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When I was younger, I always looked up to JK Rowling as an author because of her work on Harry Potter. However, as she keeps changing the canon story and over time, I've just started to stray away from her as an author. I love Harry Potter still, but the changes and new books she makes surrounding it just feels like a grab for money or clout.

I agree, I always looked up to her and how she put into the amzing wrold she made with the orginal Harry Potter books. In more recent years I have felt she has strayed from her orginal vison and writing for the joy of it.

I completely agree. She used to be such an amazing author and now is just disappointing to see where the wizarding potter world I used to love during my childhood and teen years ended up. It just feels like she's doing it for the clout. The Cursed Child looked more like a fan fiction than a Harry Potter book.

So, though i have seen the Potter series, I have not read the books. However, I do admire JK not only for her work but also what she went through to get where she is. That being said, yes, I do think she has added too much into the story in an attempt to stay relevant or like Falling4Ever said, "...a cash grab..."

One of the underrated needs that a fantasy story needs is the ability to let the reader fill in the blanks for themselves, like fanons and fanfic. The fans can add some amazing insight for everyone to enjoy and since its not canon, those who disagree with can simply ignore it. Its a fantasy with in a fantasy!

However, I think we have to consider just how much power she still has over the magical world. Remember, Harry Potter has a net worth of around ~$50.5 billions if you include the original book/movies, DVDs and toys, etc. No production studio is gonna give that up willingly much less silently. Its like Star Wars of Star Trek, we could have ended those series years ago because the stories are pretty much done, but money wise they have struck a cord with a global audience. So in order to keep this up, JK will have to continue adding to this world, who knows, in the future we might have a whole series to include all of the magical schools like the one in Japan, Uganda, and Brazil.

But isn't the cursed child just a play? It's not actually officially an add on is it?

remimarcelle wrote: ↑07 May 2020, 19:40 But isn't the cursed child just a play? It's not actually officially an add on is it?

It's supposed to be part of the Canon but many don't consider it as such. There was also some continuity errors in it.
Overall, I agree. The add-ons she kept thrusting on the wizarding world got frustrating after a while. She could easily write a story with other characters in the same world, because the setting was so well developed. Hopefully she will do that at some point.

I completely I agree. When she posts something on her Twitter page it just isn't the same as reading it in a book. I know she is trying to engage with readers outside of her books, but I don't find it very enjoyable. It often looks like she is merely trying to make her characters seem more relevant to the modern political climate when real world politics isn't a theme reflected anywhere in the Harry Potter series. I think it would be better if she would write new books on new topics within the same universe. I would love it if she wrote a series about the Marauders or the Hogwarts founders!

Lady-of-Literature wrote: ↑07 May 2020, 09:54
However, I think we have to consider just how much power she still has over the magical world.

I completely agree with all of you here. Especially Lady-of-Literature. JK Rowling was my idol for as long as I could remember. And I really was excited about all the spin-offs. Cursed Child included. However, no amount of denial could change the fact that it was messed up and the Fantastic Beasts Franchise is also verging on the same.

She has the whole world in her hands and I strongly believe that if she likes it so much then she should just write another story within it. Schools in other countries sound so exciting, honestly. She should just leave the original cast of characters alone.

It does seem like she does things for money and "clout" now. Do any of you remember her saying that Dumbledore was gay? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it was not mentioned or even implied in the books. I feel like that was a way to get applause from the LGBT community. It just came off as cheap and offensive towards the LGBT community since it's obvious that it wasn't her original intentions for the character.

It's like her focus has gone from being an author to being the god of Harry Potter. Maybe because her attempts at writing other things never caught on? It's really soured me on the series... it sucks because Harry Potter and its fandom really was a major part of my life when I was younger, and it had so much potential to remain at least a solid memory.

It seems that she hasn't been able to to find her niche post Harry Potter...even with Cursed Child, I found it fell flat compared to the original writing of the series. She probably doesn't need the money to write new books but as an author her recent works haven't been nearly as interesting or well written.

I agree! Harry Potter was such a large part of my childhood and I still love it to bits, but JK Rowling has definitely fallen off her pedestal for me. I'm losing respect for the way she keeps changing things and adding more details just to appeal to certain audiences (like the LGBTQ+ community). It feels cheap and like a very thinly veiled way to gain more support, although it seems to be working in reverse.

Personally, I think the problem was with her world. This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think the world Miss Rowling built was designed with the same longevity in mind as, say, Middle Earth.

People loved Harry Potter for Harry Potter, his friends and adversaries, and the story they shared. The world itself, however, I don't think was as strong, certainly not strong enough to carry the franchise through new adventures with all new characters. Again, this is obviously just one author's opinion.

She also writes crime fiction now under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith- she's written the first four in the 'Strike' series with a fifth one set to be released late September. They're on my to-read list as I've heard quite good things about them and nearly everyone that's ever asked me for them (I worked in a bookstore) had no idea that it was actually J.K. Rowling

I really wonder what happened to her too. Not just with changing the series, but with her TERF vibes too. I used to love this woman, since she created the entire series. Now I just don’t want to buy anything new, not even the illustrated editions that I love because I don’t want to give my money to her anymore. Anybody else like this?