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https://www.themarysue.com/jk-rowling-latest-twitter-transphobia/

Author JK Rowling

Children’s book author and billionaire Joanne Rowling has also become known for her transphobic views. Rowling has, over the years, been seen to sympathize with TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) on Twitter, before doubling and tripling down and expressing trans-exclusionary sentiments in her own words. Many of us have long since written Rowling off as a result, yet she still finds new ways to infuriate and provoke disgust.

This was the case today, when Rowling accidentally copy-pasted a line later said to be from a message into an unrelated tweet. The sentence is about an incident between a trans activist and a person the Evening Standard describes as a “radical feminist,” and the text she pasted in intentionally misgenders the trans activist. It would seem that Rowling is passing the time by discussing TERF-laden propaganda and talking points with someone. A friend? A group? Sycophants on social media? The world will likely never know.

The extraneous sentence was tacked on to a tweet Rowling made showing a child’s fan art for her latest effort, The Ickabog. The juxtaposition here feels sickening to me: that so many people, young and old, still put such love and faith in the works of a woman who has proven herself to have reprehensible beliefs. That such exclusionary intent could be amended to such a joyful artistic output from a child.

The case Rowling was discussing took place three years ago, in which trans activist Tara Wolf was fined £150 for assault after “striking Maria Maclachlan on the back and shoulder during a protest at Speakers’ Corner.” Actions were taken by all parties involved. Maclachlan seems like a real charmer, even in the phrasing of the right-leaning Evening Standard:

Maclachlan, who blogs and tweets about gender issues, admitted grabbing hold of Wolf’s girlfriend and kicking her, believing she had snatched her camera and thrown it to the ground, adding that Wolf’s partner – who was never identified – had kicked her first.

Wolf denied one count of assault by beating, but admitted striking the complainant, saying she acted in defence of her partner and to prevent any footage being posted online that might make members of the group the target of online abuse.

[…]

Ms Maclachlan admitted that following the event she had sent out a tweet featuring a close-up of the defendant’s face with the words: “Hiya, got any hair restorer while I’m in hiding? Love Tara.”

She had to be repeatedly told to refer to the defendant as female by the judge during her evidence.

The judge in this case also declined to award Maclachlan compensation, and said, “It was notable that when I asked Ms Maclachlan to refer to Ms Wolf as ‘she’, she did so with bad grace – having asked her to do so she continued to refer to Ms Wolf as ‘he’ and ‘him.’”

This was the same intentionally misgendering language about Wolf that J.K. Rowling shared in her tweet some three years later. One of the most successful writers in the history of the world is, on a May day in the middle of a deadly pandemic, apparently still chatting about this event, framed in such a way as to induce pearl-clutching and scaremongering. Wolf, for her part, in explaining her Facebook post, “claimed she made the comment out of bravado and wanted to protest peacefully.”

To better understand why many British so-called “feminists” and others are comfortable with their openly trans-exclusionary bigotry, I often point people to this excellent New York Times article by Dr. Sophie Lewis that first helped flesh out that phenomenon for me. Titled “How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans,” Lewis explores TERFism and how in Britain, a history of colonialism, a long-held cultural obsession with “biological realities,” and a concerted lack of modern social movements have combined to thrust this virulent group into the mainstream. (I rarely commend America for doing much these days, but I have to applaud the fact that here in the U.S., as Lewis describes, “TERFism today is a scattered community in its death throes.”)

Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality and the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace; from there, it’s not a big leap to see sexual menace in any sort of “other,” and “biological realities” as essential and immutable. (Significantly, many Irish feminists have rejected Britain’s TERFism, citing their experience of colonialism explicitly as part of the reason.)

But having a clearer understanding of why TERFs have gained such a foothold in some British circles doesn’t excuse Rowling’s continued behavior. In fact, because British-specific TERFism has been so neatly dissected is all the more reason someone with Rowling’s influential reach has a duty to better educate herself. Since her support of TERF ideas became public knowledge, she has likely received thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of replies and pleas from her fans and followers to revisit her views. She appears to have done nothing of the sort.

Even worse, when called out for her behavior as she was in the wake of her most recent tweet debacle, Rowling responded by tweeting about “thought crime” and suggesting those who are objecting to her interests are trying to censor her. This also happens to be a favored mode of shutting down conversation by far-right trolls like Donald Trump.

