AITA for yelling at my mom that I hate Harry Potter and to LET ME LIVE MY OWN LIFE

A Redditor shared their frustration over being forced to participate in their mom’s obsession with Harry Potter, Star Wars, and other fandoms throughout their childhood. Despite asking for a break from the constant focus on these interests, they finally exploded during a Christmas tradition, leaving their family upset. Read the original story below to find out how the situation unfolded:

‘ AITA for yelling at my mom that I hate Harry Potter and to LET ME LIVE MY OWN LIFE’

As my title suggests, my mom is a huge Harry Potter nut. She and my dad actually met in a harry potter “IRC” (like Disord but for old people) in the early 00s got married had kids and from day one decided to embarrass us for life by naming us after some Harry Potter and Star Wars characters.

It’s honestly been hell. I have a stupid name and since we were little my parents have forced stuff like Harry Potter, Star Wars, marvel movies, etc etc down our throats. Everything is about dragons and magic and blah blah blah. I’m so sick of it. Every birthday every holiday everything is just organized around “fandom.”

So just like every Christmas the days leading up to Christmas we have to sit down every night and watch Harry Potter movies. It’s. So. F**king. BORING!!!! I can usually get away with knitting or drawing on my Ipad during this but this year my mom was like “let’s just have a technology and distraction free night every night”

I arranged to go over to my friend Missy’s house instead for like two nights. Missy’s family is NORMAL and likes things a NORMAL amount. My mom got really mad and started talking about how it’s a family tradition and how I’m basically rejecting her and went on her whole thing about how “you wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for harry potter.”

I finally had it and just yelled “NOBODY CARES THAT YOU WERE A BIG NAME IN THE HARRY POTTER FAN CLUB!!! I don’t like Harry Potter! I don’t like Star Wars! I HATE MARVEL MOVIES THEY’RE ALL SO BORING PLEASE JUST LET ME HAVE MY OWN INTERESTS!”

I couldn’t help it I started crying because I was just so frustrated because everything always has to be about harry potter this star wars that and now that we’re all older they started doing game of thrones. EVERYTHING is centered around some kind of movie or tv show or book series.

Just onces I want my family to band around something that DOESN’T have to do with media or these nerdy things. We live in Utah where we have like 5 National Parks and even though I ask every year for my birthday I’VE NEVER EVEN BEEN TO ARCHES!!!!

Well my sister called me saying that mom was angry and to just come home and to stop with the theatrics. I told her that I’m sick of having all this old “nerd” stuff crammed down my throat and just once I want to have a normal time watching normal Christmas movies and not having to pause for “lightsabre battles”.”. AITA?!??!

These are the responses from Reddit users:

KyleSmittenhouse −  NTA…and your post is a great warning for all those people still thinking about naming their kid “Anakin” or “Khaleesi”. You’re allowed to have your own interests, and your parents aren’t making life easier by forcing things they like on you. Edit: RIP my inbox. I had no idea Anakin was such a popular name.

frenchbullfrog −  “IRC” (like Disord but for old people). Listen here you little s**t…. (NTA)

just_some_arsehole −  NTA but that irc comment cut me to the core and now I feel old

AccioAmelia −  As a HUGE Harry Potter fan myself, you are NTA. You have to be able to grow up and have your own interests. Do you think your parents would be open to family therapy?

Laser-teatime −  NTA – Your reaction makes sense. It’s 100% understandable. Extreme roleplayers like this can be just as toxic as parents that micromanage their children. If you feel like you’re not allowed to have your own interests/hobbies/alone time you should be able to say so.

I happen to be extremely nerdy. My mother tried to force me to become a dancer. I sucked. Not kidding. I mega sucked. Couldn’t even do the splits, but she pressured me to go until the teachers stepped in and told her how miserable I was. She spent thousands each year on costumes/gas/hair/makeup.

We spent endless hours travelling in hot buses for competitions. I literally had to stop at age 12 because I physically could not do what the other dancers could. I wasn’t flexible (thank god) and above all I wasn’t interested. I felt so guilty because so many girls in my class at school loved dancing.

They would have loved to have a mom that was willing to spend big bucks to fly them to cheer competition/ballet/tap/hip hop/skating…but it just wasn’t for me. I was tired and moody 24/7. I can’t even begin to describe how depressed it made me.

I wanted to read manga. I did not want to spend 10 hours a week in two different dance studios. I didn’t understand why my mom couldn’t see that. Still don’t. I completely understand. Your parents are not providing an inclusive environment, and it’s not fair.

I think you should try to sit them down, and have a SERIOUS conversation about how you feel. Don’t say you hate them. Say YOU want to share YOUR hobbies with them. Parents should not expect their children to be clones of them.

B4pangea −  NTA. The sentence “Missy’s family likes things a NORMAL amount” really jumped out at me. It’s a shame that in their o**ession and absorption in their fandom, they’ve really killed some cool books and movies and stuff for you and your siblings.

Lots of people enjoy these things without making them their whole life. (Also I’m being petty here but watching movies is not a “technology free night”. Play a board game or something).

reverber8 −  NTA. That is oppressive and sounds horrible. Also, earburning the chick who wanted to give her kids weird names from this other thread:
Don’t give your kids stupid names. The entire state of Utah is a prime example of this, and OP’s parents especially took it to the next level. This is the rollout of that.

[Reddit User] −  NTA. There are fans and then they are FANS. Your parents are the latter. I personally love people who are very enthusiastic about something or anything but they have made their whole life around the fandom which is sad really.

Sheisty_Lawyer −  I feel like I have read this exact story before. Years ago… OP (the ACTUAL OP) is definitely NTA. It’s OK to like something. It’s OK to love something. It’s OK to include your family in it. It’s NOT OK to shove it down their throats because you can’t escape your own reality and understand that some people may hate it just as much as you love it.

ScarletteMayWest −  NTA. We love nerdy stuff in our house, but never forced it on our kids. They have normal names. And because we allowed them to be who they wanted, they chose their own nerd niches. Your mother needs to chill out before your start calling her Dolores. (I know you hate HP, but that name just might get through to her.)

Do you think the Redditor was justified in expressing their frustration, or was their outburst unfair to their mom’s traditions? How would you handle being forced into family interests you don’t connect with? Share your thoughts below!