JK Rowling and the Fallen Star
If I said the name Harry Potter, what comes to mind? A Boy with a lightning scar? A man with no nose? A lady in all pink? Hopefully, the woman who wrote it all Joanne Kathleen Rowling, also known as JK Rowling. One of the most influential authors in history, one of the richest women in the world, a survivor of abuse, a mother, a daughter, a sister, but most importantly, a writer. Her writing has gone on to inspire millions of children, giving them a world filled with magic and adventure, with 32 books, seventeen movies, and over 40 awards. The generation that Rowling has created with her books will be the generation to change her narrative and the story she has created. Rowling has gone from an international superstar to a woman who is ignored and talked about in hush tones. Although she is the writer of a multi-billion-dollar franchise(s), Ms. Rowling has become a controversial topic in living rooms all around the world.
Biography
It all began at Kings Cross station, not just for Harry Potter, but for JK Rowling’s parents. On a nine-hour train ride Anne Volant and Peter Rowling, members of the Royal Navy, had a rare encounter. The two would meet, speak, fall in love, and eventually marry each other (Steffens). Shortly after the nuptials, Rowling was born on the 31st of July 1965 in Yate, England (The Editors). The couple was in hopes of a boy but instead received a girl. The new parents wanted to name her Simon John, naming her Joanne instead (Ross, 01:05–1:10). After her sister Dianne was born, she asked her parents where they were disappointed with her? they said no (Ross, 01:38–1:40). Their disappointment was evident though, as they treated her like a boy, dressing her in blue and her sister in pink. The children would be given the nicknames Jo and Di, and they were very much inseparable. The girls had played together, watched cartoons, and listened to stories together (Steffens). Growing up surrounded by books, Rowling would force her sister to listen to her first attempts at storytelling. Her first story was called Rabbit: a story about a rabbit named rabbit, a creature beloved by Rowling and her sister (Steffens).
The Rowling family grew up comfortably, although neither of her parents had attended university: Her father was an aircraft engineer at Rolls Royce, and her Mother was a Highschool science technician who would later work at Rowling’s High School (Shamsian). The family would soon move to 35 Nichols lane, their first home in Winterbourne, four miles from Yate (Steffens). Of the several families that lived on Nichols Lane, one family in specific had left a lasting imprint on Rowling’s mind. Rowling would befriend the children of the family, Ian, and Vicki Potter. Her later inspiration for Harry Potter.
To Rowling, Ian potter had a great sense of humor and a flair for mischief, and wild hair (Trombetta). Ian was the source of Rowling’s adventures as a child, he tricked Rowling and her sister to leaving their footprints in the wet cement (Steffens). Another time Ian had once placed a slug on a plate and tried to convince Rowling it was a delectable treat (Steffens). Rowling would sometimes read poetry to Ian, Vicki, and her sister Dianne, a calm activity compared to the other adventures the Quad would have.
The Rowling’s would soon move to Church Cottage near the forest of dean. A place where The Golden Trio would camp during the final installment. Rowling’s parents would enroll her in Tutsil Primary. From Tutsil to Wyedean Comprehensive School, teachers would notice Rowling’s writing ability. Her teachers would try their best to encourage her to develop her creative talents (Steffens). At this time, she seriously considered becoming a writer, the only person she had told was her best friend Sean Harris (Ross 5:40-5:44). They had both felt like outsiders and found comfort in each other (Ross 6:00-6:10). Sean would later become an inspiration for Ron, Harry’s best friend. Harry and Ron would find solace in each other, like Rowling and Harris. Harry an outsider to the magical world and Ron an outsider to his large family. The pair became quick friends on the train ride to Hogwarts, a friendship to last for ages.
In 1982 after being rejected by the University of Oxford, Rowling was accepted by the University of Exeter. At the university, she would gain her Bachelor of Arts in French and Classics (The Rowling Library). Rowling began to assert her independence and learned much about the world around her, even studying abroad in Paris (Steffens). Graduating from Exeter with honors in 1987, Rowling would move to London, having a multitude of secretarial jobs. Rowling was never good at her secretarial jobs, and she was not proud. She described herself, “one of most disorganized people in the world” (Steffens). From there Rowling and her boyfriend would move to Manchester, where she worked in the chamber of commerce (The Rowling Library).
