Tunbridge Wells calling
Barack Obama has been elected, the Bank of England has reduced interest rates, Labour have won the Glenrothes by-election, but I’m going to have a moan about an obscure lj Harry Potter community, deathtocapslock.
The first time I encountered deathtocapslock I thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be serious. They do sometimes make jokes - some of them funny - and I guess that’s part of the community‘s attraction, but it‘s not what the community is about. There’s no statement of intent but what the community does is detail - chapter by chapter - what it considers to be the failures, inconsistencies, hypocrisies and incompetences of HP and its author, and express disapprobation of them.
The problem is that deathtocapslock approaches its task with its collective mind already made-up. There is no debate; everyone has the same view of the series, so there is nothing to debate. Put simply, deathtocapslock’s view is that HP was a great idea that was beyond the understanding and capabilities of its creator. This led to failures at all levels, and to the series having an unacceptable morality. On sex, race, class, politics, education, personal relationships - you name it - HP has got it wrong.
The community does not debate its view, instead it builds on it and builds on it again, to a pitch of hysteria and absurdity at times. The twist is that in general, the members of the community used to like HP and thought they knew where it was going, but were disappointed. Their puzzlement became incomprehension, then disapproval, then hatred. In deathtocapslock they‘ve found the place to express their hatred. The posts and comments ooze bitterness and are alive with spite.
HP is enormously successful and popular, and perhaps the members of the community - who are sincere in their view of the series - feel it is a public service for them to point out its inadequacies. That might be true if the community were able to consider its views and willing to debate them, instead of presenting them as incontrovertible fact. Perhaps the community is just having fun, but it really doesn’t look like it. It’s bitterness that predominates.
The first time I encountered deathtocapslock I thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be serious. They do sometimes make jokes - some of them funny - and I guess that’s part of the community‘s attraction, but it‘s not what the community is about. There’s no statement of intent but what the community does is detail - chapter by chapter - what it considers to be the failures, inconsistencies, hypocrisies and incompetences of HP and its author, and express disapprobation of them.
The problem is that deathtocapslock approaches its task with its collective mind already made-up. There is no debate; everyone has the same view of the series, so there is nothing to debate. Put simply, deathtocapslock’s view is that HP was a great idea that was beyond the understanding and capabilities of its creator. This led to failures at all levels, and to the series having an unacceptable morality. On sex, race, class, politics, education, personal relationships - you name it - HP has got it wrong.
The community does not debate its view, instead it builds on it and builds on it again, to a pitch of hysteria and absurdity at times. The twist is that in general, the members of the community used to like HP and thought they knew where it was going, but were disappointed. Their puzzlement became incomprehension, then disapproval, then hatred. In deathtocapslock they‘ve found the place to express their hatred. The posts and comments ooze bitterness and are alive with spite.
HP is enormously successful and popular, and perhaps the members of the community - who are sincere in their view of the series - feel it is a public service for them to point out its inadequacies. That might be true if the community were able to consider its views and willing to debate them, instead of presenting them as incontrovertible fact. Perhaps the community is just having fun, but it really doesn’t look like it. It’s bitterness that predominates.