On the Topic of J.K. Rowling (Not in Support)

When I left my blog at the end of the previous semester, I planned to pick up exactly where I left off when classes resumed. And then J. K. Rowling opened her mouth and tore her fan’s hearts out. Yeah, she’d said one or two things before, but it was spaced out and we could ignore it for our love of the Wizarding World (I say this as part of the LGBTQA+ community, as trans friends were still able to be fans despite her words). Now, we face the divide. Can we love the fictional works despite the author? Or does the author’s views taint the entirety of their writing, even if their writing doesn’t state those views?

Personally, I started reading the Harry Potter books when I was 11 years old. The series and the characters have been such a part of my development that I find I cannot separate myself from the world that helped me grow into the person I am today. That person is not transphobic, and I try very hard (no one is perfect) to not be phobic or biased based on any classification. My new world view, which I developed after much thought, is that the Harry Potter series was written by Anonymous.

I already own the books and I refuse to spend any more money on anything that would send money to J.K. Rowling. My major weakness when it comes to Harry Potter is fanfiction. Fanfiction has no profits that go to the original author (aka J.K. Rowling) or the story writer. Fanfiction is a community of fans who write, based on the original canon, how they would like the story and characters to go. It is a very open community, with many LGBTQA+ characters, both original and canon. I feel that the fanfiction community is not biased and phobic in the way J.K. Rowling is, and the creative endeavors I am supporting by liking and following these stories and authors is positive energy. I also feel it is a slight f.u. to Rowling, in making her characters LGBTQA+, or at least Allies of that community.

I plan to continue doing a close reading of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone, but I do not plan to go on to The Chamber of Secrets, since I would have to buy the eBook to continue my close reading for this blog. If, by some miracle, I come to the end of the first book, I may move on to the film adaptation, since I already own a copy.

Anyone who feels they must abandon the Harry Potter fandom in its entirety is completely within their rights. The things said by J.K. Rowling were terrible and completely unacceptable, and I in no way condone anything she said. It is my personal feelings expressed above, and I am in no way trying to sway anyone to my point of view.

2 Comments

Kat Fornier

September 11, 2020 at 3:47 pm Reply

I always have this dilemma with separating the art from the artist and I think it’s so important that you bring it up. On one hand the art as stand alone pieces of fiction and film completely removed from the artist are great, but on the other hand, if you consume the art and it’s other forms, like merchandise, the artist, who in this case is problematic, profits and that’s like patting someone on the back, handing them your wallet, and saying "Good job!" after they’ve done something completely backwards and wrong. I will say that I love the support to the Trans Community from Rupert, Daniel, and Emma who have spoken against Rowling’s inflammatory and hurtful comments. We could only hope that Rowling would follow suit.

Obscura Literary and Arts Magazine

September 14, 2020 at 2:02 pm Reply

Hi Jennifer.
I’m with Kat in this. I am really stuck directly in the middle of this fight. On the one hand, I have always tried to separate the artist from the art, even going so far as when I was younger, having absolutely no interest in the artist’s life at all. I never read biographies or interviews, unless the artist was speaking specifically about their work. I was a teenager in a much less inclusive time, and I remember the ridiculous fallout when Elton John publicly said he was bisexual. I was a huge Elton John fan, and so were a lot of my friends. Many of them rejected his music because of their bigotry, but I really couldn’t care less, and it had nothing to do with the fact that I have no interest or opinion about a person’s sexuality. I despise seafood, and Elton John saying he was bisexual was the same to me as if he said lobster was the best food on earth. No, it’s not, but whatever, Tiny Dancer is still one of the best rock ballads of all time. LOL
With Rowling, it goes a little deeper. And since all four of my step kids are somewhere on the LBGTQ spectrum, not only are her words abstractly abhorrent, they touch my life personally.
I have read all the books, and I may revisit them because she did create a solid story world rich with character arcs and literary and historical references. Otherwise, unless she sees the light of day, she is pretty much cancelled until further notice.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thomas Benke: Looking Around In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong. She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible. By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that.

You May Also Like

The perpetually learning mom…

Flán de Leche

Rock Reading Tuesdays

2 Comments

Kat Fornier

Obscura Literary and Arts Magazine

Leave a Reply Cancel reply