BFI blacklisted pianist for his support of JKR

[NitroNine]

Article in “The Critic” (17/08/24) about the experiences of a pianist who used to accompany silent films at the BFI - until his support for JKR’s 2020 essay.

He’s very clear that the women targeted by TRAs (he discusses some of their experiences) have had a far worse time of it than he has & it’s an interesting & well-written piece. He interrogates how & why this blacklisting happens; the structures & cultures involved in facilitating it; & the importance of what might be termed “collaborators” - the people who engage because they don’t want to be the zealots’ next target…

The 2022 Reith Lecture by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Freedom Of Speech referenced in the article is also well worth either reading the transcript of or listening to (should you have access to BBC or CBC radio).

oh well, more possible gardening for another slam dunk.

Its a very good article, thank you.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller

People who are afraid to speak out about this new ideology are sleepwalking into something very sinister and suspiciously well funded.

Interesting times.

Read the first comment under this article.
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/celebrity-news/jk-rowling-going-prison-top-33468878#comments-wrapper

Great article, thanks for sharing.

I was confused by the fact that the article states that Joanne Harris organised the open letter; in fact if was Jane Harris, also an author, who was named on the letter (and faced a Twitter ban as a result).

www.thetimes.com/article/2e240198-fe6a-11ea-a6ce-737681864bdd?shareToken=8bcca8afb981c27e32894e05e7776f41

The other 2 comments are more succinct.

I would very much like the truth to come out, not sure I could say the same for mademoiselle khalife. It will be interesting to see.

My lovely friend's favourite phrase used to be ' if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle. ' She often used it in response to the phrase 'if only', that is used so often to regret things we can't change.
Since it now appears that people don't agree that sex is something we can't change we have adapted the phrase to 'if my aunt had wheels she'd be a bicycle.' I expect that phrase may also need a rethink as the grasp on reality loosens.

Some self interested people only. Not the vast majority.

Those self interested people have played the long game and have wider influence than their numbers justify.

I am indebted to the brilliant and brave women who won't wheesht.

Also to fwr on mn.

Thank you for this.

I was also confused as any letter by Joanne Harris would have been anti-JK Rowling and signing it would not result in being blacklisted.

Yes thanks, I do know.

Fantastic article, thank you.

Interesting guy. There is a thread from 2018 about him. www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3337410-Artistic-Director-of-Queer-Up-North-speaks-out-on-trans-activism-Stonewall-and-womens-rights

Worked with Stonewall and was later critical of them.
See two articles in Unherd.
Best, Jonny (October 7, 2020). Why I can’t trust Stonewall any more. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2020/10/why-i-cant-trust-stonewall-any-more/
Best, Jonny (August 27, 2021) Stonewall’s greatest betrayal. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/08/stonewalls-greatest-betrayal/

Found out there is a Transgender Map from googling him (Jonny Best). If you search 'vs transgender people' on the site you come up with a lot of people with interesting views and a link of references so you can read those views yourself. May be a new reading list (probably not the intent). https://www.transgendermap.com/page/3/?s=vs.+transgender+people (Of course I do not agree that the people I have heard of on that list are actually anti-trans, they are pro-gay, or pro-womans rights, or conservative/religious groups.)

yes that confused me as well. Thanks for clarifiying!

Thanks for picking that up @Fargoer - I was so tired when I was reading/posting that I just autocorrected the article in my head 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks for adding the additional information & links @Retiredfromthere 😊

I know one of the senior people at the BFI and, let's just say, he's not the brightest and has an incredibly superficial knowledge of film. He's the kind of person who has made a career by saying all the right kind of things. This article does not surprise me.

It’s fascinating to see on X how many people think IK will be victorious. They attribute JKR’s lack of tweeting recently to her realising she overstepped the mark. This woman has proven over and over her intelligence, her ability to use words with laser-like precision and outwit everyone else. Yet they think she’s been outsmarted and basically view her as some kind
of thick racist. I mean some also think the legal fees will clear her out which shows the stupidity tbh.

ETA slightly OT but related to the Express article.

There was a mind-numbing thread in AIBU on the topic of 'JK hasn't tweeted for ages, could it be the law suit?'

Back to the blacklisting article. The final paragraph is quite chilling.

'As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie observed in her Reith Lecture a few years ago, this is an authoritarian movement which does not recognise its own authoritarianism. More than that, it is a movement which performs unctuous demonstrations of pretend love to its favoured minorities whilst its most gleaming-eyed true believers mete out dehumanising cruelty elsewhere. And it is a movement on the march, every year closer to a culture in which its politics is supreme, and everyone else is just afraid enough to be silent.'

We mustn't be browbeaten into silence.

Johnny Best went through a lot (then contemporaneous threads on FWR about the problems with Hull etc.).

I saw a thread on Reddit last night all excited that JKR hasn't Tweeted "since France threatened to prosecute her."

It’s bad enough one of my epilepsy medications diminishes my mental acuity, but I’m sure the frankly boggling stupidity of people on the internet (ditto the similar AIBU thread mentioned upthread) is doing further damage.

The most extreme tra ideology is as extreme as past authoritarian extreme movements, now seen as the human rights horrors they are but at the time those speaking against them were subject to horrendously cruel punishment including physical harm (bit like the female athletes being forced to fight male bodied competitors)

The kindness and inclusion is for the few and the cruelty and exclusion is for far more, mostly (but not exclusively) women.

The ease with which people want JKR to be imprisoned for her beliefs (nevermind the issue of whether they're statements of fact) is alarming.

I'd be interested in Venn diagrams of people who were calling to keep (say) Assange/any popular figure out of the hands of law enforcement agencies but would like to see JKR imprisoned for wrongthink.

Politicians talk of culture wars, are they subconsciously thinking of the cultural revolution? There's a sense of deja vu about the playbook.