She also got into a spat and seemed to be threatening legal action against a Twitter user who wrote that Rowling’s transphobia made her dangerous around children and caused real harm, among other claims.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Rowling could choose not to engage on this topic, since I fail to see how the vital fight for trans rights and recognition could possibly affect her staggeringly privileged lifestyle—save that now she is called out for her toxic rhetoric, and many former fans have sworn off her properties. Or she could learn from other popular writers who impact young adults like Rick Riordan, who listens when his community of readers want to see themselves reflected on the page, and proudly writes such representation into his works. But Rowling’s continued alignment with transphobia and apparent contempt for many in her audience only show her to be self-centered and narrow-minded.

I’d remind J.K. Rowling that she created a fictional universe where the evil villains are a bunch of rotted, fascist aristocrats who oppress others for being different. While we wait to see if she will ever realize this hypocrisy, we can gaze upon the latest fan art reflection of her output.

(image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

May 30, 2020

J.K. Rowling Accidentally Tweeted Transphobic Content From Her Messages

https://www.themarysue.com/jk-rowling-latest-twitter-transphobia/

Author JK Rowling

Children’s book author and billionaire Joanne Rowling has also become known for her transphobic views. Rowling has, over the years, been seen to sympathize with TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) on Twitter, before doubling and tripling down and expressing trans-exclusionary sentiments in her own words. Many of us have long since written Rowling off as a result, yet she still finds new ways to infuriate and provoke disgust.

This was the case today, when Rowling accidentally copy-pasted a line later said to be from a message into an unrelated tweet. The sentence is about an incident between a trans activist and a person the Evening Standard describes as a “radical feminist,” and the text she pasted in intentionally misgenders the trans activist. It would seem that Rowling is passing the time by discussing TERF-laden propaganda and talking points with someone. A friend? A group? Sycophants on social media? The world will likely never know.

The extraneous sentence was tacked on to a tweet Rowling made showing a child’s fan art for her latest effort, The Ickabog. The juxtaposition here feels sickening to me: that so many people, young and old, still put such love and faith in the works of a woman who has proven herself to have reprehensible beliefs. That such exclusionary intent could be amended to such a joyful artistic output from a child.

The case Rowling was discussing took place three years ago, in which trans activist Tara Wolf was fined £150 for assault after “striking Maria Maclachlan on the back and shoulder during a protest at Speakers’ Corner.” Actions were taken by all parties involved. Maclachlan seems like a real charmer, even in the phrasing of the right-leaning Evening Standard:

Maclachlan, who blogs and tweets about gender issues, admitted grabbing hold of Wolf’s girlfriend and kicking her, believing she had snatched her camera and thrown it to the ground, adding that Wolf’s partner – who was never identified – had kicked her first.

Wolf denied one count of assault by beating, but admitted striking the complainant, saying she acted in defence of her partner and to prevent any footage being posted online that might make members of the group the target of online abuse.

[…]

Ms Maclachlan admitted that following the event she had sent out a tweet featuring a close-up of the defendant’s face with the words: “Hiya, got any hair restorer while I’m in hiding? Love Tara.”

She had to be repeatedly told to refer to the defendant as female by the judge during her evidence.

The judge in this case also declined to award Maclachlan compensation, and said, “It was notable that when I asked Ms Maclachlan to refer to Ms Wolf as ‘she’, she did so with bad grace – having asked her to do so she continued to refer to Ms Wolf as ‘he’ and ‘him.'”

This was the same intentionally misgendering language about Wolf that J.K. Rowling shared in her tweet some three years later. One of the most successful writers in the history of the world is, on a May day in the middle of a deadly pandemic, apparently still chatting about this event, framed in such a way as to induce pearl-clutching and scaremongering. Wolf, for her part, in explaining her Facebook post, “claimed she made the comment out of bravado and wanted to protest peacefully.”

