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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Professor Murder" data-source="post: 9399902" data-attributes="member: 6991813">So just to throw in my stance on this issue, specifically "death of the author."It's easier when they are actually dead.HPL is dead. He died a long time ago. He has no living descendants who profit off his work. Now, people who are down for his racist/sexist/classist/ect beliefs, ones which are present in not just his personal life but his work, may find comfort in his work and that does suck. But he is dead. So he, as a person, doesn't get anything out of engaging with his work. Engage honestly. If you can acknowledge what was terrible about him, (For G-d's sake, the man wrote racist poetry. That is a commitment to bigotry), examine it honestly, then there is a place to use and appreciate the "good" aspects of his contributions to culture. JKR is alive. She's an active public figure and still creating new works of writing. She uses not only her platform but her fortune granted by her work to forward her bigotry. So it is harder to engage with her work or the vast media empire it has spawned without feeling like you are in some small way contributing to the ongoing harm she is actively inflicting on a vulnerable class of people. Now some people can square that circle. 3rd party unlicensed creations on say Etsy. Actively engaging in pastiche or parody of the world she has created. And for some, well you just can't shine a turd and it's better to walk away. YMMV. But as long as she is here and actively engaging eagerly in bigotry, it's going to be an issue.Gary Gygax is dead. He held bigoted beliefs. His real crime for me is his desire to keep the joy of what he created from people who didn't fit his expectations. He was an intelligent man who mistook that for wisdom, much like HPL, by being achingly parochial. His work remains. And like HPL, I do think you can engage with it if you do so honestly.Don't be afraid.</blockquote>

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