Some fandom griping
On my HP comm, there's a discussion happening about this article:
Harry Potter Fandom at a Crossroads?
I started writing a comment about it, but it was so long and turned so many corners I decided it would be better to just come to my journal and post it here where I don't have to worry about interrupting the thread with something that has so many tangential branches it could be a NCAA tournament bracket.
I haven't seen Cursed Child - I think very small percentage of fans have been able to afford tickets, muscle their way into seats, and be on the right side of the pond for this anyway - but I am familiar with the story and characters...and I don't really like the story because it feels disjointed with plot holes and contradictory stage directions vis-a-vis dialogue and staging when it comes to Albus and Scorpius (referred to in this article: Hogwarts, Heteronormativity and why Cursed Child Reads like Fan Fiction.) A potential relationship between Albus and Scorpius doesn't bug me because it's new territory and still being created, but for heaven's sake, be clear about it!.
Speaking of sexual orientation and activity, I never saw Voldemort as being anything other than asexual. Like, he seemed to have had bigger things on his mind, you know? So the idea of him having a baby with Bellatrix just seems really strange to me. But so did the backtracking of revealing Dumbledore is gay. I don't have a problem with any of the characters having specific sexual preferences; however, if it was integral to the stories, wouldn't it have been included/referred to more in the first place (or at least mentioned way before the outcry from fans who want more LGBTQ representation)? Adding to canon after the fact has always felt fishy and insincere to me, because adding the Dumbledore-Grindelwald relationship and the assertion Lupin is queer seems to change a LOT.
And I love the idea that Hermione could be black, as she is portrayed in the play!, but if that were the case, wouldn't/shouldn't Rowling have said something/protested the casting of the films or the illustrations in 7 books 16/20 years ago? That's a pretty important distinction she should have made clear from the beginning rather than spontaneously add because of pressure from those who want to see cultural and societal progress being retroactively reflected in stories she already wrote. Race could have added significant complexity to the discrimination within the Wizarding World (house-elves, Muggles, Half-bloods, etc.) and so on...adding another, important layer. It would have changed everything in the best kind of way. (And would have been a brilliant way to bring attention to racial issues to an entire generation...but hindsight is 20/20. And seeing as JKR hasn't done a very good job at being on the right side of appropriation issues, maybe it's better she didn't try.) Cheekily tweeting "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified." is glib and lazy, and incredibly ignorant of the ramifications of the important of race in every sector of a minority's life, whether included in a work of fantasy or not. Calling everyone who were understandably confused about it a bunch of racists is unfair (although there were plenty of racists complaining about it, I do think it was completely justified to be confused). Don't throw us a bone over your shoulder - write new, well thought out canon that moves forward, not backward. You wrote books with white people as your protagonists/majority of characters and made the brown people the periphery - own it, apologize for your white privilege blinding you, and move on in the right way. Don't insinuate you ever intended for Hermione to be black (or to be interpreted as black) when you weren't woke enough to realize your cherry-picking of Cho Chang's name was ethnically messed up; it is condescending. (Similarly, no one wishes Hermione and Harry had ended up together more than I do, but you having a change of heart about it years later makes me feel worse, not better.)
It reminds me of the beef I have with the new Star Trek films: women and minorities were apparently prevalent and well-respected when Kirk and Co. were first starting out - which is awesome - but where did they all go by the time period of the first and successive TV series/films? It feels so false and patronizing to feminists. At least, this feminist.
Now all that being said, The article referenced at the beginning: Hogwarts, Heteronormativity, and Why Cursed Child Reads Like Fan Fiction, discusses whether canon ought to be determined by fans in the first place. I should point out that as a theatre teacher/director, I'm firmly in the camp that playwright's intent is law. But that's a very different issue than this stuff. TBF, I don't have a clear opinion on the article's statements on this; there are too many variables. But it's inconsistent to say that fans ought to have the right to determine canon when it works in some cases and in other cases, not so much. As I said, what I want is for Rowling to take a little more responsibility overall - admit her mistakes, and take a more definitive role in stuff she didn't actually write like Cursed Child that creates canon (?) that so many people understandably take seriously (or not, as the case may be). The past few years, her tweets and decisions have felt more like whims and quick solutions more than carefully considered thoughts.
And don't get me started on the ridiculous sorting test on Pottermore.
Whew...this whole thing makes me sound like I hate JK Rowling...I don't, I promise! I LOVE her, am in awe of her and her feats, and read her tweets religiously. I love it when she smacks down idiots. I love that she is a celebrated author and that she made Lin-Manuel's entire year when she had a brief Twitter conversation with him; it was adorable (mainly because HE is adorable). I just have some major issues with this casual canon-flip-flopping, and I resent fans being criticized and humiliated for questioning the queen.
