Harry Potter

The thing about the Harry Potters books is that they are... okay.

That's it. Not bad, not amazing, but okay.

Written for a younger reader they made lots of strong morals points, but they also made use of quite a few lazy archetypes, to keep the stories easy to follow and understand.

The obvious one is the Goblins similarity to how Jews were depicted, but others are more subtle.

The 'thing' that made Harry Potter so successful was the movies, and the 'thing' that made the movies so great was the casting.

JK Rowling insisting a Britsh cast, to fit the writing, was her contribution to the world, (although Great Britain in particular), and something I will always be grateful for.

The subsequent buzz about her Trans views was probably more of a reflection on how Social Media works to stir up hatred. Rather than accept one unfortunate comment as ill judged it became a line where sides could be taken, division sown, battles fought, and advertising revenue reaped.

By the time the comments were made her readers had grown up. They didn't see the world as the simple one it had been when they were young. They saw a world of complexity and diversity, with good people, bad people, and mostly with people who were not easily defined. They didn't want to be told what to think. They could see with their own eyes, and decide for themselves what they thought. 

Maybe it was because of the stong morality that they learnt from her books, and that leaves me with just enough hope for the future.

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.