continue to do so are fine as long as they’re not directly supporting JK. Thats where I get conflicted about this article, if it’s a crafting subreddit and JK gets literally no revenue from people making things like house pennants then what is the issue? The article mentions how discussions started getting out of hand in comments so for the sake of that I understand the ban, but otherwise I would think it’s fine. I know there are a lot of ‘craft kits’ connected to the wizarding world ip, but if people were making handmade items with no attachment to the ip I think they should be allowed to do that. I am curious to see if this makes Harry Potter fans make their own subreddit about crafts or if they will move onto other medias to inspire them.
As someone who had a quite extensive Harry Potter obsession as a child this is devastating. Although I agree with all the criticism toward JK Rowling, part of doing a Harry Potter craft means you're not buying any merchandise that directly supports her. The craft itself is a wonderful way to still enjoy the series without supporting someone who your views don't align with. Many people say that you need to separate the art from the artist and this scenario feels like the perfect way of doing that. Even if you enjoy the series, doing your own craft gives you that connection and enjoyment you get out of the artform without acknowledging or supporting the artist. Plus crafts are fun and if we go around banning a bunch of random craft threads when the creator of the art form is based on messes up what are we going to do with any of our free time.
As someone who has never been a fan of Harry Potter or JK Rowling, I think this ban is somewhat reasonable. If a large amount of people in this subreddit were feeling offended by the support and continuance of Harry Potter and therefore the spread of transphobic comments by JK Rowling, then a ban is perfectly reasonable to keep the space comfortable for the members. However, I can understand why some people believe that it was wrong to ban these crafts in the subreddit. Harry Potter has a really wide fanbase, and because of this it's completely understandable that these crafts would take up a large part of the subreddit. Harry Potter will be popular whether its banned here or not. Therefore, if it's not directly supporting Rowling monetarily or involving any of the issues she is vocal on, what is the real issue? If anything, it's encouraging children to be creative and engage in a book series, encouraging them to read.
Post a Comment