It’s Sirius’ first year of Hogwarts. Finally a chance to get away from his family and live his life exactly the way he wants to live it… and hopefully make some friends along the way.
(( OOC: I can understand how you might see it that way, but I need to point out what you said.
“-your own damn people.”
This is where I must strongly disagree with you, and I’ll explain why.
The more you divide, the more you box people into categories, the more you segregate, the more you close yourself off to the world… the more you’ll hinder your own progress and damage your movement.
Change requires unity. It requires the support of the majority, or it won’t happen. You cannot fight against a tidal wave coming at you. You need help from the opposing side… and you will never get them to listen or agree with you if all you do is shut them down, ignore their reasonings, and villainize and degrade them for not seeing the world the way you do.
This does not help the situation. No one responds well to anger unless they already agree with you… but you need the people who don’t agree with you to come to a place of understanding if you want to see change happen.
We need to create an atmosphere of discussion, not contention.
We need to be willing to ask and see WHY people feel the way they feel, so we can understand, and address it. We need to realize that people can still be good people, and that sometimes they just need to be informed. We need to be patient, because opinions are not changed overnight, and they certainly won’t change if all we do is tell them that they are bad, when that’s what they’ve grown up knowing, and that’s the world they have been presented.
I have seen more change happen, in my own personal life, from having calm, considerate and in depth conversations with the people around me, then I’ve seen from any aggressive attack.
I have a very religious family. They don’t approve of my lifestyle… but they are very good people, and are very kind to me. They love me, but the way they were raised has left them ignorant on certain topics, and they’ve had a lifetime of reinforcement that’s lead to them feeling this way. That isn’t something that’s easily overcome.
I once approached my cousin on the topic online, after she posted an article that made me incredibly upset concerning trans issues. When I responded, it didn’t go over well. I was aggressive in my approach, and it spiraled very quickly.
I saw her in person at our next family get-together. I sat down with her, and we had a long, LONG conversation about the issue. I listened to her side, and how she felt about the topic, and because she expressed that with me I was able to understand where she was coming from, and see how she had come to that conclusion. I countered some of her points, providing her with my personal insights on the topic (all while keeping my wording very clear and compassionate)… and by the end of the conversation, she was agreeing with most of what I said.
THAT is how you start to create change. But one conversation isn’t enough.
I grew up very religious… I was anti-LGBT+ rights, because of my surroundings, what I had been taught by my environment, etc. I didn’t even realize I was bi until I left organized religion because I was so repressed…
I would still be in that situation if my father, who left the church, had not expressed his beliefs with me. I would never have changed if he had not been respectful, and understanding, and loving while discussing those topics with me. He didn’t degrade me, he didn’t belittle me, he listened, and he responded, and he was empathetic.
It took me THREE YEARS to deprogram from everything I had been taught about LGBT+ (and life in general)… and even then it took me years more until I could become completely comfortable in my own skin. But it happened… and I have healthy communication to thank for that.
When both parties feel at ease, or at least feel that they are being respected and that their opinions are being taken into consideration, they will be far more likely to grow and expand in their viewpoints and become openminded. The second you approach it in a degrading, hateful, or elitist way, they will shut down, and no progress will be made.
That is an entirely different fight, and it won’t be won through hate and aggression, or shutting yourself off to hearing different opinions or view points.
It won’t be won from making “camps” or “groups” or, as you put it, “your own people”… they can be there to support, you can create amazing bonds from going through similar experiences… but don’t limit yourself to only associating with one group of people. This often leads to pack mentality, which can prevent people from really thinking for themselves and analyzing situations thoroughly. More often than not, it leads to people simply agreeing with the group because that is where they feel safe… and we’ve seen the terrible results of that in everything from politics to religion to goddam high school cliques.
It’s not a healthy mentality.
We have to start creating an environment of open discussion, where people feel they can express themselves without being torn to shreds… or we’ll fester in our ignorance out of spite or fear. If you tear others down, they will fight against you with everything they have.
So yes… look at both sides of the argument, see the validity that is usually there on both sides, see the reasoning, and stop thinking that your world view is the only right world view, because in some instances, you might be wrong and have something to learn from the other person.
Keep conversations open, keep yourself open, and put empathy first. ))
She is one of the most well-known person in the world, her choices affect a lot of people, she could make such a good impact on the world and help the LGBTQ+ community but she chose not to. And I have to admit I’m disappointed that you think that what she gave us excuses her from any bad choice she makes from now on — (Sorry for any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language. And also, I hope I dont sound rude, I’m just so sad that she is letting some of us down… She used to be a role model for me…) have a good day.
(( OOC: Before I respond to this, I’ll just say that from a personal and emotional standpoint, hearing that Dumbledore’s sexuality might not be explored was hurtful, I’m not denying that for a second.
That being said, I’m going to play a bit of the devil’s advocate right now because I find that too often, people tend to only see things from one point of view, and completely disregard every other option.
Let’s first look at a quote from the director of Fantastic Beasts:
“Yates told Entertainment Weekly that his film wasn’t going to acknowledge Dumbledore’s sexuality, not explicitly, adding he thought fans were already aware of that fact.
“He had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men,” Yates said. “They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology and each other.”
Not. Explicitly.
This does not mean it won’t be in there at all.
Now I’ll approach the topic of LGBTQ+ in the Harry Potter series.
This is not a simple, straightforward issue. There are a lot more factors that go into this than people realize. It’s easy to say “You should do this” when you’re not the one in Rowling’s position…
Just because someone is considered to be popular or influential, doesn’t mean they suddenly, miraculously possess the ability to handle the kind of backlash that can come from stepping out of the safety-net of the majority.
It’s easy to say “you need to do what’s right” when you’re not the one being faced with MILLIONS of fans, all shouting something different at you, and telling you what you should believe (and potentially getting aggressive or threatening in their demands).
It’s absolutely terrifying facing that sort of audience alone. Many of us would fall apart under that sort of pressure.
No one should be forced to become a martyr for a cause that they don’t fully understand… that’s a personal decision, and one that many of us wouldn’t make.
This is why communication and empathy is so important.
If we cannot learn how to discuss instead of argue/accuse, see the issue from all sides, and be objective, we’ll never be able to progress. Progression requires unity and empathy. When we are the individuals trying to create change, we have to be patient and understanding towards those who might not completely understand or we will create antipathy for our cause.
We’re part of an entirely different generation (and not everyone in this generation is on the same page). We’ve grown up in different circumstances with a completely different view of the world. What we believe to be moral and right doesn’t necessarily translate to people who have grown up being told something completely different. Changing your entire world view is not an easy task… I’ve done it before, and it takes a LOT of time.
Harry Potter is arguably the most influential fantasy series of our time. It’s a wonderful, imaginative series that brought many people together and sparked an insane amount of creativity in the world. Now, Rowling has done many things that I don’t agree with, but there’s positive and negative traits in all of us, and we don’t know the whole story behind other’s actions.
Artists create based on what they personally relate to. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received aggressive messages telling me what I should or should not include in my content. Creation is not a menu that people can order from, it’s a personal process.
If we continue to attack creators for everything that doesn’t coincide with our world views, they will stop creating out of fear. Instead of placing your expectations on other creators to deliver content that fits your world view… create what you want to see. ))
DoraTheMetamorphmagus 