Potterheads secede from J.K. Rowling’s ‘Wizarding World’

Photo via the Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, The Melvin R. Seiden Fund, Louise Haskell Daly Fund and Paul J. Sachs Memorial Fund

J.K. Rowling’s empire spans seven books, eight film adaptations, three prequels, a stage play, a handful of video games, an amusement park and colloquial ownership of Daniel Radcliffe’s likeness. The reign of the rags-to-riches author only continues to expand with the upcoming HBO television series adaptation: “Harry Potter.” The recent release of the trailer has caused the Potterhead fanbase to erupt over differences from the original movies.

As with any remake of popular media, many fans immediately struggle to detach their preconceived notions from an entirely new creative interpretation. The “Harry Potter” movies are some of the most influential of the 2000s, and their iconography seems inseparable from the story itself. Fans are having a challenging time parting with the nostalgic elements that construct the world they know and love.

“So much of the nostalgia value from old viewers comes from the old faces of the actors, and the iconic scenes, and iconic music. None of that's gonna be in this new show,” said senior creative writing major and Marauders Club Treasurer Cooper Wood (Hufflepuff). 

Those who grew up with the franchise got the opportunity to join Harry Potter in discovering a brand new world that they might have trouble leaving behind with the television show’s unfamiliar design.

“People who are more casual fans of the franchise are more open to it. because they don't have as big of a connection towards the books or the movies versus super fans,” Moore said.

Without banking on any of the nostalgic elements of the original productions, it seems that the series might be marketed towards an entirely new demographic. Senior integrated education studies major and Marauders Club Co-President Katilin Gannaway (Ravenclaw) said the franchise is trying to market off of this series being “the new Harry Potter”.

“But then it's not reigniting the magic that we felt for the original series,” Gannaway said.

The original movies began with a whimsical tone that aged appropriately alongside its audience, steadily growing more mature in theme and intense in subject material. But the television spinoff is diving headfirst into a darker tone.

“It doesn't really feel as joyous or (whimsical) based on the trailer that just dropped. It's very dark-toned, they're talking about bullying,” Moore said. “I just hope children can enjoy the fun of it, which is what a big part of those first and second movies and books were about.” 

Some theorize that HBO might be attempting to target an aging fanbase that once loved the originals.

“I don't think it's marketed towards children. Which might be what they're going for because their fan base is all older,” said senior global communications major Caroline Seiler (Hufflepuff). 

But despite potential audience interest in a darker tone, HBO has failed to consider the nostalgic attachment of the elder millennial demographic to the original eight movies. The films explored intense themes, yet what drew the fan base in the first place was the escapism from reality into the wizarding world. It seems there was a missed opportunity to bring a new generation of “Harry Potter” lovers with a production geared more towards children.

“There was something, I can't put my finger on it, but it felt off about the trailer,” said Julye Bidmead (Ravenclaw), professor of Chapman’s own Deconstructing Hogwarts class, which analyzes Rowling’s worldbuilding within the social context outside the text. “It didn't seem to have the liveliness and the magic that the movie (had).”

Another aspect likely to deter audiences is the author’s controversial politics. Rowling is notorious for her online bigotry targeting transgender women and her pride in funneling her franchise-based fortune into supporting anti-trans legislation.

“She created an iconic world that will go down … in history. It will forever be one of the most popular series ever,” Richardson said. “We have to separate the author from the book. But it's hard to do, because you're still supporting her when you buy her products.”

Some fans fear that Rowling’s role as executive producer might influence the show’s creative aspects to better reflect her personal ideologies.

“I'm curious how much she'll add to the storyline and take away from the story based on her own ideologies. There’s definitely (not going to be anything) about women going into the men’s bathroom,” Richardson said, referring to the multiple occurrences of characters in opposite-gendered bathrooms within The Chamber of Secrets. 

Rowling has effectively alienated an entire category of her fanbase from work that once created a resonant allegory of the LGBTQ+ experience, capturing the feeling of being othered from the “normal” world.

“Many people feel disappointed because they latched onto the ‘Harry Potter’ series. They felt seen if they were marginalized, and then (Rowling) put all this hate. They’ve already given up on her,” Bidmead said. “Older people, especially millennials, that grew up with this, are not going to give her any more money by watching the series.”

Many fans have found ways to submerge themselves in the wizarding world on their own terms, without acknowledging Rowling’s harmful rhetoric. In a way, the Potterhead fan base has become the real-life manifestation of Hogwarts, and the fans provide support for each other without calling out to the “dead god” of the universe. Bidmead offered fan fiction as one of many such “coping mechanisms.”

“Fan fiction is another way that we can accept ‘Harry Potter’ but write it our own way. (We’ve) seen some fan fiction where they're making the characters gay or much more diverse,” Bidmead said. 

It’s hard to impress fans with a “new” take on Rowling’s world when they themselves have been editing the world to make it their own for the last 20 years. And while the core of “Harry Potter”’s central themes contradict Rowling’s hateful beliefs, the author has been criticized before for her lack of diversity within her worldbuilding.

Rowling has combed through her old works, scribbling in post-canonical identity pandering in the margins, such as potentially black Hermione or possibly gay Dumbledore. However, upon the continuous widening of her franchise, Rowling has failed to seize opportunities to expand upon these “edits.” 

“Later, she claimed that Dumbledore was gay … Then the ‘Fantastic Beast’ movie came out. She didn't even really play on it,” Bidmead said.

It’s hard for many to believe that Rowling would choose this series to explore such character complexities. But fans remain curious as to other avenues the show might explore that were simply not possible within the movies’ runtimes. This series opens the door to fan-favorite subplots that never made it to the silver screen, such as the inclusion of the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare, the poltergeist Peeves and more Quidditch gameplay.

Despite fans’ morbid curiosity, it’s going to be hard for HBO to attract a young audience without whimsy and an old audience without nostalgia.

“I'm going in with low expectations,” Seiler said. “But I hope to be pleasantly surprised.”