Okay this is going to be a Harry Potter hot take, sorry.
I grew up loving Harry Potter. I waited at the bookstores in the long lines at 7am or midnight. I’d read them over and over. I loved the movies too, but I remember being so disappointed in how much was left out. There were storylines critical to the plot, characters that were omitted or changed so much that they don’t match the book character, and honestly, just so much that didn’t fit in the 1.5-3 hour movie timeframe. And I get it. Anything longer and it wouldn’t have been worth watching for the general public.
Then JKR spiraled downward and dug herself a weird grave of racism, being a transphobe, and just general stupidity. I stopped supporting her. I haven’t bought any HP related merchandise or books.
But then they announced the HBO show. And the book nerd in me, the kid who waited in the lines at Borders, who went to midnight premiers of the movies, who read fanfiction and owned a cloak and a wand and who loved visiting Universal Studios just for the HP section, that kid in me was so excited. But I had to be quiet about it. I read the subreddit and the excitement grew with every new leak or little detail. The casting came out and I was teary, seeing what I consider to be a book accurate Hermione and a Ron that looks like what I pictured when I read the books. The casting for Snape came out, and despite my initial feelings of, “Oh no, people are going to feel like there is a racist undertone”, I’m also so open minded that I actually love the idea. If the actor is a good fit, which the directors thought, I think he’ll be great.
And then the trailer came out. I cried. I had full body goosebumps. I was as excited as I was the first time I saw the first movie. I’d hoped others would be as excited. And let me say, the subreddits were ablaze with excitement. Everyone was excited.
And then I went on Facebook and saw comments. I saw posts on threads. People being blatantly and openly racist. Calling him “Jamal Snape” and “Snape Dogg”, saying Whoopi Goldberg wanted her hair back. Saying he looked like Kel. Talking about the “dark” arts. Things like, “After all this time?” “Fo sho”. The “half-BLOOD prince”. And I’m disgusted.
I know racism is alive and well. Hell, I know it better than a lot of people, considering I’m married to a brown man and we have kids. I know BLM is still an issue today. The ICE detention centers are horrific. But damn. I didn’t realize people would be flying their racist flags so damn freely. It’s awful. People have more of an issue with Snape being cast as a black man, than issue with JKR and her beliefs? I mean, it checks out, racists also tend to be transphobic as well. But ffs.
And to a lesser degree, the people who just keep saying, “The movies were fine, we don’t need this!” The movies left out so much. So much. And then people are complaining about the look of the series being too similar to the movies… weird, it’s almost like they have the same source material. Like she created a world so vivid and distinct, that the sets and costumes would be so similar. Crazy.
Anyway. I have HBOmax for other things. Euphoria, movies, and for Sesame Street for my kids. I’m not going to cancel my subscription, and since I already pay for it, it’s not like I’m shelling out money to go watch a movie or buy new books. So uh, I’ll be watching it. If I didn’t have HBOmax already, I’d pirate it. I’m separating the art from the artist, as much as I can. I know people say we shouldn’t do that, but the little kid version of me would be so happy for a series that actually includes peeves, winky, the death day party, that has an age accurate Snape and marauders, tells the story of tom riddle’s family… and I’m excited to introduce my kids to the stories too.
