[閒聊] 紐時：霍格華茲無法拋開對JK的爭論

就剛剛用英文 Hogwarts legacy 去google 就有發現一些西方媒體 例如CNN、紐約時報等 都有對於霍格華茲的傳承的報導 其中紐約時報的標題 讓我感到有點興趣 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/arts/hogwarts-legacy-jk-rowling.html Hogwarts Legacy Can’t Cast Aside Debate Over J.K. Rowling 霍格華茲的傳承無法拋開對J.K.羅琳的爭論 英文內文比較長沒有仔細看 不確定是不是中性報導 只是看到標題感覺滿有意思的 所以就分享一下 大家有興趣可以看看、討論 補充： 應推文要求轉貼內文 不確定有無遺漏字或亂碼： The video game is the latest battleground over the “Harry Potter” author’s co mments on transgender issues, with fans and gamers divided over whether they sho uld play it at all. The conversation about the video game Hogwarts Legacy has been dominated by soci al issues rather than spell casting or Hippogriff taming.Credit...Warner Bros. G ames The developer behind a highly anticipated video game set in the “Harry Potter” universe, but a century before the familiar story, was always going to have to confront the expectations of a zealous fandom. There was the challenge of creating an engaging experience beyond the well-known tale of the Boy Who Lived, and the risk of disappointing fans by omitting belov ed aspects of the wizarding world. (Sorry, no quidditch.) But when the developer, Avalanche Software, began work several years ago on an i mmersive role-playing game set in Hogwarts, it may not have anticipated that per haps the biggest challenge of all would stem from the series’s celebrated autho r. The conversation among fans and gamers as Hogwarts Legacy approaches its offici al release date on Friday has been dominated not by talk about spell casting or Hippogriff taming, but by J.K. Rowling’s remarks on transgender issues. Potter fans have been grappling with those comments for years, especially afte r Rowling published an extensive essay in 2020 in which she said a movement of transgender activists was “seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biolo gical class and offering cover to predators.” “I want trans women to be safe,” she wrote. “At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe.” Fans who considered Rowling’s views odious and anti-trans — a sentiment she de nies — clashed with those who sympathized with them, while others argued that t he artist could be separated from her art. Some pledged to cease spending money on the franchise, which includes a theatrical production and the “Fantastic Bea sts” movies. Hogwarts Legacy brought another dedicated community into the fold: gamers, a gro up not associated with soft-spokenness online. In recent weeks, they have used social media to confront one another over issues of transgender rights. Some have pledged to boycott the game, while others have embraced it or defended their right to play it without claiming specific gender politics. “The controversy is very loud,” said Alex Casilio, a YouTube creator who has f ollowed Hogwarts Legacy throughout its yearslong development, though he question ed whether the debate would have a measurable impact on sales. “It’s a game th at got very popular very fast, and most people aren’t into the controversy.” J.K.Rowling’s Controversial Comments The “Harry Potter” author’s statements on transgender issues have fueled hea ted discussions among fans of the book series and beyond. A Conflicted Fandom: Rowling’s views forced some “Harry Potter” fans to figu re out how to distance themselves from the author who created the beloved wiza rding world. Quidditch No More: The real-life version of the sport, which prominently featur es in the series, changed its name to “Quadball.” Rowling’s views on transge nder issues played a role. Daniel Radcliffe’s Criticism: The lead actor in the “Harry Potter” films i s one of several cast members who voiced their support for transgender rights in response to Rowling’s comments. Days before its official release, Hogwarts Legacy became the single-player game with the highest number of concurrent viewers on the streaming site Twitch, acc ording to the analytics site Streams Charts, beating titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring. Still, the disagreements over whether to engage with the newest entry in the wiz arding world have sowed chaos on internet forums. On the game’s Reddit forum, t he moderators reinstated restrictions on discussing Rowling, writing that allow ing such conversation “quickly spirals into bigoted language towards LGBTQ+ ind ividuals.” On an official Discord forum, a moderator pleaded with users to “pa use on the JK topic.” Like other role-playing games, Hogwarts Legacy allows players to shape their ava tars’ appearance, intertwining issues of identity with the gameplay. And some p layers have drawn the conclusion that a new, nonplayable character is transgend er, based on a line of dialogue in which the character — Sirona Ryan, who runs the Three Broomsticks pub — said it had taken her classmates a moment to “re alize I was actually a witch, not a wizard.” Set in the 1890s — a century before Harry’s story — the game allows players t o become students at Hogwarts, where they can wear their house robes, navigate t hrough the castle and practice spells.Credit...Warner Bros. Games Avalanche — which is owned by Warner Bros., the studio behind the eight “Harry Potter” movies and the “Fantastic Beasts” series — has walked a fine line, establishing distance between Rowling and the game while acknowledging her centr ality to the