The Dangerously Stupid Animus against JK Rowling

Note to Stupid People: No, this is not some anti-Trans wankfest. I fully support Trans rights and the human rights of all the LGBT. This is in defense of everyone’s right to Free Speech and Free Expression.

I really didn’t want to write this; I’d prefer to stay out of melodramatic nonsense related to celebrities as I detest any sort of celebrity-related gossip, but then I found what was quite possibly the dumbest article on the anti-Trans controversy related to JK Rowling by someone named Ani Bundel titled “HBO Max’s ‘Harry Potter’ streaming plans would give J.K. Rowling an undeserved platform” and the contents were just too stupid to not criticize. I wouldn’t have concerned myself, except I was recommended it on my phone through Google and it was posted on the mainstream NBC website. Ani Bundel’s article contained the most thoughtless and asinine arguments that ran amok of the worst forms of shallowness, bigotry, and malevolence that has become so normalized in self-proclaimed “Progressive” circles that seem keen on categorically ignoring the legal and ethical dilemmas their narcissistic views are creating against Free Speech. It has become increasingly and painfully clear that “postmodernism” of so-called Progressives is just a catch-all term for unfettered narcissism and entitlement whereby anything that provides a critical or disagreeable viewpoint is maligned as evil. This “Progressivism” portrays itself as defending some nebulous future while burdening everyone else with the costs. Within this so-called “Progressive” and “postmodernist” framework, it is incumbent on the rest of the world to adhere and obey a strict guideline whereby only the so-called downtrodden can ever be seen as ethical and correct and any criticism or facts spoken against them is seen as harboring an evil motive. Despite even the dangers of the Capitol Hill insurrection whereby Trump supporters became so deluded due to the QANON conspiracy theory to the point it was used to mobilize violence against the federal government to shutdown the peaceful transition of power for then President-Elect Joe Biden, it somehow still hasn’t been drilled into the brains of my fellow dumbass countrymen here in the US, that Conservative Postmodernism is partly or possibly wholly to blame for nearly toppling US democracy. Yes, that’s right, a form of postmodernism. What’s that? An ideology that teaches you to pay attention to your feelings and not factual evidence to delude yourself into your own bubble against the real world is responsible for people acting completely psychotic? It’s almost as if there’s no meaningful difference between a philosophical view that tells you to live in your own delusions and the maladaptive psychological state in which people lose touch with reality and believe in things that aren’t real! Indeed, postmodernism seems like an excuse for people’s narcissistic proclivities with the excuse that their poverty and lower self-esteem is always at jeopardy if everyone in the world doesn’t follow their beck and call instead of them growing a spine and learning to accept that other people have different personal views from theirs.

JK Rowling has odious Anti-Trans views. Okay, now please answer the following questions honestly:

1. Has she ever donated any of her money to Anti-Trans Causes?
2. Does anything in the content of the Harry Potter series indicate malevolence towards Transgender people?
3. If someone harbors odious Anti-Trans views, does that justify removing or demanding the cancellation of everything that they’ve ever worked on or every topic they want to speak about, even when the content has absolutely nothing to do with disparaging Trans rights?
4. Does maligning, harassing, or canceling anyone who makes it clear that they have disagreeable or odious views against Trans people actually help Trans activism? Does it make the world safer for Transgender people who are thrown out of their homes, hunted down and murdered, or otherwise discriminated against? Does it do anything to decrease Transgender killings?
5. Does widening this delusional “postmodernism” bubble until everyone submits to it actually prevent the dehumanization of Transgender people or would listening to and then criticizing odious views be more effective in the service of Trans rights activism?

All that said, it should be made obvious that this cultish obsession to de-platform everything that a person is part of or creates when they express disagreement with Transgender activism is neither helping Transgender human rights nor convincing anyone who is on the fence on such issues. Creating cult-like behavior to deny people’s Free Speech and Free Expression because they disagree on one very important human rights issue is doing nothing but spreading indifference and contempt. Blocking or cancelling anyone you disagree with so you can pretend not to see reality is just a form of narcissistic self-sabotage. I’d go so far as to say that even if she had anti-Trans content in fiction, that’s no reason to de-platform her because any society that respects Free Expression should allow anyone to write anything they want when it comes to fiction. If you disagree with people’s views, just don’t buy what they offer; cancel it with the power of your purse or learn to separate the author from the work. They should be free to express whatever views they want without the threat of cancellation, especially when the content they make has nothing to do with dehumanizing Trans people. Could my fellow Western Barbarians here in the US just stop being such complete dumbasses for at least one day or — as I suspect cancel culture and other behavior in our history have revealed — are we Western Barbarians fundamentally incapable of critical thinking?

Originally published at https://jarinjove.com on January 28, 2021.