Kayley Loo
The latest word from the wizarding world is that HBO Max has ordered a new remake of the beloved Harry Potter movies, this time as a TV series. The announcement was made at the Warner Bros. Discovery’s presentation on 12th April.
So far, the reactions to this news have been mixed at best. But to me, it came as a definitive conclusion of my own interests in this franchise. I can’t really pin when exactly I started to fall out of love with Harry Potter, but I’d like to think it happened in the following timeline:
Stage 1: The Addition of Unnecessary Details to Harry Potter that Nobody Asked For
After the publication of the main film series, there came the official website for fandom titbits, Pottermore. Pottermore ensured a platform to not only discover your Hogwarts house but a place for J. K. Rowling to add world-building details that were not initially in her books. There were fun additions such as the deeper dives into the lore of secondary characters such as Remus Lupin and McGonagall’s back story, the history of the Quidditch World Cup, and so on.
Some were… less needed, like the detail that before the invention of modern-day plumbing, wizards relieved themselves on the spot and simply magicked it away. While expanding on the lore gives me renewed investment, it felt as though Rowling’s heart was no longer in it to sustain what made the magical world of Harry Potter, magical.
Stage 2: Introduction of New Harry Potter Material and Revisionist History
At the height of the Potter nostalgia, which can be roughly pinned to around 2011-2014, post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II, millennials can attest to going onto Pottermore to find their true Hogwarts house, filling in BuzzFeed quizzes to find out which character they are, as well as the many many merchandising opportunities. From makeup, restaurant themes, theme parks and exhibits – you name it, it probably exists.
Rowling and Warner Brothers capitalised on this with the play A Cursed Child and the Fantastic Beasts movies, which both fall short in their own narrative merit, due to the retcons made to justify their existence. It definitely did not help that they came with their own real-life controversies such as the colourblind casting of Hermione, of which Rowling doubles down to say that she has always intended Hermione to be racially ambiguous, despite no prior evidence of it. There is also her and Warner’s long-standing defence of their decision in casting Johnny Depp, who, at that time, had been undergoing legal troubles. He has since lost his libel lawsuit in the UK.
Stage 3: Rowling’s Growing and Widespread Bigotry Towards the Trans Community
When one hears of the magical world of Harry Potter losing its lustre, often it comes down to Rowling’s bigoted tweets, making unfounded statements, specifically towards the trans community. It all culminated in June 2020 when she released a blog post to solidify her stance and continue to spread misinformation and transphobia.
The more people point out the danger in her words towards marginalised communities, the more defensive she gets, and the more I lose respect for someone who I once looked up to.
Stage 4: The Fear of Trying New Things
In part, HBO Max/Warner Brothers can be to blame for this, because it is a platform that holds the rights to the syndication of many popular nostalgic shows. Instead of creating more original material, they go about the laziest way to line their pockets; the announcement of a remake feels like an obvious cash grab made only to benefit themselves.
Back when the reunion documentary came out, it came as a shock to many of my friends that I didn’t even try to watch the reunion. One of the main reasons I stayed away was because it felt as though it would be a hollow reminisce of something that was once beloved. It also felt wrong to watch the documentary considering the production is completely non-statement in regards to Rowling’s prejudice.
It would be the same hollow feeling with this “decade-long“, “faithful adaptation”. I have experienced Harry Potter on-screen already through eight wonderful movies. I doubt it would bring forward anything new. This appears to be a shared sentiment, considering the announcement led to a fall in Warner Bros. Discovery stock after the presentation. The franchise is overstaying its welcome and it’s showing.
Harry Potter moulded my adolescent experience; being a part of its fandom shaped my growing up, it’s the reason I met many of my lifelong friends and it was one of the biggest motivators for my move to the UK and showed me how much I love storytelling. But in some ways, acknowledging that I have fallen out of love with this franchise, marks my own growth. I had been ready to say goodbye to my love for Harry Potter for some time now, and this announcement has properly laid my obsession to rest.
Featured image courtesy of Fabian on Pixabay. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.
Kayley Loo
Kayley loves explaining odd, niche things you might've not known about or heard of before. She is also a host on RemoteWatch podcast, where she talks about all things TV and FIlm. She is currently based in London.