In July of 1990, on a four-hour-train delay from Manchester to London, the idea for Harry Potter rushed into her head (The Rowling Library). One of the most physical rushes of excitement, she had ever felt (Ross 7:30-33). Rowling could see Harry a very scrawny little boy. Although, she had nothing to write her thoughts down with, her head filled with all these ideas. She would begin writing, that same night when she arrived at her flat (The Rowling Library). From the Manchester train ride and beyond, Harry Potter and JK Rowling are two names that will always be intertwined.
Mother and Child: JK Rowling and Harry Potter
Over the next five years, Rowling would begin to map out all seven books of the series. Through the death of her mother, child bear, divorce, poverty, and depression, Rowling was still able to hold on and complete the first book, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone in 1995 (Newsweek Special Edition).
Developing the Harry Potter World, Rowling would consistently draw inspiration from her own life. Sean Harris, an inspiration for Ron, herself for Hermione, Snape her chemistry teacher, traits of Ian for Harry Potter. The white ford Angola Ron drove in the second book, her best-friend Sean had a similar car in their teen years. Harry had so many father figures because Rowling herself had a difficult relationship with her father. Rowling has not spoken to her father since 2003(Macaskill). Rowling made sure to give all characters a complete history. She developed personalities and backgrounds. The backgrounds were detailed, and although, most of it would never make it into the books. Rowling wanted to know these characters for her personal development, and for the story.
Rowling had spent several months developing the main character, Harry Potter (Steffens). Rowling always liked the name Harry, if her daughter Jessica was a boy, it is what she would have named her. She faced many crises, including Harry’s gender. Rowling finally settled on a boy, a battle with her feministic ideology. Harry had wild black hair, vivid green eyes, speckles, and a distinctive lightning scar. Rowling decided that Harry would have glasses, and Harry’s cousin Dudley would punch him in the nose breaking his glasses. Rowling has had similar scuffles from her school days (Steffens). In Rowling’s mind and through her words, Harry Potter would be an orphan. Harry’s parents died when he was a baby. Harry would also be a very good athlete, a natural talent. Something that Rowling never was. He would play a demanding position like seeker on the quidditch team. Harry can be self-absorbed and insensitive (Steffens). Harry can be judgmental, judging things by their appearance. In an interview, Rowling said, “When he looks beneath the surface, he sometimes finds that he is being fooled by people. And on other occasions, he finds very nice surprises” (Rodgers). Rowling had created flaws to go with his strengths. To her, a literary character who comes across as perfect is not believable (Steffens). But above all else, Harry would be brave, a trait that Rowling valued the most.
Rowling had constructed a traditional character in a traditional story. A small child has powers that no other child has (“Harry Potter Interview J.K. Rowling,” 01:00–01:40). Coming from a terrible background, Harry Potter escapes. Potter escapes into a world where there isn’t much adult control, his school is haunted and dangerous, but it is one of the only places to welcome him home (“Harry Potter Interview J.K. Rowling,” 01:40–01:50).
An important theme throughout all seven books that Rowling carefully develops is good vs. evil. Rowling uses her characters to show that good eventually prevails evil (“Good vs. Evil· Harry Potter: Universal Themes · Harry Potter and the Muggle World”). It was challenging because she had to write with her target audience in mind, not a way that is too subtle for the children to miss, but not too overbearing to the point of not reading. Harry will represent love, hope, and friendship, and Voldemort, the person that took everything from Harry, is pure evil. Voldemort represents hatred, greed, and intolerance (“Good vs. Evil· Harry Potter: Universal Themes · Harry Potter and the Muggle World”). Voldemort promotes cruelty and segregation, on those who do not have pureblood status. Although, Voldemort, himself is a half-blood. Harry, in contrast, is accepting of all individuals. Friendship and loyalty are most important to him (“Good vs. Evil· Harry Potter: Universal Themes · Harry Potter and the Muggle World”).
