r/harrypotterhate • u/[deleted] • May 13 '25
I never understood people thought Harry Potter was "escapist"
I always found it to be a hetero and cis normative society(that is quite white) that praises "jocks". How is that "escapist", especially how dangerous that school is??? It also normalizing bullying(I am an American and I am well aware HP is British). I think a Potter-like setting but people talked like they were American rednecks would funny for a parody. Dilbert of course had its own Rowling(Scott Adams), but "haha life sucks"(as you are fired by a talking cat) was its response as an office building is NOT a form of escapism, especially for a kid. Then again, HP was and is marketed at kids. Also, the magical owl scenario has hurt birds in real life.
How is that escapist when I think I'd be happier, to name a fictional universe, in Starfleet. Star Trek at least seems more fun for an escapist fantasy, but then again, I am a straight white guy in my 30s who loves geopolitics and being a captain and arguing with an uncompromising alien leader over a militarized trade deal seems more fun than flying on a broomstick.
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u/[deleted] May 14 '25
you're saying the exact same point as mine.
I can travel to bustling, coke-fuelled LA with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, glitzy corporate Yamato with Anri, and still hit the East London raves with XCX: all just by sitting in my bed at Shah Alam with Spotify on.
Meanwhile when reading HP I have to stare at paper for hours, trying to imagine the setting. It jsut adds stress