Harry Potter Fandom at a Crossroads?
I started writing a comment about it, but it was so long and turned so many corners I decided it would be better to just come to my journal and post it here where I don't have to worry about interrupting the thread with something that has so many tangential branches it could be a NCAA tournament bracket.
I haven't seen Cursed Child - I think very small percentage of fans have been able to afford tickets, muscle their way into seats, and be on the right side of the pond for this anyway - but I am familiar with the story and characters...and I don't really like the story because it feels disjointed with plot holes and contradictory stage directions vis-a-vis dialogue and staging when it comes to Albus and Scorpius (referred to in this article: Hogwarts, Heteronormativity and why Cursed Child Reads like Fan Fiction.) A potential relationship between Albus and Scorpius doesn't bug me because it's new territory and still being created, but for heaven's sake, be clear about it!.
Speaking of sexual orientation and activity, I never saw Voldemort as being anything other than asexual. Like, he seemed to have had bigger things on his mind, you know? So the idea of him having a baby with Bellatrix just seems really strange to me. But so did the backtracking of revealing Dumbledore is gay. I don't have a problem with any of the characters having specific sexual preferences; however, if it was integral to the stories, wouldn't it have been included/referred to more in the first place (or at least mentioned way before the outcry from fans who want more LGBTQ representation)? Adding to canon after the fact has always felt fishy and insincere to me, because adding the Dumbledore-Grindelwald relationship and the assertion Lupin is queer seems to change a LOT.
And I love the idea that Hermione could be black, as she is portrayed in the play!, but if that were the case, wouldn't/shouldn't Rowling have said something/protested the casting of the films or the illustrations in 7 books 16/20 years ago? That's a pretty important distinction she should have made clear from the beginning rather than spontaneously add because of pressure from those who want to see cultural and societal progress being retroactively reflected in stories she already wrote. Race could have added significant complexity to the discrimination within the Wizarding World (house-elves, Muggles, Half-bloods, etc.) and so on...adding another, important layer. It would have changed everything in the best kind of way. (And would have been a brilliant way to bring attention to racial issues to an entire generation...but hindsight is 20/20. And seeing as JKR hasn't done a very good job at being on the right side of appropriation issues, maybe it's better she didn't try.) Cheekily tweeting "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified." is glib and lazy, and incredibly ignorant of the ramifications of the important of race in every sector of a minority's life, whether included in a work of fantasy or not. Calling everyone who were understandably confused about it a bunch of racists is unfair (although there were plenty of racists complaining about it, I do think it was completely justified to be confused). Don't throw us a bone over your shoulder - write new, well thought out canon that moves forward, not backward. You wrote books with white people as your protagonists/majority of characters and made the brown people the periphery - own it, apologize for your white privilege blinding you, and move on in the right way. Don't insinuate you ever intended for Hermione to be black (or to be interpreted as black) when you weren't woke enough to realize your cherry-picking of Cho Chang's name was ethnically messed up; it is condescending. (Similarly, no one wishes Hermione and Harry had ended up together more than I do, but you having a change of heart about it years later makes me feel worse, not better.)
It reminds me of the beef I have with the new Star Trek films: women and minorities were apparently prevalent and well-respected when Kirk and Co. were first starting out - which is awesome - but where did they all go by the time period of the first and successive TV series/films? It feels so false and patronizing to feminists. At least, this feminist.
Now all that being said, The article referenced at the beginning: Hogwarts, Heteronormativity, and Why Cursed Child Reads Like Fan Fiction, discusses whether canon ought to be determined by fans in the first place. I should point out that as a theatre teacher/director, I'm firmly in the camp that playwright's intent is law. But that's a very different issue than this stuff. TBF, I don't have a clear opinion on the article's statements on this; there are too many variables. But it's inconsistent to say that fans ought to have the right to determine canon when it works in some cases and in other cases, not so much. As I said, what I want is for Rowling to take a little more responsibility overall - admit her mistakes, and take a more definitive role in stuff she didn't actually write like Cursed Child that creates canon (?) that so many people understandably take seriously (or not, as the case may be). The past few years, her tweets and decisions have felt more like whims and quick solutions more than carefully considered thoughts.
And don't get me started on the ridiculous sorting test on Pottermore.
Whew...this whole thing makes me sound like I hate JK Rowling...I don't, I promise! I LOVE her, am in awe of her and her feats, and read her tweets religiously. I love it when she smacks down idiots. I love that she is a celebrated author and that she made Lin-Manuel's entire year when she had a brief Twitter conversation with him; it was adorable (mainly because HE is adorable). I just have some major issues with this casual canon-flip-flopping, and I resent fans being criticized and humiliated for questioning the queen.