The Fine Art Of Nuance
The subject matter for this month’s post came to me spontaneously, while watching a YouTube video from a fellow content creator. Ordinarily, I attempt to stray away from content associated with certain categories, which are covered by other types of creators, e.g., computer gaming, news, politics, etc. It is not a good use of my time to dip my toe in everyone’s pools of interest, which is why I reference any sources I use to create a post.
My mantra has always been writing about content, which inspires and spurs us to create our own. In today’s world, sources of inspiration can come in all forms, even from venues we would not expect; however, I believe it is safe to say, we all know the focus of this blog is the craft of creative writing. Although the category of creative writing narrows the focus of what inspires us to create, it is still quite broad.
My husband and I came across a video on the YouTube channel, LegacyKillaHD while attempting to find more information related to the release date of the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, a new role-playing game (RPG) based in the Harry Potter franchise. The video in question detailed, very well I might add, the fervor surrounding a boycott of the game due to Harry Potter’s creator, J.K. Rowling’s transphobic statements. As members of the LGTBQ2S+ community, my husband and I were aware of J.K. Rowling’s statements, we simply had no idea of how strongly many felt about not supporting this game.
In listening to the video, I noticed an almost complete lack of nuance surrounding this issue, which can often take place on the social media we all know and love as Twitter. Fortunately, the video’s creator provided a number of astute points while attempting to provide a balanced perspective by using resources other than Twitter. I then began to consider how the inability of some to tap dance in the gray areas of our lives, feeds into how we perceive creating nuance in our own content.
Before I begin to meander down my own path of nuanced goo, it may be a good idea to start with a definition. As defined from Oxford Languages, nuance is a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound. Much like the word itself, the definition is, well, somewhat vague and broad in its application. A tad fitting when you contemplate the world we are currently residing has a tendency to go full apocalypse mode when going in the direction of the majority opinion.
If you happen to be one of several people attempting to provide nuance in an effort to avoid jumping to hasty conclusions, one of a few scenarios takes place; your intelligence is questioned because it violates the popular narrative, you are dismissed for not being aware of all the facts, accused of being the very thing those in the popular opinion crowd are rallying against, or your social media platform of choice bans your account because the popular opinion crowd screamed the loudest.
Before we go any further, I will not allow this post to transition into a conversation regarding freedom of speech and what has been coined, Cancel Culture. When you review the Wikipedia article link I provide at the end of this post, it is clear nuance certainly plays a rather large role in the practice of Cancel Culture.
In the specific case related to the budding boycott of Hogwarts Legacy due to its association with J.K. Rowling, I am inclined to put this topic matter more in line with the Wikipedia’s definition of call-out culture. Although, in my opinion, they are practically the same thing. The similarities of these two practices will make it difficult to keep this post from going off the rails into the realm of when either practice goes too far.
Let me illustrate a syndrome, which tends to manifest when these types of issues coil around our common sense, threatening to choke the life out of it; a condition I often refer to as the all or nothing mindset. Simply put, if you do not agree 100% with whatever is the popular opinion surrounding a polarizing issue, then you become the object of the popular crowds ire and will be shunned until you repent.
This may seem a bit dramatic given my choice of words. Before pronouncing a final verdict, I would suggest taking an honest assessment of the many popular social media platforms and corporate news outlets in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not my observations are on point.
The following quote is a tweet taken from a Twitter user who weighed in on the issue of buying the Harry Potter game and the message it sends to companies who support development of the game: Cis people really don’t get it. BUYING the new HARRY POTTER game tells COMPANIES that they can still pay MONEY to TRANSPHOBES without any issue. They go on to say; you aren’t supporting a small indie company, you aren’t paying the wages of starving artists, you are helping Warner Bros know that Harry Potter is still economically viable to double down on rather than expanding elsewhere. Like if you are still going to buy it, fine, nobody can stop you. But don’t pretend that doing so is some kind of neutral or positive act.
Overall, I agree with the sentiments of those tweets. I did not reference the person specifically because my intent is to highlight how we go about addressing these types of nuanced conversations. Calling people out specifically rarely works in your favor and will, more often than not, sour peoples opinion of you when they ordinarily would have seen things your way.
If you have followed the evolution of this blog, I have stated on numerous occasions, we vote with our wallets. No amount of perfectly worded diatribes or superbly crafted rebukes of greedy content creation studios will delay the continued production of intellectually deficient material if we continue to hand them our hard-earned cash when they do things poorly. Yet, before we take a firm stance, consider the big picture because there is always a catch.
I was fully prepared to nitpick some of the smaller details in those tweets but decided to practice what I preach by taking a look at the big picture and pulling in examples from my own experiences. Realistically, I could write literally dozens of articles focused on this subject matter alone. The arena is so broad, multifaceted, and layered, synthesizing it into a succinct blog post is a naïve endeavor, doing it no justice.
In my personal life, I have attempted to make sound decisions related to who receives my hard-earned cash and what I chose to spend my time consuming, whether it be books, movies, gaming, and everything else in-between. I consider time spent even more valuable given it is not something you can recuperate, while the ability to make a living is available around almost every corner but can depend on who you are, i.e., race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, etc. A nuanced conversation for another time.
