Summary
- J.K. Rowling and David Tennant have been part of a public dispute over transgender rights.
- Rowling criticizes Tennant for his stance on trans issues, highlighting concerns about women’s rights and safety.
- Rowling’s comments on the new Harry Potter TV show script are overshadowed by ongoing debates about her views.
J.K. Rowling has found herself in yet another public dispute with a former Harry Potter actor, this time in the form of David Tennant. The subject is once again the ongoing contentious issues over transgender rights, something that has become almost as much a trademark of Rowling’s social media presence as her work as an author. This clash is just the latest in a growing list of public disagreements between Rowling and other prominent figures from the Harry Potter franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe.
This time around, controversy was stirred up by comments made by Doctor Who actor Tennant, who portrayed Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, at the British LGBT Awards. Among his comments, Tennant criticized British equalities minister Kemi Badenoch for her stance on banning trans women from women’s toilets and sports teams. After suggesting that Badenoch should just “shut up,” the actor then took aim at those openly criticizing transgender rights, marking such people as “a tiny bunch of little whinging f*ckers who are on the wrong side of history.”
Harry Potter
Summary
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of eight fantasy films beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). It is the highest-grossing film series of all-time in inflation unadjusted dollars, with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts. Each film is in the 35 highest-grossing films of all-time in inflation unadjusted dollars.The series was produced by David Heyman and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the three leading characters, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, is split into two feature-length parts. Part 1 was released in November 2010 and Part 2 was released on 15 July 2011.
Tennant became the target of right-wing politicians for his comments, and it seems that it was not a remark that Rowling could let pass without adding her own response to either. Sharing a snapshot of the actor’s quotes, she responded:
“This man is talking about rape survivors who want female-only care, the nurses currently suing their health trust for making them change in front of a man, girls and women losing sporting opportunities to males and female prisoners incarcerated with convicted sex offenders.”
Further into a continued debate that spanned multiple messages, both supporting and slamming Rowling’s comment in equal measure, the author added:
For a man who’s supposedly a model of compassion and tolerance, he sure does want a lot of people to cease to exist.
J.K. Rowling Has Seen the New Harry Potter Pilot Script, but No One Seems to Care
Rowling’s comments and frequent spats in a very public forum have been rumbling on for the last four years. Over that period, actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and many others have spoken out against the author’s stance on the trans community. While her opinion is never too far away from an angry exchange of words in one X/Twitter post or another, one thing that has become clear is that the exchanges are very much overshadowing everything else linked to Rowling, including the upcoming Harry Potter TV show.
As if proving that point, Rowling shared her thoughts on the new take of her bestselling novel series after reading the script for the show’s pilot. When it was announced that Francesca Gardiner had been tapped to write the series, with Mark Mylod set to direct multiple episodes, Rowling shared her thoughts on her X/Twitter account. She said in her post:
“I’m truly thrilled to announce our director and writer, both of whom I interviewed as part of the production team. Both have a genuine passion for #HarryPotter, and having read Francesca’s pilot script and heard Mark’s vision, I’m certain the TV show will more than live up to expectations.”
Related
Movie Adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s The Christmas Pig in Early Development
The Christmas Pig will be the latest non-Harry Potter project from the author, who continues to dominate the industry despite online backlash.
Both posts pulled in similar volumes of views and likes, but even the author’s Potter-based post turned into a continuous stream of mini arguments about whether the series was going to “go woke” or whether Rowling’s involvement was going to ensure that won’t happen. In the grand scheme of things, Rowling is one voice among many on this topic, but those involved in the Harry Potter series will be hoping that things have moved on by the time the show airs in 2026 on HBO.
