I love pop culture right now. Against all odds it seems like every other week we’re getting a work of great art that is going to define this time period in the culture. Even as the conditions in every industry continue to get worse and worse as executives who don’t care about art continue trying to push the line up, I find so much great new stuff to adore. Not to be such a consumer, but there really is something out there for everybody right now and that’s a beautiful thing.

Which is why I’m going to take my gloves off when it comes to the cultural nadir that some online circles just will not let go of. As the AO3 Ship Stats from this year revealed, there is a resonating love for the work of J. K. Rowling and, to a less embarrassing but still unfortunate extent, Neil Gaiman. To some extent I see the point behind fans and fan fiction being able to hold onto these things, to take ownership of them from the horrible minds that created them. There’s a narrative of betrayal and revenge that often goes into writers defending the continued expansion of the Harry Potter yaoi canon that I would find admirable if it wasn’t so unserious.

Let’s be real, you’re writing yaoi out of a bad fantasy series for babies, occasionally using characters that do basically nothing in the story so you can make them do anything you want. You could just be writing normal fun bad smut and not forever be associated with the person recognized for years as the most prominent anti-trans bigot.

When I wrote about Hogwarts Legacy I made it clear where I stand on derivative works using the Harry Potter brand, that basically no amount of hemming and hawing about the radioactive waste emitting from this cultural object excuses you from profiteering from it. I feel similarly about fan works, even for the folks doing it for the love of the game who make no money from their writing. It doesn’t matter how well you can write Remus Lupin bottoming, you’re assisting in the cultural perseverance of a brand that powers an anti-trans hate machine:

“Never mind J.K. Rowling’s current anti-transgender brigade, the insistence that you can make Harry Potter better by making it gayer and more colorful is a waste of your time and energy. Read a better book, watch better movies, play different video games… You do not have to prostrate yourself and fully show your shame before there is ever a reason to be ashamed as some attempt at earning forgiveness of the communities you claim to be part of. You cannot make Harry Potter yours while doing so funnels money and cultural relevance to transphobia.”

- “Hogwarts Legacy Reviews and the Death of the Critic”

I directed a lot of anger at the people attempting to nuance their way out of dodging a boycott in whatever way they decided to do so, but this essay is not for the spineless Harry Potter enjoyer. This essay is for what we do about them, and I have a pretty simple solution: laugh at them.

I mean it. Point and laugh when you see people who will not let this shit go. I don’t mean do this because Harry Potter is bad or you should feel ashamed for having ever enjoyed it, I am talking about shame as an act of political speech. The same way we put middle fingers up and laugh at the Jesus freaks with big signs on the side of the road at the pride parade, to ensure the death of Harry Potter in the popular conscious we must point and laugh at anyone still trying to preserve its legacy in whatever way they choose.

Shame is a powerful tool for change. It changes the power structure in a conversation when you can pity the fool rather than be offended by some kind of disregard of decorum in fandom spaces, the art world, or whatever the cultural site may be. I’m not saying cut off your friends or go yell at strangers, but don’t be afraid to interrupt a stupid conversation with a simple “that’s really stupid.” Obviously the rancid politics of J. K. Rowling and the books themselves aren’t enough to turn people off - but making Harry Potter into a laughable talking point lessens the sense of maliciousness the books, and Rowling, can bring into our culture.