There’s a big movie coming out. A new entry in what was once one of the most lucrative, ubiquitous film franchises, but now one that nobody wants to talk about. I know no one who’s interested, there’s hardly any conversation about it on film twitter -which is somewhat surprising given its’ scale, budget, and franchise interconnectivity. But this was also inevitable in light of the recent reputation downfall of its’ particular boy wizard I.P. It can’t be understated how quickly, deeply, and thoroughly the Harry Potter brand has been sullied in the last couple years almost entirely on the back of its author and her crusade against transgender rights and dignity.
This was disgusting enough on its’ own, but it also became something of a lightning rod for unflattering critical analysis of her work. Because whatever you may believe pertaining to Death of the Author theory, any work of art is informed in some degree by the biases of its’ creator. Suddenly everyone was taking note of things like the “mannish hands” of vilified gossip columnist Rita Skeeter and that the most ridiculous image one character could conjure in a class was that of Professor Snape in a dress. Beforehand there was already conversation about that series’ uncomfortable racial politics (a Chinese character named Cho Chang), the anti-Semitic coding to the greedy Goblin bankers, the refusal despite the insistence that Dumbledore is gay to make anything substantive of it, and the notion that an enslaved minority actually prefers to be subservient and that the one character who wants to free them is routinely mocked for it. All this has come back to the surface in the wake of Joanne Kathleen Rowling deciding to become essentially the spokesperson for a rampant transphobia movement in the U.K. (which has also come of course with a fair degree of not so thinly veiled homophobia as well).
It’s been discussed at length by those far more experienced and educated than me how wrong and misinformed her worldview is on this subject, so I won’t get into that; but right now there is a movie set to release, the third instalment in her Harry Potter prequel series with the extremely awkward title: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. This whole series on its’ own in just two movies has proven itself a complete mess independent of Rowling’s politics -The Crimes of Grindelwald is one of the worst, most incompetent blockbuster movies of the last several years. But those politics do have a way of souring these movies’ existence even further. Its’ ironic Warner Bros. booted out Johnny Depp for abuse allegations only to then find that by far the most toxic figure on these films is the one with an iron grip on them creatively.
And that is a pretty major P.R. issue for the Fantastic Beasts series. As the upcoming mobile game Hogwarts Legacy tries to boast little direct involvement from Rowling herself (while still seemingly retaining some of her most problematic ideas), the film series has no such luxury. Rowling has had screenwriting credit on all three movies and it’s no secret is in complete control of any and all creative input –notice how Katherine Waterston, who’s openly denounced Rowling, has been scrubbed clean from the third movies’ marketing campaign. She has greater ownership over them than she had over any of the Harry Potter films. Indeed, she has consolidated her control of the entire franchise in the last few years as it has continued to make her a fortune in merchandise sales, multimedia deals (don’t forget, she’s got essentially a museum in Watford and at least two theme park attractions), and a constant stream of intellectual property rights. And with all that money and power and influence, she has chosen to hurt people.
In the guise of her narrow definition of feminism, she has pushed transphobic ideology, anti-science, and dehumanizing rhetoric, and it has not existed in a vacuum. One need only look to the United States, which is currently experiencing a flood of transphobic legislation being raised and in some cases passed by state governments –with language heavily mirroring that in her 2020 ‘TERF Wars’ essay, if not quoting it directly. Authoritarians who she once criticized in pale fascist allegory are now coming to her defence and she sees nothing wrong with that. And that’s not to mention all the political sway she has at home, where the trans community is frequently vilified by a tabloid press and government policy emboldened by her words. There are real world consequences to the power we grant people, even if those people are just children’s authors. Consciously or not, Rowling has had a hand in the harm being caused to the transgender community everywhere.
And though it may hurt to hear it, Harry Potter is inextricably linked to this. As much as it may have had a positive impact for so many, indeed arguably shaped the childhood for those of my generation, there is no ethical way to continue consuming and supporting that franchise. Every movie ticket, every copy of a new written instalment, every product bought is another fraction of wealth that goes to Rowling and her agenda. And even in the rare places such things don’t leave a financial imprint, they still prop up the series’ cultural capital, empowering Rowling indirectly through continued dissemination of the mere vocabulary and iconography of her world. Lindsay Ellis went into this perfectly in a video from a few years back and it still holds true. We of the Potter generation, especially if we strive to be good, honest and conscientious allies to the trans community, have to come to terms with laying the series to rest. As the boy wizard did fifteen years ago, we have to grow up.
That means not purchasing that mobile game when it drops, and it means not going to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie. I did think about it for a time, going to watch and review out of morbid curiosity –but I can’t in good conscience bring myself to, especially for something that’s probably just going to be forgettable anyway. I’d much rather do my part to diminish the cultural footprint of this particular media franchise, at least until the point when Rowling no longer profits from it –and that day may never come. But the action nonetheless means something -hell, standing up for others in the face of bigotry is one of the things this book series may have taught people, much as Rowling herself has forgotten. So don’t watch the Fantastic Beasts movie, don’t engage with the series if you can -there are plenty of others like it less popular though just as worthwhile. Books by Ursula LeGuin, Rick Riordan, Diana Wynne Jones, and Terry Pratchett, movies and TV like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Green Knight, and like half of Miyazaki’s movies -countless other avenues to fill that gap. There is a chance, slim though it may be, the well of Rowling’s power dries up, however it is the public that has to make it happen. And in the fight for trans rights, giving up one media property is really the least any of us can do.
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