One of the most hilarious, and also strangely depressing, aspects of the “current year” culture wars has been the corporate world’s readiness to cravenly bend the knee to whatever the latest modern insanity is. Otherwise sensible, cognisant human beings who manage to do everything from walking and breathing at the same time up to running multi-million dollar companies seemingly take complete leave of their senses.
They start installing gender-neutral toilets while letting the marketing department sacrifice their brand value on the altar of whatever the perpetually offended and screeching about this week. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the entertainment industry, where having anything other than the “correct” opinions can be career suicide.
So it is refreshingly different to see a company refuse to play along with the madness, like HBO when it comes to JK Rowling.
Rowling has been at the center of a long-standing row over women’s rights vs. the increasingly shrill demands of the trans lobby. Her relationship with some fans of her Harry Potter series, and even some of the stars of the related movies, has deteriorated amid a toxic debate in which she remains steadfast and savage.
This approach has gained her a lot of fans among people with common sense higher than a glass of water, but it has made the notoriously sensitive creative types nervous as a certain type of Potter “fan” has constantly threatened boycott.
With a mega-budgeted TV adaption of the Harry Potter books on the horizon, the noise was growing again and many wondered how a skittish studio or platform would handle it. Well, wonder no more. HBO has issued a statement saying, frankly, that they don’t give a shit about the whining.
It said in a statement to Variety last Wednesday, HBO said:
“We are proud to once again tell the story of Harry Potter – the heartwarming books that speak to the power of friendship, resolve and acceptance. JK Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.”
For those of you who don’t speak corporate, this is essentially as blunt as it gets, and seemingly draws a line under the debate.