Melissa Anelli, the author of Harry, a History, has released a new piece from her interview with J.K. Rowling - here's what she said about fans, shippers and critics.
This segment starts with a discussion about when Emerson of Mugglenet, referred to Harry/Hermione shippers as 'delusional' and the resulting fallout.
"The fallout touched me, as well as Emerson. I had some pretty nasty letters but, you know, by that time I'd become used to the fact that people were so invested in this world, and felt such ownership of this world that I was not on a pedestal at all in their eyes, I was right in the thick of the fight. And it's uncomfortable on and off the pedestal, so you get used to it."
"I was not at all new to the concept of fan entitlement because that had now been going on since, I think, around 1999. As the Snape Debate hotted up, I would occasionally receive mail from fans that was instructing me on my characters. And you know what, that's very endearing when it comes from a younger person, and it's less endearing when it comes from an older person."
Do you know, it may have even been earlier. I remember getting a letter in the late 1990s, from an American woman who had heard me say on the radio when I had been in the States that I think it is a lie not to allow my characters, as they are plainly getting a year older with every book, not to allow my characters some sexual feelings. Although a fantasy series is not, I think, really the place, to explore issues of, for instance, the use of hard drugs or teenage pregnancy. To be ramming those social messages down people's throats when there are other social messages within the Harry Potter books, felt incongruous.
But still, it was unrealistic that Harry was going to proceed from the age of 11 to the age of 17 never having kissed a girl, never having had any kind of romantic feelings towards girls, is as much as I said on this radio program. That was probably the first evidence I had, of that kind of fan entitlement: a very vehement letter from a mother saying, "Do not do this. I want your books as a refuge for my children, as a place of innocence and security." And I felt, well, listen: this series started with the knowledge of a double murder. I never promised that this a world of innocence and security. Quite the reverse. I announced it as a world of danger and corruption. So, probably, that was my very first introduction.
I had a letter from a grown man, a very articulate letter, who said, "Well, pardon me for thinking that you're a better writer than you are." That's literally what he said. "I assumed you were giving us subtle hints about Harry and Hermione, but no. Turned out you were being really crass and obvious."
JKR also talked about her experience with the online fandom.
It is unhealthy for me to go online too much. I'm very aware that you could spend your life reading message boards, and that's a very unhealthy place to go. So I'm really quite sparing in how often I go and look.
Source: The Leaky Cauldron
~Laurie
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