I put on my Harry Potter Ravenclaw socks on today. They used to be my sartorial pick-me-up, as my sister, niece and nephew gave them to me for Christmas a few years ago knowing that I was a raving Potter fan (and that I was sorted into the house of Ravenclaw on Pottermore - yeah, I know ...). I have tons of paraphernalia - candles, keyrings, cards, T-shirts. I reread all the books in the beginning of lockdown as they were always such a comfort to me. But now? How do I put on my socks without thinking of JK Rowling and the allegations of her transphobia?
It has turned ugly and there has been public support for and against her. But what are we fans, who found our space and place in the HP community, to do? Those of us who embraced the wizarding world because it was about acceptance and value of the other.
Can we Potterheads separate the art from the artist? I feel like a hypocrite saying of course we can. I do not watch Woody Allen films or anything with Kevin Spacey in it, no matter how excellent I thought it was once. I will not listen at all to any Michael Jackson songs nor (shiver) R Kelly’s. However, I’m not calling for the cancellation of Harry Potter. Will I ever read the books or watch the movies again? I have no idea. But what I do know is that the books did change the world for the better for many.
I feel like I want to stick my fingers in my ear and hope I won’t hear anything more from JK Rowling. But the noise just got louder. Recently, there have been reviews of Rowling’s latest novel, Troubled Blood, written under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith. It’s the fifth book in her popular Strike series which features private detectives Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. The Telegraph review caused an outpour of outrage as it said the book’s message seems to be “never trust a man in a dress”. This prompted a torrent of attacks on Rowling, including a Twitter hashtag #RIPJKRowling.
But Rowling has said that this is not what the book is about. On robert-galbraith.com, the author wrote that the serial killer named Dennis Creed in her book, “was loosely based on real-life killers Jerry Brudos and Russell Williams – both master manipulators who took trophies from their victims”. She also stated that the main themes of her book are “change, loss and absence”.
A statement that strikes awfully close to heart. There just seems to be so much change, loss and absence in the world right now. And Rowling has caused a bit of that as well as an empty feeling when I put on what used to be my favourite pick-me-up pair of socks.
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