The Metro 'worst fears' over HBO Potter series

[WhiteBedding]

I can't decide if the author of this article is not very bright, not very nice or both. But there are 5 attacks on JK Rowling in just a single opinion piece. Usual Metro garbage and of course we don't expect high brow from them but good grief it's disheartening that this much misinformation can be published and distributed.

metro.co.uk/2024/09/12/harry-potter-casting-call-confirmed-worst-fears-21593798/

Dear lord, what a silly article.
I'm sure the new HP shows will be brilliant and fabulous and still being watched when all this nonsense is loooooong forgotten.

Was the writer in some kind of competition to see how many anti-JKR digs she could get in per paragraph or something? A bit obsessive.
Some good comments.

To be honest I’ve started to think the metro is a spoof …

Read the comments. All on JKRs side. I'm just surprised that metro haven't deleted them yet.

You mean it's not meant to be a spoof? Learn something new every day.

Surely she’s just an adult now which is why she doesn’t play with her wand 🐫

There's a thing most people don't know that makes me like JKR even more.
I don't know the right terminology and I have no legal background, but the essence of it is this:

Usually when an author sells the right to a book to be turned into a movie to a movie studio, that movie studio has carte blanche to do whatever they want with the movie. Same with a video game. The author gets no control or say over the output.

JKR however never gives up that right when a movie, video game, or I assume TV series is made from her work. She so far has always retained creative oversight, and final say so. If they make a movie and she doesn't like it, she can refuse them the ability to release it even though they spent a fortune making it. It is my understanding this is how she always operates. If JKR feels that TV show is disrespectful, or leans heavily into social messaging she thinks is harmful, the TV show won't get released. She can block it legally. That's why you've never seen any output that's based on her work including non Harry Potter stuff be subverted. The modern progressive plague cannot infect output based on her work because she won't allow it, and retains the legal rights to block it.

Just one more reason, as if we needed it to love JKR and realise how savvy and smart she is.

To remind everyone the Metro is the other arm of the Daily Mail.
So they are cynically playing both ends of the argument.
They really are the utter pits.

A Daily Mail spoof...

Indeed.

I make a point of never picking the metro up no matter how boring my commute. But I stumbled over this article online when I was looking up how to answer the casting call for my DS who wants to have a try and couldn't resist the temptation to see what spin had been put on it.

"... given the increasing foul taste Rowling is leaving in her critics’ mouths ..."

The foul taste is the flavour of what comes out of their mouths.

Unlike the blockbuster film franchise, which saw iconic British stars such as Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Julie Walters pass through its doors, for me the relaunched big-budget TV show will act as a litmus test for the morals of established actors.

LOL. I think you might get a shock reality check about their "morals", lovey.

The Metro is like Pink News with JKR Derangement Syndrome

https://metro.co.uk/2024/09/10/new-harry-potter-tv-show-already-accused-wokeness-21580665/?ico=trending-post-stripitemm_4

Have the comments been deleted or am I just being really thick in finding them?

Click at the top next to the share button.

Actually it was worth reading that dreadful article for the joy of reading the comments: the ones I got through were 100% in favour of JKR!

Someone commented "Theres only two genders" [they should have said sexes] to which a genius replied
'Brave of you to share you didn’t understand sociology, biology or history beyond high school.'
"Well, if we look at just biology we have all the variations in intersex and sex chromosomes so minimum 10?"
How many years before they drop the 'intersex' canard do you reckon?

Rats, I just read the first few posts and got all happy!

How many years before they drop the 'intersex' canard do you reckon?

It's their main "rational" argument so never.

Dont worry its just the one idiotic commenter.

Why click on it and drive up their revenue. What's the point of saying you never pick up a copy of the Metro on principle and then sharing a crap article for dozens of people to click on?

It is impossible to cancel Harry Potter. Articles like this just fuel the hype for the TV series. Most of the readers of it WILL watch the series or talk about it.

They tried this line with the Hogwarts Legacy game what happened?
All the drama boosted discussion of the game and helped make it a huge bestseller.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hogwarts-legacy-sold-over-22-million-copies-warner-bros-exec-brags-its-the-best-selling-game-of-the-year-in-the-entire-industry-worldwide/

It made WB well over a billion dollars 100,000s of which went to JKR.

Sales of books, merchandise, and streams of HP and the over growing number of amusement parks still make HP a huge cash cow. WB know this they get the sales figures. They are indeed hoping the series will work... and there is a good chance it will. All they need to do is stick to the books, get good actors etc.

If these bigots want to replace HP. Simple just write something that appeals to a huge worldwide audience of kids. Publishers, and studios are desperate for it. They are constantly hunting. Only nothing has turned up to replace it.

Anymore than you can easily replace James Bond, Mary Poppins or Mickey Mouse or anything else iconic.

Aside from the fact that the writer is woefully ignorant, it's just incoherent. What the hell is she going on about that her worst fears are that the young stars will get very famous? Then she goes on about it being too soon. But is somehow trying to link this all to her point that JK is an awful bigot. She's grasping. The whole article smacks of wild and desperate attempts to find excuses to flagellate JK in order to prove oneself as shining example of what enlightenment and progressiveness looks like.

When are these people going to wake up?

The article has valid concerns.

Look at the media's current obsession with whether the movie cast share JK Rowling's gender critical views or not and how those who don't are heavily criticised. But at least by this point all the movie cast are now adults.

This time round it will be exact same with an obsession over what the cast think about JK Rowling's views, but the child actors will be actual children. It won't be healthy for them to grow up being hounded for what they think about trans people and having horrible right-wing tabloid articles about them if they happen to be LGBT-supportive.

@Christinapple
I agree with your statment that the article raises a concern.
But then you go on you shoot yourself in the foot with the right-wing tabloid comment. You were soo close too.

It's a very febrile time we live in. People from all sides, trans supportive, left, right, and gender critical to name just a few will pay close attention to the young actors. I wish they wouldn't, but it's what's going to happen.
If any actor makes a controversial comment either pro gender or gender critical, yes they will face scrutiny from professional media and independant commentators. The internet amplifies this too.

In the old days the movie studios used to try and shield their stars from this nonsense. Today the movie studios seem to turn these naive inexperienced young people loose to spout any fashionable verbal tat and face the consequences alone. e.g. Disney and Rachel Zegler's Snow White comments which haven't done her or her career any favours.
None of us like listening to PR bland speak, but it serves one very useful purpose, stopping a clueless young actor torpedoing themself and their career over something very silly. PR minders should be a thing again for young stars who barely know left from right let alone how the world works.
In public talk up how good the thing you just made is, why the audience should be excited to see it, and leave all the political baggage for down the pub with your close friends out of the public gaze.

If you think only one side is capable of being mean, you could probably do with a PR minder of your own too.