"They never say Harry was white—" So the cover and chapter art and the movies, all of which show him as white never crossed your mind? If it was wrong, JK Rowling would have contradicted it or not accepted it as such at some point in time.
Honestly, that’s an excellent point. The fact of the matter is, however, white-washing is a very prominent part of our society. Don’t believe me? Did you know Katniss was supposed to be dark haired with olive-toned skin. Not white. I love Jennifer Laurence, but she’s white. Tonto from the Lone Ranger was played by a white man, Johnny Depp, when he’s supposed to be Native American. I am literally in love with Benedict Cumberbatch, but his role of Khan should have been given to a man of colour because the original Khan was a person of colour. There’s also Maria in the film adaption of West Side Story who was played by, you guessed it, not a Hispanic woman.
And I know what you’re thinking, that they’re all good actors. RIGHT. But did you know that they wouldn’t let any women of colour try out for Katniss? None. They wanted white girls. And that seems totally unfair, right? And why change the race of a character when there are hundreds of thousands of POC acting professionals who are dying to get roles. That seems rather ridiculous.
The problem with our society is that white, male, heterosexism sells. Please look at The Expendables and every action movie ever for better proof. Women authors are told by publishers to change their name to either men’s names or ambiguous names (like J. K. Rowling was told to do) because people are less likely to buy a book if a woman’s name is attached to it. It’s a matter of sales. And, honestly, having white characters and white cover art is more likely to sell.
I love JK. I will say that up front. She was making a business decision, though. In the books, Harry is only mentioned as having green, almond shaped eyes, dark and messy hair, and good skin. I’m pretty sure none of those traits are exclusive to any race.
And honestly, the films are a good adaption but are nowhere near gospel. Need I remind you, Harry’s parents were maybe twenty-one when they died, not the late-thirties that the actors paid to portray them were. Sirius was thirty-six when he died, Tonks was twenty-four. To be even more critical, Peeves was never in it, Dobby made very few appearances, and Charlie was in one shot in a photo when he’s seen throughout the books. Tonks and Lupin’s relationship was never shown until BOOM they’re married, now. Then there’s the problem of film Ginny, don’t even get me started on that.
All in all, the films are a… decent adaption of the books. But a lot of liberties were taken. A lot of things were done to make sure that the films sold. Just like the books.
So, no, I don’t put too much stock in what the art or films show. Because, honestly, the books are gospel in this case as they came first. Ron is white, Hermione’s hair is bushy, Lee Jordan had dreadlocks, and Harry Potter and the Potter family never had a specific race.
I genuinely encourage you to read back through the books with the idea of Harry Potter being a child of a black father and a white mother. A lot of Petunia’s attitude, Vernon’s attitude, and Aunt Marge’s attitude makes even more sense. Hell, it even adds in some diversity that JK Rowling herself refused to make.
I will love these books forever. I read them in my free time almost once a year. But even the golden Harry Potter series has its flaws. But this, perhaps, was a 90’s attempt at JK Rowling giving her readers a chance to fill in the story for themselves.
