Last night I was feeling quite dysforic, and was scrolling through my Instagram (oh btw you can follow me on Instagram now) when I came upon a post that talked about how everyone’s favorite (hrrugh) billionaire writer was acting out again. Adding to my already frustrating day, something in me just broke. I just sat on my toilet for the next half hour and felt miserable. I was able to talk to my friends a bit, and I eventually calmed down. But I still feel like speaking my mind a bit, so I think this is the ideal place.
Let’s get this out of the way: I have always loved Harry Potter. There is just something magical about the Wizarding World (aside from the literal magic ofc). The characters are amazing and the setting is stunning. But recently that magical world has been soiled by the Twitter comments of one woman, who just happens to have created and own all of it. It feels like something has been stolen from me.
Like so many others who were eagerly awaiting their Hogwarts letter, these books felt like an escape to me. An escape into a fantastical world, a magical world, where anything is possible. An 11-year old boy who lives in a closet under some stairs finds out he is a wizard, and for the first time in his life finds a place that he can call home, where he finally finds friends, where he truly belongs. For me, and I think a lot of other queer and trans people, to find out that the one who created that world of magic is in reality a massive TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist) and a very hateful person is a soul-wrenching gut-punch. When I first learned of that truth I could not believe it. Not her. Not the one who gave us Hogwarts. But a single comment expanded into more and more hatefulness. The more she tried to defend herself the more of her true nature and bigotry was revealed.
I thought to myself what I should do about this. Surely I could not keep supporting someone who was so openly hateful? But how could I just throw away something so near and dear to my heart? Since then, I have realized some things. I hope my understandings might help you somewhat with your own process. Thing 1: that woman needs to be canceled. If she won’t stop hurting people, she doesn’t deserve a place among celebrities. Thing 2: the Wizarding World is a great place, full of love, support, and magic. But most importantly, Thing 3: these things aren’t mutually exclusive! Since the books were first published, we have done so many things to make this world our own. An amazing community has grown from these books and movies, from fanfiction writers to cosplayers to wizard rock artists to muggle quidditch players. Heck, even many of the actors have publicly voiced their disagreement with the author. Yes, there is a HUGE amount of commercialization around all of it, but we do not need products or movie tickets to immerse ourself in this world. We do it by rereading or rewatching the books or movies occasionally, yes, but we also do it by watching fan films, by reading fan fiction, by listening to wizard rock. We do it by talking to our found friends, by sharing fun HP memes, by discussing which Hogwarts houses random fictional characters would be sorted into. We create our own stories.
It has always been about more than the products or movie tickets they are trying to sell us. She has more than enough money already. Who needs her anymore? At this point, the Wizarding World belongs to any one of us, and we can decide for ourselves how we interact with it.
Love,
~ Sanne