It's weird how when I was in elementary school and put in an advanced reading group I was bullied for being a nerd. Then in middle school after trying the first two books and movies and saying Harry Potter didn't interest me I was told I was a loser.

And it's funny how in my early 20s when my friends would still talk about Harry Potter and I'd say "Oh yeah I never liked Harry Potter" I'd get everything from a "let people enjoy things" to a "you're actually problematic because Harry Potter taught me [social justice lesson.]"

And it's funny how in my 30s the author was exposed as a horrendous bigot and even though a lot of non-fans like myself have said "You shouldn't feel bad for liking it if it was important to you" I still read a lot of "NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT HOW YOU NEVER LIKED HARRY POTTER."

It's almost like ~nerd culture~ has become dominant culture and is more focused on forming only homogenous and strict views of media and still regards any criticism of media as criticism of one's very identity.

JK Rowling's unforgivable bigotry, which has fundamentally betrayed and damaged people who were uplifted by her writing throughout their childhoods, is proof that we need to talk about how the current nature of fandom – fandom-as-identity – paves the way for disaster.