Do I Need To Get Rid of My Wand Now?

When authors of books you love turn out to be shitty people

To add onto the shitstorm that is 2020, it surfaced this summer that a certain beloved rags-to-riches, shot-in-the-dark, magical-universe-creating author of the late 90s had betrayed her fans by vehemently standing by her controversial opinions on trans people.

I’m a 90s baby through and through; J.K. Rowling came to my school the summer I was going into third grade. We waited for hours and she signed the first three Harry Potter books*. I’m a Slytherin, I’ve read the books a million times, and I’ll never get over Harry’s eyes being the wrong color in the movies. There’s a million of me or more out there. We’re the frickin’ Harry Potter generation.

*These would probably be worth a pretty penny today had I not chosen to adorn the inside cover pages with a From the Library of Julie Gilkison sticker…

And while we’re not the “J.K. Rowling” generation, it’s hard to separate the two. It is, after-all, she who created this fantasyland and fandom to which grown adults so readily escape. It is undoubtedly one of the most influential, most popular, most award-winning books of my time. So my question for you is, now what?

Do we separate the evil creator and the fantasyland she gave to us? Or is Hogwarts now as taboo as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? How can I support, let alone forget about, something which was so essential to my childhood because it is tainted by its creator?

As an ally of trans people, it’s difficult for me, but I can’t even fathom what this situation must be like for LGBTQIA+ people--especially the Potterheads who may have escaped to the Wizarding World in their struggles and journeys.

Many fans have brought up the idea of cancel culture, the idea of withdrawing support for public figures or companies after they have done or said something controversial or offensive. This can be an effective form of protest. Let’s say someone with whom you don’t align supports Goya Beans. By “cancelling” them, you’re no longer purchasing Goya, but rather Del Monte, their competitor. But there’s just not another Harry Potter.

Instead, Aja Romano, writing for Vox on the subject, offers an alternative. “I think cancel culture is best treated [as] a collective decision to minimize the cultural influence a person and their work have moving forward.”

This approach has already been applied to many artists and creators in the past. And ain’t that the truth. Check out my tangent below:

Jack London? Huge racist. In fact, White Fang is laced with racist allegories and promotions of white supremacy. Roald Dahl, you know the children’s author who wrote the likes of Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Racist √ Anti-Semitic √ Misogynist √

Allen Ginsberg, though mostly awesome; a huge proponent of gay rights and the First Amendment, was also a member of the North American Man/Boy Love Association, a pedophilia advocacy organization that works to legalize sexual relations between adults and children. So...yeah.

Anne Perry, known for the Thomas Pitt and William Monk novels, did time in juvie for bludgeoning her mother to death with a brick. Definitely makes sense as to why she went into crime writing, am I right? And Norman Mailer stabbed his wife in the heart, but she lived.

Orson Scott Card is a big ol’ homophobe and once compared President Obama to Hitler. Card, the author of the sci-fi Ender’s Game series, has incorporated his views into his writing. So too did Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot (anti-Semites), and Flannery O’Connor (racist).

I want to hear from you! How do you handle this? What are you going to do with Harry Potter (and Matilda/White Fang/Ender’s Game?)

Before you go, I just want to say my opinion: I read half of these authors in school. I learned about their pasts just in researching this post. To me, this all goes back to the 'representation' we have in literature and lack thereof. Maybe increasing diversity within the creative world by amplifying authors that are BIPOC, female, immigrants, and of all sexual orientations perhaps we won’t have to face this moral dilemma as often. And that's what I think.

Sources: The East Bay Express, BBC, The Guardian, Wired, The New York Times, The New Yorker