But Their Work is Really Good!

Disclaimer: The transphobic hate that JKR actively campaigns on a day to day basis has real life consequences for a lot of people in the trans community and those people are the ones whose opinions should be held above all others when it comes to discussing whether or not her work should still be enjoyed. In this article I hope to offer a few thoughts that I have had on this topic, but mostly hope to inspire some of your own thoughts and research into implicit bias.

Somehow, there seems to be a never-ending stream of art created by controversial people. From the yet to be released Amsterdam, a movie directed by a man who admitted to sexually assaulting his niece, to the adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, a book whose author is wanted for questioning for a murder in Zambia. But there is probably no series with a controversial author as omnipresent as Harry Potter.

I’ve grown up rereading the Harry Potter books over and over and the series has had an undeniable influence on my personality and character. So when I first read JKR’s hateful and transphobic rhetoric on Twitter I was shocked that I had been unknowingly supporting someone who had such harmful views. I was pretty conflicted, should I stop reading Harry Potter? Could I be a fan without supporting JKR? I’ve read opinions from all kinds of people, and some say that the good outweighs the bad, that a tale about the power of love and friendship is more powerful than the hate spewed by its maker. But can a story really be separate enough from its creator to still contain an overall positive message?

If we take a closer look at the world of Harry Potter, it becomes clear that JKR has some aggressive biases that impact her storytelling. Let’s use Rita Skeeter as an example. One of the antagonists of the series who is manipulative and sneaky and described as having mannish hands and a heavy-jawed face. These are stereotypes she has assigned trans women, as they are one of the things she rants about in a transphobic article posted to her website. Another example in the world are the goblins: greedy, cruel bankers, who are described as small, wrinkly creatures with long hooked noses. A description, that even if it was without intent, is an anti-Semitic caricature. The truth is that we’ve allowed this woman to freely write books full of harmful stereotypes.

However, I do believe we can—to a certain extent—separate the work from the author. I don’t think we should pretend that the books are perfect and that they are on a different plane of existence to their creator. Obviously, whoever wrote the books had a significant influence on them, but the characters and the story of Harry Potter belong just as much to the fans as they do to the author. If JKR can tweet out random statements about the books and expect them to be considered canon, so can fans. I’ve seen fans take these beloved characters and write them into stories of their own, where the characters are queer, non-binary, trans, and people of colour. I’ve also seen Harry Potter help fans figure out who they are or inspire them to stand up to a bully. I think that a series that has inspired so many people to be kinder, be creative, be passionate, and stand up for themselves might deserve to have a place in our society. Nothing exists in a vacuum, and it would be disingenuous to pretend Harry Potter has had no influence on its millions of fans.

There is also the question of even if I acknowledge her problematic nature as both an author and a person, can I consume her creation without supporting her? It should be easy to refrain from supporting JKR financially; simply don’t buy official merchandise and buy books second-hand. But even if we don’t give her financial support, interacting with her online is still a form of support. Following official pages and interacting with content all serves to fuel the fire of Harry Potter, keeping both book and creator relevant. Giving this up seems relatively easy as well, but for some people, being a part of the online fan community is just as important as enjoying the actual books. On the other hand, it is often this fan community that is the most critical of JKR. The fan world of Harry Potter has morphed into something JKR has no control over, and is overall a more welcoming and inclusive community than she would probably like it to be. And while supporting fan creations does fuel the world of Harry Potter, it also fuels those creators who deserve recognition for their work in their own right.

So to answer the question, can we enjoy art by problematic creators? I honestly still don’t know. And I don’t think I am the one who should make this judgment. One person can’t possibly be the absolute authority on any subject, especially one person who is not directly affected by the hate JKR actively campaigns for. It is true that I don’t enjoy Harry Potter as much as I used to, the hateful context of the story and stereotypes are impossible to ignore. But I also haven’t stopped my yearly Thanksgiving reread of the series. But maybe I should just change my tradition to Percy Jackson…

by Lina Leonhard.