To better understand why many British so-called “feminists” and others are comfortable with their openly trans-exclusionary bigotry, I often point people to this excellent New York Times article by Dr. Sophie Lewis that first helped flesh out that phenomenon for me. Titled “How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans,” Lewis explores TERFism and how in Britain, a history of colonialism, a long-held cultural obsession with “biological realities,” and a concerted lack of modern social movements have combined to thrust this virulent group into the mainstream. (I rarely commend America for doing much these days, but I have to applaud the fact that here in the U.S., as Lewis describes, “TERFism today is a scattered community in its death throes.”)

Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality and the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace; from there, it’s not a big leap to see sexual menace in any sort of “other,” and “biological realities” as essential and immutable. (Significantly, many Irish feminists have rejected Britain’s TERFism, citing their experience of colonialism explicitly as part of the reason.)

But having a clearer understanding of why TERFs have gained such a foothold in some British circles doesn’t excuse Rowling’s continued behavior. In fact, because British-specific TERFism has been so neatly dissected is all the more reason someone with Rowling’s influential reach has a duty to better educate herself. Since her support of TERF ideas became public knowledge, she has likely received thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of replies and pleas from her fans and followers to revisit her views. She appears to have done nothing of the sort.

Even worse, when called out for her behavior as she was in the wake of her most recent tweet debacle, Rowling responded by tweeting about “thought crime” and suggesting those who are objecting to her interests are trying to censor her. This also happens to be a favored mode of shutting down conversation by far-right trolls like Donald Trump.

She also got into a spat and seemed to be threatening legal action against a Twitter user who wrote that Rowling’s transphobia made her dangerous around children and caused real harm, among other claims.


It doesn’t have to be this way. Rowling could choose not to engage on this topic, since I fail to see how the vital fight for trans rights and recognition could possibly affect her staggeringly privileged lifestyle—save that now she is called out for her toxic rhetoric, and many former fans have sworn off her properties. Or she could learn from other popular writers who impact young adults like Rick Riordan, who listens when his community of readers want to see themselves reflected on the page, and proudly writes such representation into his works. But Rowling’s continued alignment with transphobia and apparent contempt for many in her audience only show her to be self-centered and narrow-minded.

I’d remind J.K. Rowling that she created a fictional universe where the evil villains are a bunch of rotted, fascist aristocrats who oppress others for being different. While we wait to see if she will ever realize this hypocrisy, we can gaze upon the latest fan art reflection of her output.

(image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—


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May 29, 2020

Ryan Gosling in Talks for New WOLFMAN Remake

https://nerdist.com/article/ryan-gosling-in-talks-for-new-wolfman-remake/

After the surprise success of The Invisible Man earlier this year, Universal is getting the ball rolling once again with expanding and updating their catalog of classic monster titles. According to a report in Variety, the latest of these will be an all-new version of The Wolfman. This time Universal is looking at none other than Ryan Gosling in the lead role. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, writers for Orange is the New Black, are writing the screenplay based on Gosling’s original pitch for the idea.

Ryan Gosling in Talks to Be the New WOLFMAN_1

Lionsgate

Gosling will apparently also serve as a producer if he signs on the dotted line. He will reportedly have his pick of who gets to direct the film. According to the original report, right now Universal is looking at  Cory Finley. He’s the director behind HBO’s recent hit, Bad Education. The weirdest part about this news is that this take on the Wolfman is apparently in the vein of Nightcrawler. No, not the monstrous looking X-Men hero, but the Jake Gyllenhaal drama about an amoral reporter. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Gosling will play a reporter who gets bitten by a werewolf, which sounds a bit like The Howling.

Lon Chaney Jr. in the original Universal Horror movie The Wolfman.

If it does follow in the footsteps of Nightcrawler, then this likely be a lower budget affair; this is not unlike the recent The Invisible Man. The previous remake of The Wolfman came just a decade ago in 2010, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Benicio del Toro as the titular monster. That film cost a whopping $150 million to make, a lot for a horror movie. It only made $62 million at the domestic box office. If this had been a low budget affair however, it would have been considered a hit.

This low budget style worked like gangbusters for The Invisible Man, so we imagine Universal could have similar success here. They are probably going to take similar approaches for Dracula and Frankenstein down the line. Gosling has at least one other film on the docket before The Wolfman enters production, so whatever happens, this one will be awhile before it hits theaters.

Featured Image: Universal Pictures

The post Ryan Gosling in Talks for New WOLFMAN Remake appeared first on Nerdist.


