Because the world is in a perpetual state of madness, everything, everywhere and all at once requires a fight to be waged over it. The Hogwarts Legacy game is the latest example, and now, a trans politician is chiming in on those who oppose the Rowling IP.
State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-MT) who is also the first openly transgender person to be elected in the state, tweeted the above earlier this week. For those living under a rock, several have called for a boycott of the game making its wide release Friday due to franchise creator J.K. Rowling’s views on gender and what they see as harmful rhetoric and action towards the transgender community. It has led to some streamers being harassed to an emotional point, occasioned a site that tracks who has played Hogwarts Legacy, and later in her thread on the issue Zephyr said this was fine, but extremist critique is not.
Replies to Zephyr’s tweet include responses claiming the tracker site mirrors what marginalized communities can be subjected to online, with one user even claiming such activity was similar to Nazi activity (another internet cliché). The quote tweets were a bit more nuanced; as one user there points out, not buying the game won’t penalize Rowling, given her immense wealth, but may cause those who developed it to be out of a job, a factor they say critics avoid.
Whatever the case, Hogwarts Legacy has received some positive reviews, including from some Black commentators who have praised the game design’s attention to Black hair textures and styles, an important area of representation in which other media projects often fail.