#harry fandom

NOW THIS?!

Is it likely that Harry has done coke at parties? Yes. Probable? Yes. Almost certain? Yes. Absolutely.

But there are more reasons someone might not want to talk about it, hear about it, read about it, or think about it than “they’ve put Harry on a pedestal of never doing anything ‘wrong’ and don’t know how to handle reality of life.”

Some of us just straight up don’t like drugs. And like........ That doesn’t mean we’re all immature kids who are ignorant and sound like we came straight out of a DARE program. Believe it or not, a lot of people who either are or have been close to an addict or a recovering addict hate drugs a lot. A lot of people who fit that description are hugely uncomfortable when thinking about others they love getting involved with drugs, even casually, because of the trauma we’ve gone through.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

Like it’s a hugely toxic idea and harmful to addicts to imply that you have to be comfortable with public third party fan speculations of someone’s drug use. Because a lot of addicts/loved ones of addicts (rightfully so) feel like it’s none of anyone else’s business. Because we’ve been personally affected by this and to us, it is straight up no one else’s business!!!!! 

A lot of us get scared when the word “addiction” gets brought up because we know the reality of what that looks like. It’s not a word to throw around lightly. It’s not some “edgy” or “mature” concept, addiction. It’s a real thing that hurts people. 

And like I’m not saying “never talk about it.” I’m saying that these speculations are just that, speculations. And that sometimes (as in a lot of the times) they get super invasive. And when you feel like you have to prove it, it’s the most invasive. Telling people that they have to be comfortable with it or else they’re not “mature” enough (for what? idk), is total bullshit. And it’s so damn RUDE!  1) you’re telling people they have to be comfortable with your invasive as fuck shit about speculating on when drug use happened, what it looks like, and what that means for this person.  2) you’re telling people that their own history with drugs making them uncomfortable is somehow “immature” or “shameful.” 

This fandom has a history and a tendency of being super classist. Implying that Harry’s money makes him better than others. Another Man’s release was full of shaming people who couldn’t afford the magazine by insisting this was Harry’s first solo venture and we all had a financial obligation to him. Even today I’ve seen a lot of people talking about how good it feels to spend money on Harry and how pleased he’d be at that.

But this promo season is a lot of Harry not being a part of that. “You don’t have to buy it. If you like it, buy it. But you don’t have to.” shook me to my core. It’s not quite Keith Urban “I don’t care if you download my music,” but it is in opposition to the usual pushiness of promo seasons. And it’s definitely in opposition to “Valuable things should be paid for” the classism of Taylor Swift. 

But the real kicker came when it was priced so fairly. That hardcover book? Should be about 45 alone with the album 55. That’s where I expected its price and from talking to others last night, that’s where a lot of people expected it. But it’s under 25 for both. I keep saying this, but as an 11 year fan I can’t help but thing... Taylor Swift would never. 

He has an established and loyal fan base who’s proven to be monetarily supportive and loyal as a beginning act. He should be pricing mid level, but even one of his limited edition exclusives is priced low. He wants everyone to be able to justify spending money on him in their lives and lifestyles, not to price his stuff more to hopefully get more.

In other words, it’s obvious he had the poorer fans in mind. 

Because he could have priced that hardcover + cd bundle at 55 and sold out. But he didn’t. He let us have something when we usually don’t.

So the fandom responded by taking is cue and reassuring poor fans that if even that’s too much. If even the 10 dollars on itunes is too much right now, it’s okay. I’ve seen people say that those of us choosing our bills over the album are making “good decisions” and should feel good about our ability to love Harry and make decisions that we need to make for ourselves. I’ve seen people writing long posts about how poor fans need not feel like they’re less than. That sometimes, even with fair pricing, there’s just no money to budge and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean we love Harry any less and it doesn’t mean we can’t be there for him in other ways.