I have taken stances on content related to The Walking Dead, House of Dragon,
The Shannara Chronicles, The Vampire Diaries, and the list goes on. Some stances have been more hard hitting where I simply stop consuming said content, while others receive a well-deserved tongue lashing. When I saw how workers were being treated at places like Amazon and grocery outlets like Kroger’s, my husband and I looked at ways to stop using their services. Witnessing union busting efforts at places like Starbucks and Apple also forced us to rethink with whom do we want to vote for when spending our money on goods and services. The same quandary exists when we decide, which computer gaming industry deserves our attention when similar issues to the Hogwarts Legacy game arise.
Another facet at play is our own biases, which has been another subject matter discussion on this blog. The Hogwarts Legacy game, if I even have time to play it, ticks all of my spare time enjoyment boxes; open world, expansive, role-playing, fantasy-based, and the use of magic. Are there plenty of other games out there with almost identical elements I could play minus the controversy? Absolutely. The only difference is you get to play and develop a character in an iconic universe, which is much more appealing to players such as myself.
Remember what I mentioned previously about how you approach these issues matters most? Well, I have actually seen a large amount of people, who were on the fence about buying Hogwarts Legacy, indicate they will now buy it strictly because of the controversy. Whether or not this is a proper and mature response to a much larger, nuanced issue is a topic for another time, but the end result could be the opposite of what the boycott crowd intended.
Let’s circle back to what I mentioned regarding my own personal decisions. You see, what I have discovered is the mere idea of what it means to take a stance is more nuanced than the issue or cause one is rallying in support of or against. I certainly understand it when the fires of our passions are stoked when we witness an injustice or unethical practice. In those beginning moments, it appears easy to say and do things in the quest to right perceived wrongs. The key to approaching these issues is to stop, look, and listen to determine what we are missing.
In today’s world, simplicity is a rare commodity. Everything, including life itself, is so interconnected, isolating a specific component we may view as cancerous in order to surgically remove it, is next to impossible without impacting other essential functions. This is my long-winded way of illustrating the need to see the big picture, which in this case is the growing malignancy of monopolies and the corporations feeding them. Yes, yes, I know, yet another post for another time.
Completely boycotting Amazon may appear to be the right thing at the time but, let’s be honest, they have us by the short and curlies due to their ability to get us almost anything we require in a very short amount of time. Not to mention, they are practically a one-stop shop. Who doesn’t like that?
Where I live in Oregon, Fred Meyer, founded by Fred G. Meyer merged with Kroger in 1998 but kept the Fred Meyer brand. As a vegan, Fred Meyer (Kroger) is one of the best sources for the products my husband and I consume without having to visit the more expensive stores such as Natural Grocers or Lifesource. Not only is it a monetary consideration but Fred Meyer is almost a one stop shop location for us. When you look at other outlets, such as Walmart, all of them have questionable ethics when it comes to treating employees fairly and attempting to squash creating a living wage for them at the legislative level. As you know, corporations have huge lobbies who buy our politicians.
Do not get me started on Apple, the Telecom industry and entertainment franchises who swoop in, consume smaller businesses, and consolidate the content we consume under one umbrella, then turn around and market it in such a way, where they have us believing we are the ones getting such a good deal by having everything in one place at our fingertips.
Discovery+ comes to mind where everything looks good on the surface but underneath it is a way for the tech companies to penalize cord cutters, such as myself, for daring to want to customize the content I want to see. Their motto? Something for everybody. No matter what, if you only want to watch a few things under their entire umbrella of programs, you still must pay a monthly fee for all of it. Their motto should be, Something more for me and the illusion of choice for you.
In closing, if we are truly going to have meaningful results in combating society’s fanatical elements, we need to stop applying the all or nothing approach. Penalizing an entire company for the disgusting things its CEO said about people of color or members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, speaks little to nuance and more to who can scream the loudest. No matter your stance on a particular issue, especially those concerning social justice, people tend to tune out the raving lunatic and tune in to the calmest one in the room providing a common-sense approach.
In many ways, I consider myself a free speech absolutist where nuance definitely plays a huge role. Issues, such as the ones raised by those wishing to boycott Hogwarts Legacy need to be debated in the field of ideas. The more we put passion before principle and apply emotion over logic, fanaticism will continue to rise unopposed and murder the art of nuance in the process.
So, before you consider boycotting entire companies and potentially kicking people out of their jobs, try isolating the specific issue and defeating it on the battlefield of intellect.
Please post any questions or comments you may have, and I will respond in a timely manner.
Be safe, be well, and allow compassion to manifest while we continue to navigate a crazy but beautiful world.
Thank you for reading.
References
Cancel Culture Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancel_culture
Hogwarts Legacy RPG: https://www.hogwartslegacy.com/en-us
LegacyKillaHD (1,000,000+ Demand Boycott of Harry Potter RPG Hogwarts Legacy):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeSCeVo9F6c
