Madison James
Rarely has the fall of an author been as swift and as unprecedented as that of Joanne Rowling. Prior to 2018, she seemed to be the poster child for the liberal cause. Donating millions to charity and vocally defending marginalized communities, the headlines were once very different to the ones of today.
Slowly but surely, the tide started to turn, with one like on twitter leading to #IStandwithMaya leading to the publishing of that essay. Now, her views have become so publicly unacceptable that she has been held up by no less than Vladimir Putin as an example of the dangers of cancel culture. And suddenly, more than ever before, the content of her novels is being picked apart by critics, to the point where continuing to enjoy any content related to the Wizarding World will have you denounced by some as just as bad as Rowling herself.
As The Secrets of Dumbledore enters its first week of release, the question of whether detractors must purge themselves of all association with the works of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in order to remain morally pure becomes ever more contentious.
“More than a work of fiction, but a part of my identity.”
I won’t wax lyrical about my own attachment to Harry Potter, but I was one of the many who fell in love with the series as a child. I remember spending hours on personality tests to find out my Hogwarts house and staying up late to read the Deathly Hallows by torchlight, the stories recounted on those pages inevitably becoming more than a work of fiction, but a part of my identity. Discovering the series during difficult years at school, I too was deeply impacted by its celebration of difference and its offer of an escape from the real world.
Now, few who are active on social media can fail to notice the amount of animosity that is felt towards the creator and her readers. In the age of the death of the author, some argue that Rowling’s presence is still very much alive in works that continue to be enjoyed by millions, and we should all be careful of the message we are sending by continuing to engage with them.
“The community has taken ownership of the narrative”
But by doing so, we have to question the practicality of demonising an entire readership who may struggle to let go of something that has deeply impacted them. This is a community that has been formed over more than two decades, a large portion of which is LGBTQ+ itself. Some insist on the need to cast off the series completely – for others, it’s not so easy. From the way the community has taken ownership of the narrative through fanfiction, to the lasting bonds that have been formed between fans, Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon that has grown beyond Rowling and her beliefs.
Rowling’s cancellation seems to have played out differently to her counterparts. Not only has the author’s character and rhetoric been torn apart as expected, but her works have been firmly under the spotlight. Seemingly every other day, another viral Twitter narrative plays out, and in a bizarre marker of our times, everything from the quality of the worldbuilding, the co-optation of fantasy elements and the character development of a children’s book series is furiously debated by grown adults. Considering the series has the potential to influence new generations of young people, some of the more serious criticisms are worthy of consideration.
“As expressed by one Sirius Black, good and evil isn’t binary.”
Some have begun to question the lack of nuance in a fictional world built around an illiberal and corrupt government under which wizards get marched to prison without trial, the prime minister gets personally involved with the operation of a pricey private school – seemingly the only institution that educates wizards in the entire country – and a stratified society exists in which muggles are deemed unworthy of receiving the benefits of the power of a privileged few who are able to heal a broken bone in a single second. The issue of slavery among magical creatures that, in the vast majority of cases, virulently reject any suggestion of freedom, is introduced and ultimately remains unresolved, and it is unclear what point – if any – Rowling was attempting to make with this storyline. And the sloppy, under-researched monikers given to minority characters, the most infamous example being the double surname Cho Chang, seems like a serious oversight at the very least.
Like many, as a child I overlooked most of these problematic elements, and as an adult the dilemma over whether the narrow worldview of an author could have a real influence over the minds of children who don’t know any better is unavoidable. But, as expressed by one Sirius Black, good and evil isn’t binary. Harry Potter is popular with young people precisely because it introduces complex moral dilemmas in a way that is easily understandable. It upholds values like bravery and community and integrity, values that that we appreciate because they are regarded as inherently good.
“Unless it falls into cultural obscurity, this isn’t going to change any time soon.”
Those that grew up with the novels learnt that life is not divided between morally pure and innately degenerate caricatures and that death is not something to be feared. Voldemort and the Death Eaters represent a heavy-handed metaphor for the complex issue of fascism, and readers discover that it doesn’t start with violence and terror, but with denial, with the manipulation of language and with the control of the mainstream narrative.
But a single book doesn’t always have to give you all the answers, nor do readers have to automatically accept all the ideas presented without question. In this way, Harry Potter represents a good case study in the standards of formative literature and our expectations going forward. Are we at the point where every work of fiction has to be sanitised to fit our every ideal? Where it’s impossible to consume ideas without forever absorbing them into our innate consciousness? We can criticise it all we want, but Harry Potter is often the gateway for children to start reading widely, encounter opposing points of view and make their own minds up about which values are important to them. And unless it falls into cultural obscurity, this isn’t going to change any time soon.
I belong to a generation for whom the future looks quite bleak, and for many of us, Harry Potter represents a simpler time, when Hogwarts represented nothing more than a home to everyone no matter their background, a place where difference is celebrated. Once, I truly believe Rowling took this to heart. But now she has made her millions and simply does not care about what you or anyone else has to say about her. So, separate the art from the artist. Because in a world where the masses are compelled to take personal culpability for the failings of everything from vast polluting corporations to the nonsensical tirades of problematic celebrities, it’s an act of defiance to enjoy whatever you want to enjoy.
Featured image courtesy of Artem Maltsev on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