Some characters remain morally ambiguous, including Dumbledore and Snape. They are good people, they have sacrificed to save the people they love, but they have committed wronging. Dumbledore, leaving Harry with an abusive family, or not communicating to Harry his prophetic duties. Or Snape, being a death eater (Voldemort’s followers), and actively bullying his students. A common debate in the Potter Fandom is the morality of Snape and Dumbledore. Many of the kids, who’ve grown up reading Harry Potter, read the story through a rosy lens, and now are much older and more critical of the characters. The Potter fandom even criticizes Rowling herself, with the literary decisions she has made. With her theme of good versus evil, Rowling tries to emphasize we all have good and evil inside of us, but it is our choice on which we choose to act (“Good vs. Evil· Harry Potter: Universal Themes · Harry Potter and the Muggle World”).
While writing the story, Rowling wanted to remain whimsical, witty, and rhythmic (Pringle). She took the blueprints and made Harry’s story flow together. Rowling created a world that would welcome children for ages. Rowling was rejected by twelve publishers before, being picked up by Bloomsbury publishing. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone hit the shelves in 1998, it became an instant hit (Newsweek Special Edition).
The Impact of Harry Potter: JK Rowling vs. The Potterhead
Harry Potter was a massive success. Massive is an understatement after the initial run of 500 copies in 1998(Porter), Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone sold over 120 million copies worldwide (Porter). Rowling wrote six more books, selling hit after hit. Rowling eventually became the first author with three books on the New York Times best-seller list. All seven books have sold over 500 million copies worldwide and translated into 80 different languages (Pottermore). Rowling has won over 40 awards for the Harry Potter series including, the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson award (Bloomsbury), only given to children writers at the top of their field. All, Rowling wanted to do was be a full-time writer. When Harry Potter was picked up by Scholastic, Rowling got to live out her dream (Ross). She was happy that the children were enjoying her books.
Soon Rowling would be approached by different production companies. Rowling eventually selected the Warner Brothers. Rowling got to work closely on the screenplay to bring Harry Potter to the big screen. The first Harry Potter Movie: Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone (changed in the US), made $924 million worldwide in the first run(close). The films discovered, some of the best actors of their generation Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Emma Watson (Hermione), Rupert Glint (Ron Weasley), and Robert Pattison (Cedric Diggory). A lot of icons including Alan Rickman (Snape), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix), and Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall) were in the films. All eight films generated a total of $6.5 billion worldwide (Close) and the Harry Potter franchise is worth $25 billion (Close). The final installment of Harry Potter was published on the 21st of July 2007. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, with an initial imprint of 12 million copies, sold 133.5 million copies in the United States, and 325 copies worldwide (Rich). On the big-screen, part 1 of deathly hallows made $976 million worldwide at the box office. Part two of deathly hallows made $1.3 billow worldwide (McCreary).
Harry Potter is popular because Rowling established a world where the real, the supernatural, the natural, and the mythical meet and juxtaposes them (Beach and Harden Willner). She connected aspects of the world we live in into the world of Harry and his friends. The story starts simple, but the more we dive into Harry’s story, the more complex, more compelling it becomes. The readers grow up with Harry, many of the struggles Harry face, the readers themselves face, or have faced.
Many children who read the Harry Potter novels felt like they had a lack of power in their own lives (Beach and Harden Willner) and harry too had a lack of power in his own life. He was an orphan unwanted by his Aunt and Uncle. But one day, Harry finds out he is special, and it changes everything. He goes to a place where he is welcomed home every time. Although Harry has magic, he has another ability. He stands up for himself and those around him. Harry Potter became a beacon of hope and power for kids and adults alike. The Harry Potter Series was a gift, from Rowling, the readers took the book and made it theirs, weaving Harry Potter into their lives. Once a young woman approached Rowling on the street and said to her, “You were my childhood” To her, there was nothing better than knowing that children loved her books, that her words were a valuable part of their world. Rowling influenced a generation of thinkers and people who are willing to fight the system, people who change.
Rowling influenced a generation of thinkers and people who are willing to fight the system, people who want to change. Her fandom is anyone and everyone who felt invisible, who wanted more, who was the smartest, the weirdest, or the slowest. Her readers all around the world found these books as their solace and lifelines. Once long ago, those books were Rowling’s lifeline too.
