With a nearly untouched IP and a contested author behind the brand, HBO has their work cut out for them with their attempt at a new Harry Potter TV series. The producers will have to balance the consumer demand for a blacklisting of all things J.K. Rowling and the author’s rights of creative control.
HBO confirmed Rowling’s involvement in the show recently stating, “J.K. Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.”
They’ve expressed her limitations in creative control, most notably the casting. HBO is “committed to inclusive, diverse casting.” With recent casting trends, fans are expecting to see a wide variety of identities represented.
Trouble first began in 2019, after Rowling tweeted her support for researcher Maya Forstater. Forstater was declined a contract at the Center for Global Development in London after she tweeted that people cannot change their biological sex.
A judge upheld Forstater’s dismissal, to which Rowling tweeted in response, “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill”
In a response to the ruling, Forstater stated, “My belief as I set out in my witness statement is that sex is a biological fact and is immutable. There are two sexes. Men are male. Women are female…These were until very recently understood as basic facts of life.”
The National Library of Medicine writes, “Assigned sex is the label given at birth by medical professionals based on an individual’s chromosomes, hormone levels, sex organs, and secondary sex characteristics. As a note, the term ‘biologic sex’ is understood by many to be an outdated term, due to its longstanding history of being used to invalidate the authenticity of trans identities. Although sex is typically misconceptualized as a binary of male (XY) or female (XX), many other chromosomal arrangements, inherent variations in gene expression patterns, and hormone levels exist.”
Gender is in-constrainable, and determined by how a person chooses to express themselves. Different genders have been observed across dozens of cultures. Hindu society features a nonbinary identity known as ‘hijira.’ Indigenous North Americans have adopted the term ‘two-spirit’ as an expression for those holding both a male and female spirit.
Mainstream European society has limited gender expression to a coin with two sides, male and female, believing expression is further limited to biological sex.
Rowling doubled-down a year later in 2020. She released a statement titled “J. K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues,” released in June of that year. She wrote about what led her to releasing the statement, and that her “interests in trans issues pre-dated Maya’s case by almost two years.”
“My trust supports projects for female prisoners and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. I also fund medical research into [multiple sclerosis (MS)], a disease that behaves very differently in men and women…New trans activism is having (or likely to have, if all its demands are met) a significant impact on many of the causes I support, because it’s pushing to write the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.”
Rowling, who shared her history as a domestic and sexual violence survivor, urged more restraints over the transition process. Legislatures in America and the UK have relaxed many regulations on how one can obtain a gender recognition/confirmation certificate, pulling back on counseling requirements and gender dysphoria diagnostic.
In Washington State, it currently takes just shy of a year to obtain the certificate. Those 18 or older have to submit a Request of Change Sex Designation, signed in the presence of a notary. Minors, under the age of 18, must have a parent sign as well as a licensed care provider.
Rowling penned, “I stand alongside the brave women and men, gay, straight, and trans, who’re standing up for freedom of speech and thought, and for the rights and safety of some of the most vulnerable in our society: young gay kids, fragile teenagers, and women who’re reliant on and wish to retain their single sex spaces.”
“When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman…then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.”
Rowling received scalping criticism from her dialogue on the issue. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) penned his own response essay through LGBTQ non-profit The Trevor Project saying, “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) tweeted, “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
Rupert Grint and Chris Rankin (Ron and Percy Weasley), Eddie Redmayne (Newt Schamander), and others have released their support for the transgender community.
Radcliffe said, “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”
Despite the backlash and calls for boycotting, Rowling has still had her work translated into the occasional, and massively successful, revists such as “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” trilogy wrapping up in 2022, doubling its production budget in return, and “Hogwarts Legacy” selling well over 20 million copies since its release in February 2023.
Rowling has continued to use her X account to attack cis women athletes and accusing them of being a man. 2024 Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif and Women’s Footballer of the Year, Barbara Banda are but a few in the past six months.
However far her involvement extends, Rowling is sure to see a massive return from the show, expected to release in 2026. In an era of sequels and reboots, a new Harry Potter production is certainly no surprise. The call for a long-form version of the story has been echoed since the original films dropped. Yet it’s impossible to imagine The Boy Who Lived as anyone other than Radcliffe.
*Editor’s note: This article’s italicized content has been edited from the original version.