For Millennials. By Millennials.
If you are a Potterhead (ultimate fan of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise), this article is for you. Now let me ask you something. How many of us are in dire need of our own Hogwarts letter so we can start our magical lives already? I mean, granted I’m way above the age range for a Hogwarts letter, I have still not given up hope to find one in the mail. And I’m not the only one, the same is the case with every fan of the Harry Potter franchise.
The amount of sheer brilliance and creativity the author of the Harry Potter books, JK Rowling put in her work is unmatchable. Not to mention, quite legendary as well. I’m pretty certain there will never be anyone who can produce such ingenious pieces of fiction. A few names that come to mind are George R. R. Martin and J. R. R. Tolkien. However, me being a devoted Potterhead will always put Harry Potter above anything Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings can ever be.
JK Rowling’s Rise To Fame
But with that said, JK Rowling had a stroke of luck that lasted from 1997 when the first Harry Potter book came out to 2007 when the last came out. She earned millions and millions from something that once started in a small café. (Where she initially wrote HP, café name: Nicolson’s Café, located in Edinburgh)
JK Rowling lucked out even more when Warner Bros. decided to turn the books into movies. She ended up cashing out the franchise even 4 years after she wrote the last book.
Things were going immensely well for JK Rowling. Until 2016 when everything came crashing down with the release of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and JK Rowling ended up losing many of her fans, including myself.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a huge Potterhead. But I like to live my life being oblivious to the fact that there is seemingly another book in the HP franchise. And not acknowledging that fact has worked out pretty well for me up. Until now…
How Did JK Rowling Lose Her Fans?
Now let’s talk about The Cursed Child.
First of all, it made zero sense. Any fan of Harry Potter would know that Harry Potter had grown up being neglected and never having a childhood. Once he became a father, that was the last thing you would expect him to do to his kids. However, suddenly in The Cursed Child, Harry became a child-hating parent. And not only that, he also despised Draco Malfoy’s kids when the actual last HP book ended up with everyone being indifferent to each other.
Not only is Harry wrongly portrayed in the book, so is another important character, which is Voldemort.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, this article contains spoilers for The Cursed Child. So if you still have not read the book or seen the play, keep reading and don’t bother reading the book or you’ll hate JK Rowling too.
So apparently, one of the main characters of The Cursed Child was Voldemort’s daughter. And how does he have a daughter? It was his love child with Bellatrix, which again, makes zero sense. The entire character of Voldemort was based on him not being able to feel anything like a human. Yet he manages to produce a love child??? I mean, someone explain to me how that happened. Wait, no, not HOW, that I know. But WHY did that happen?
In case you did not guess already, I hate the book. And my hatred for the book is based on many factors. Like Cedric Diggory coming back from the dead and becoming a death eater and killing Neville Longbottom. I mean, I get that it’s fiction but does that mean it does not have to make sense?
But the most insane thing about The Cursed Child is still yet to come.
Even though the book says, “JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and The Cursed Child” on the cover, the book is not actually written by her! Then why does it have her name when she did not even write the book? Well, that is a mystery. The novel is based on Harry Potter series, and written by Jack Thorne.
And not to mention, JK even came out with more books like Fantastic Beasts, Crimes of Grindelwald, etc, that I’m not even going to dive into because they are so irrelevant and not at all needed to be written.
The Last Straw for JK Fans
And as if ruining the future of HP (and apparently, the past) for her fans was not enough, she also had to go and make transphobic remarks on Twitter. For the entire world to see. And then have the audacity to defend them.
If you have not heard of the controversy of JK Rowling and her transphobia, you can read all about it here.
Not only was this the last straw for HP and consequently, JK fans. It was also made clear by Harry Potter movie actors that they do not support JK in her transphobic views.
And that, my friends, is how JK Rowling lost her fans.