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May 29, 2020

FROZEN’s Josh Gad Lives With a Ridiculous Giant Olaf Statue

https://nerdist.com/article/frozen-josh-gad-giant-olaf-statue/

You would think most kids would love growing up under the same roof as Olaf. But according to Josh Gad his daughters have had enough of their dad’s beloved role in the Frozen franchise. But that’s not even the most contentious situation in the household related to the hug-loving snowman. The actor’s wife has a much bigger bone to pick with the adorable denizen of Arendelle. And we do mean big. She made her husband hide a massive Olaf statue in his personal home office.

And we can’t blame her. Because as much as we love both Josh Gad and Olaf, this is one giant, very silly statue.

Gad was a virtual guest on The Graham Norton Show, where the Frozen star was asked about his daughters reportedly being tired of his popular character. Gad said the quesadilla-loving youngsters “wish that Moana was their father” because “they’re sort of over Olaf at this moment.” Sounds harsh, but in fairness they don’t just live with the voice of Olaf. They live with a huge Olaf statue Gad received.

They “unnecessarily big” replica is so big it came packed in what Gad describes as a crate “straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.” (Too bad some top men didn’t keep it locked away.) Desperate to avoid a divorce but unable to throw it out (that would not be a good look for him), Gad has had to store it inside his home office away from the rest of the house.

FROZEN's Josh Gad Lives With a Ridiculous Giant Olaf Statue_1The Graham Norton Show

No one, not even the actual Olaf himself, needs to own this. But somehow this statue’s size is not even its biggest issue. Why in the world would someone make a massive Olaf dressed in a hula skirt with a guitar? Was this meant for the Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World but someone put the wrong address on the crate?

It makes no sense. But one thing about this story now does. If that giant snowman was literally looming over our lives we’d be sick of Olaf too.

Featured Image: The Graham Norton Show

The post FROZEN’s Josh Gad Lives With a Ridiculous Giant Olaf Statue appeared first on Nerdist.


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May 29, 2020

Things We Saw Today: Queens of Infamy ‘Celebrates’ Lucrezia Borgia, the Alleged Femme Fatale of the Borgia Family

https://www.themarysue.com/queens-of-infamy-lucrezia-borgia-longreads/

Holliday Grainger in The Borgias (2011)

Longreads is an amazing place for long-form pieces, and one of my favorites is their Queens of Infamy series. Today’s installment made me hugely excited, as it’s all about Lucrezia Borgia.

I was first introduced to The Borgia family via the 2011 show on Starz starring Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI and Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia. While The Borgias certainly leaned into a lot of the (ahem) scandalous rumors surrounding Lucrezia, she was also shown to be smart, politically savvy, and poetic.

Queens of Infamy mixes history with writer Anne Thériault’s humor and this makes the reading time fly by, especially if you are already familiar with the subject matter. I highly recommend this read for all my armchair historians out there, if only for the breaks that feature script like scenes like these:

LUCREZIA: if you think this is the height of obscene Borgia parties, wait til you hear about the Banquet of the Chestnuts

LUCREZIA: it allegedly involved 50 courtesans crawling around naked

LUCREZIA: and prizes for the guests who had the most sex with the courtesans

LUCREZIA: while my father and I watched

LUCREZIA: I mean, it probably never happened but, you know

LUCREZIA: allegedly

(via Longreads, image: Starz)

  • With all that is going on, here are 75 things that white people can do to be allies to the Black community. (via Medium)
  • Paul Feig is going to be adapting the middle-grade book series The School For Good And Evil for adaptation for Netflix and I’m excited, since it’s one of my favorites. (via Deadline)

  • Noah Reid delivers some sweetness into our hearts with a new song from his album. (via EW)
  • Ruby Rose offers some explanation for her exit from Batwoman—not a lot, but just enough to make people wonder “hmmm?” (via Yahoo News)
  • Leslie Odom Jr. talks about his new animated musical series Central Park on Apple TV Plus. (via NYT)
  • Logan stars Hugh Jackman and James Mangold spoke about how Dafne Keen landed the role of X-23 and became a legend. (via CBR)
  • What is this?

Tomorrow is finally gonna be Friday.

(Warner Bros.)

What did you see today?

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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—


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