All Harry Potter Fans Wanted Was a Marauders-Era Prequel & for JK Rowling to Denounce Her Transphobia, What the Hell Is This?
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As if a beloved book series, a popular decade-long film franchise, a couple of theme parks, and a shitty film franchise weren’t enough, there’s another Harry Potter project in the cards: A massive flagship Harry Potter store in New York City, dedicated to Harry Potter merch, interactive activities, and wizarding world themed food. You know, fun stuff to try to make you forget that the series’s author, JK Rowling, is a TERF who has lost the confidence of fans worldwide.
From the New York Post:
Guests can peruse 15 distinct areas of Harry Potter New York, including a large-scale statue of Fawkes the Phoenix that lords over the entrance — an NYC exclusive that was handcrafted by a team of custom propmakers, who prepared a number of one-of-a-kind features throughout the store.
[…]
Peckish visitors can also refuel on signature snacks usually found only at Diagon Alley, such as Honeydukes’ Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and the magician’s staple brew, Butterbeer.
Bona fide fans may be most intrigued by the store’s collection of graphic artifacts from the book series, including a showcase of Daily Prophet covers, issues of the Quibbler and Harry’s acceptance letter into Hogwarts. All told, more than 1,000 Wizarding World props will be on display, many of which were used in the films.
In other words, this three-story, 20,000-square-foot space will act as a mini version of the Universal Studios theme parks in Florida and California as well as blatant promo for the Fantastic Beasts spinoff films, which take place in 1920s New York City.
Frankly, this would have been a lot cooler about 10 years ago, and I say this as someone who has been a Harry Potter fan for half of my life. Without a slew of new content to look forward to, and Rowling’s repugnant politics hanging over everything—most recently, making the rollout of the once highly anticipated Harry Potter video game, Hogwarts Legacy, a complete disaster—Warner Brothers picked an interesting time to open this store. That’s not to say that it won’t be popular, or that Wizarding World props won’t be incredibly neat, but a permanent gimmick like this in New York City? Eh, a little weird.
Besides, the loudest fans (in other words, me and those whose brains have been addled by years of online fandom) have made it clear what they actually want out of the Harry Potter franchise at this point (in no particular order):
- A Marauders-era TV prequel
- JK Rowling to denounce her transphobia
- A gritty goddamn Marauders-era TV prequel set from the 1970s to early 1980s Jesus fucking Christ we’ve wanted this since, like, 2006. When will HBO hire me as a consultant?
Since this is unlikely to happen anytime soon, I think I’ll just stick to fanfiction. Thanks, but no thanks, Warner Brothers.