By Max McAuliff, Opinion Editor
When J.K. Rowling released “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (or Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) in 2001, she had no clue that the “Harry Potter” series would go on to be one of the best selling book series of all time. Rowling went from being on the verge of homelessness to the first author worth one billion dollars.
There is no denying the popularity of “Harry Potter.” Both the books and movies broke numerous records and spawned several theme parks, appropriately called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” “Harry Potter” is a pop culture icon even nine years after the last “Harry Potter” movie came out (excluding the spinoff movie series “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”).
“Harry Potter” will continue to remain relevant. There are more “Fantastic Beasts” movies in the pipeline, a video game set to come out next year and the potential for a sequel or reboot down the line. Because “Harry Potter” will remain relevant, Rowling will as well. That appears, however, to not be a good thing for the future of “Harry Potter” and the core values “Harry Potter” stands for.
In June, Rowling came under fire for a tweet that came across as anti-transgender. Rowling received a lot of backlash for the tweet and instead of apologizing for the tweet, pushed forward even further. She tweeted several more times and posted to her website attempting to explain what she meant, but only kept making the issue worse. If Rowling was trying to amend what she had said, she did a very poor job doing so. The damage was done.
The fan backlash to Rowling’s comments started immediately. Fans of “Harry Potter” were outraged that Rowling, who had shaped so many childhoods with her writings, took an anti-transgender stance. Fans were not the only ones to speak out against Rowling. “Harry Potter” stars Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) all spoke out in defense of the trans community.
Daniel Radcliffe released a lengthy statement in support of the transgender community. A portion of that statement from glamour.com read, “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished. I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you…And in my opinion, nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.” It is clear from these comments that Radcliffe supports the trans community and hopes that these comments have not taken away from the joy and love that “Harry Potter” has brought to so many people over the years.
This is the main reason that Rowling needs to step back from future “Harry Potter” projects. The “Harry Potter” books and movies are about acceptance and love. Harry Potter is a young boy who has barely experienced love in his life and who is constantly bullied by his aunt and uncle. That is until he finds his place in the world and begins to understand what it means to have friends and to be loved. The “Harry Potter” books and movies radiate hope and love and it is dreadful that comments by the once-beloved author could have potentially taken that love away.
While “Harry Potter” is and will always be Rowling’s creation, now is a good time for her to step back or risk being forced out. The innate good that is the core value of “Harry Potter” must be preserved for future generations to enjoy. That cannot be done if Rowling is still heavily involved with “Harry Potter.”
mcaulimr18@bonaventure.edu