Life After Harry and The Controversy
After the Harry Potter series and movie franchise finished, JK Rowling took a break. Rowling focused on her crime novels. Averting from the public eye, Rowling still gave bits and pieces of information left out of the books. In October of 2007, a few months after the publication of deathly hallows. Giving a reading to a crowd of 1,600 students, Rowling, was asked “Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself? “, Rowling replied “The truthful answer to you…I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.” The audience reportedly fell silent – then erupted into prolonged applause (Smith). She continued to explain, Dumbledore’s intense relationship with Grindelwald (Smith). This declaration of Dumbledore’s sexuality started JK Rowling on a long track-record for performative activism.
Many asked her why? How could you say Dumbledore was gay and give no illustrations? Devoted Harry Potter fans felt betrayed by JK Rowling. Fans were long frustrated by the lack of representation in the books (Renfro). In the story, two known characters are black, Angelina Johnson and Dean Thomas. Harry dates an east Asian Character named Cho Chang. Her given name made no sense. Too many fans in the Asian community, seen her name as offensive. It becomes unclear if she was meant to be Chinese or Korean, or even both. Chang had been given two surnames. Although it has been argued that Cho could be a shortened version of a name, but Rowling never made it clear. Fans were left to speculate the worse, making Rowling appear as Lazy. Also, there were two south Asian characters, Padma and Parvati Patil, but they also fell short on the representation spectrum. For the Yule Ball during the 4th year, Padma and Parvati wore traditional robes that did not reflect their Indian culture accurately. Many Indian artists drew fan art that was much more appealing and represented them.
Rowling’s audience is diverse, filled with different races, genders, sexuality, religions, and many of the readers wanted the books to reflect that diversity. If you said a character is gay, Why, is it not reflected in the reading? Although many of her readers had viewed the original work fondly. When they were failed to be given diversity, many turned to fan fiction, and fan art, depicting their favorite characters as people of color. But it was not only a diversity problem but also a story problem. A lot of the readers did not like the way Rowling portrayed certain elements of the story or even relationships. The readers created a deep bond with the characters, and most felt they knew best. Two worlds were created. The world of JK Rowling and the World of the Fandom.
When it was revealed that Rowling was working on a prequel called ” Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” based on the first wizarding war with Grindelwald. Fans hoped we would see snips of Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s relationship on screen. Fans were disappointed again (Renfro). Dumbledore’s sexuality is not an easter egg, Rebecca, a long-time fan wrote (Renfro). The fans were not expecting a Rom-Com, but they wanted to see Dumbledore battle his emotions, someone her loved has turned into a monster (Renfro). No one would be passive if put in his situation. The fans feel that Rowling has handled diversity poorly. She wanted to be an ally, but instead, she made a big mess. In Rowling’s defense, she had created a world, and backgrounds for all her characters. She knew not all of it would make it into the books, or movies, but something as big as Dumbledore’s sexuality should have been slightly touched on.
When it was revealed that Rowling was working on a prequel called ” Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” based on the first wizarding war with Grindelwald. Fans hoped we would see snips of Grindelwald and Dumbledore’s relationship on screen. Fans were disappointed again (Renfro). Dumbledore’s sexuality is not an easter egg, Rebecca, a long-time fan wrote (Renfro). The fans were not expecting a Rom-Com, but they wanted to see Dumbledore battle his emotions, someone her loved has turned into a monster (Renfro). No one would be passive if put in his situation. The fans feel that Rowling has handled diversity poorly. She wanted to be an ally, but instead, she made a big mess. In Rowling’s defense, she had created a world, and backgrounds for all her characters. She knew not all of it would make it into the books, or movies, but something as big as Dumbledore’s sexuality should have been slightly touched on.
Conclusion
Many fans have gone on to ignore Rowling. Her presence is merely too much. She gives information that is not needed. They feel disappointed, because now they are older, and realizing their role-model is not the person she says she is. She can be quick and impulsive, giving her fans hope for something that may never come. Rowling created worlds filled with magic and love, but sadly, she won’t be remembered as such. She will be known as a gaslighter. Fans thank Rowling, for the books, but they are done with her.
Works Cited
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