franchise. Warner Bros. declined several times to set up an interview with the game’s deve lopers. When asked direct questions about the creative process and Rowling’s co ntributions, it pointed to marketing materials. “J.K. Rowling is not involved in the creation of the game, but as creator of th e wizarding world and one of the world’s greatest storytellers, her extraordina ry body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the wizarding world,” e xplains a list of frequently asked questions. “This is not a new story from J. K. Rowling, however we have collaborated closely with her team on all aspects of the game to ensure it remains in line with the magical experiences fans expect. ” It is unclear how much Rowling will financially benefit from the game; a spokesm an for Rowling declined to comment on its reception. In December, after Jessie E arl, a transgender gaming commentator, tweeted that it was “harmful” to suppor t Hogwarts Legacy, Rowling used the term “purethink” to criticize the argume nt. In an interview with IGN, an entertainment website, Alan Tew, the game’s direct or, addressed questions about Rowling by saying, “When we bumped into those cha llenges, we went back and refocused on the stuff that we really care about.” In a separate article about Sirona Ryan, the character players have concluded is transgender, a representative for the developer told IGN, “The team felt that it was very important to create a game that is representative of the rich and d iverse world of Harry Potter as well as the groups of people who play games, whi ch includes the LGBTQIA+ community.” Set in the 1890s, the game allows players to become students at Hogwarts, where they can wear their house robes, navigate through the castle and practice spells . Many details are pulled from Rowling’s texts (spells like Crucio, the torture c urse, and Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, will be familiar), but some aspects of the lore are newly invented: Daedalian Keys, the game explains, have been con jured to protect locked cabinets at Hogwarts. Several gaming publications and streamers have also been cautious discussing the game, making it clear that they have qualms about Rowling’s views. Several par agraphs into IGN’s positive review, which calls the spell-casting combat “stu pefyingly good,” sits a disclaimer box that acknowledges the “elephant in the room.” “As critics, our job is to answer the question of whether or not we find Hogwar ts Legacy to be fun to play and why,” the disclaimer says. “Whether it’s ethi cal to play is a separate but still very important question.” NME, a British pop culture website, gave Hogwarts Legacy three out of five stars and noted that its review was “not an endorsement of Rowling’s opinions or comments,” while linking to L.G.B.T.Q. charities. And a duo called Girlfriend Reviews, who were criticized for streaming the game on Twitch, responded by emphasizing that they had not paid for it and were rais ing money for the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group for L.G.B.T.Q. youn g people. Others in the gaming community have drawn a harder line. “If you purchase this game — if you praise its qualities and encourage others to ‘support the developers’ or ‘treat yourself to a guilty pleasure’ — you are making a choice that will harm the transgender community,” Percy Ranson wr ote for GamesHub, an Australian gaming news site, noting that they are transgend er. Rowling has continued to opine on transgender issues since her 2020 essay. Last month, she posted a tweet likening a meme in which a character holding a gun t hreatens a TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist, to an illustration of a 20th-century suffragist being tortured. She also rallied in opposition to Sc ottish legislation intending to make it easier for people to legally change the ir gender. The author had no creative input in Hogwarts Legacy, according to Troy Leavitt, who said on Casilio’s channel last year that he was a lead designer and senio r producer on the game for three years before leaving Avalanche in 2021. The stu dio had the latitude, he said, to pick and choose the aspects fans were most int erested in. “This isn’t a game about pushing agendas or anything,” said Leavitt, who decl ined an interview request. “This is a game about delivering to the fans that wi zarding world experience that you always wanted to have when you were reading th e books or watching the films. That’s it.” Perhaps the game’s developers wish they had invented a charm to tame the intern et. “Every big ‘Harry Potter’ thing turns into an L.G.B.T.Q. conversation,” said Asher Chelder, who works on social media for MuggleNet, a Harry Potter fan site , and is transgender. But this backlash has seemed heightened compared with the response to the releas e of the third “Fantastic Beasts” movie last year, said Chelder, who is lookin g forward to playing Hogwarts Legacy. Despite some calls for a boycott of the franchise, “Beasts” — which credits R owling as a screenplay writer — grossed more than $400 million globally. “Curs ed Child,” the play Rowling is credited on, is running in six countries. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 182.233.7.224 (臺灣) ※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/C_Chat/M.1675996869.A.B68.html