If you capitulate so much on your feelings towards a bigot that outlets can spin your words any way they like, you might need to check what you really stand for.
Harry Potter alum Tom Felton recently spoke on JK Rowling to The Times, and his comments were as contradictory as they were vague.
The actor is doing press for his new Beyond the Wand memoir, so naturally the controversial author was bound to come up in conversation.
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“First of all, I don’t know enough about the specifics of what anyone said; my dog takes up far too much time for me to go into such matters,” he says. “I mean, the obvious things to say are that I’m pro-choice, pro-discussion, pro-human rights across the board, and pro-love. And anything that is not those things, I don’t really have much time for.”
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Vague enough, but seemingly condemning targeted harassment against trans folks’ human rights and freedom of choice, right? He even goes on to emphasize distancing Rowling from the films he was in.
“As much as Jo is the founder of [these] stories, she wasn’t part of the film-making process as much as some people might think,” he says. “I think I only recall seeing her once or twice on set.”
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Related: JK Rowling says she’s too rich to care about hurting transgender people
Yet, in immediate capitulation, he also highly lauds the author on a personal and cultural level.
“I couldn’t speak for what others have said or what she said, to be completely honest,” he says, “but I’m often reminded, attending Comic Cons in particular, that no-one has single-handedly done more for bringing joy to so many different generations and walks of life.
“I’m constantly reminded of her positive work in that field and as a person. I’ve only had a handful of meetings with her but she has always been lovely. So I’m very grateful for that.”
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He goes on to say that even he surrounds himself with people he personally disagrees with.
“A lot of my good friends have ways of life or personal decisions that I don’t necessarily agree with,” he says. “We should enjoy celebrating each other’s differences.”
Usually, we disagree with good friends over things like musical tastes or maybe even their choice of romantic partners, not whether they should be leading a culture war against a violently marginalized group.
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Related: JK Rowling’s new book is about a transphobic author who gets canceled and Twitter’s not having it
It does kind of track that he’s doing whatever he can to avoid stepping on the wizarding world founder’s toes. A quick scroll through Felton’s Instagram shows the profile of a man not quite ready to graduate from Hogwarts.
Still, if she’s as lightly involved with the films as he says, why not speak up for the “pro-human rights” stance her claims to have? Plenty of other HP stars have come forward to publicly embrace the trans community throughout the author’s crusade.
Using these same quotes, outlets like Fox News could say that Felton came out in support of Rowling, while outlets like Variety could claim he was speaking against her. The fact is that, on this important hot-button topic, he really didn’t say much of anything at all.
abfab
Big JRR Tolkien fan here. Books only. Never once have I read a page of this woman’s work and I got thru 1/2 hour of the first HP movie. A bore. And yes, I wear this as a badge of honour esp after learning about all the bullshit that comes out of her mouth.
Ronbo
Aren’t you fabulous! Your choice of reading materials makes you superiour, doesn’t it?
Now, provide a single example of “bullshit” in quote form. Your superior reading talents and vociferous opinions should culminate in a huge list. I just want to see an example. Just one example. Please, make it real.
linedrive
Big JK Rowling fan here. I’ve read every page of this woman’s HP work multiple times. Watched all the HP movies multiple times. Love them. And I wear that as a badge of honor because they’re amazing. Opinions vary, of course.
Fahd
Whoever the new editors are at Queerty, they did a good job on the analysis in this article. Seems like more of “money makes the world go around”. Sad!
thisisnotreal
““I mean, the obvious things to say…” that right there concerns me. we’ve become a society that typically only accepts one stance, one point of view, one side of an arguement, one belief, one this one that etc etc. and its led to a scenario where i doubt half the people with any sort of public following who come out in support or against something. and i find myself wondering “DO they actually believe or support this thing they are talking about? or are they just hitting all the right notes because they know they will be swiftly cancelled if they do not?”.
skeldare
Sounds like he just doesn’t want to get in the middle of this shit show
bachy
Could someone clarify? Is the quote below what made JK Rowling an enemy of transgenders and their allies?
On June 6, 2020, Rowling retweeted an op-ed piece that discussed “people who menstruate,” apparently taking issue with the fact that the story did not use the word women. “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she wrote.
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” she tweeted. “The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women—i.e., to male violence—‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences—is a nonsense.”
She continued, “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.” – JK Rowling
Joshua333
Her actions speak louder. The marching with them? Well this year there was a trans rights march because of some discrimination they were facing in the UK and she instead had a tea party with a group of lesbians who are openly transphobic in a group called get the L out.
She supports notorious TERFs like Caroline Farrow and so on and so forth.
Ronbo
Joshua333, Are you saying that gay and lesbian supporters who dont march 100% in lockstep with trans extremists are TERFs? Do you hate all lesbians or just smear them for fun? That logic is sketcy.
You didn’t march with us at stonewall. Using your false-logic, I must ask you “why”. Why do you hate all the gays and lesbians? March with us or be our sworn enemy??? Silly.
Accept that BOTH genetics and psychology are valid scientific realities, please. Less extremism of sketchy logic, more science, please.
FreddieW
J K Rowling is fantastic. Sorry if her feminism offends you. Well, not really sorry at all. I agree with her.
Joshua333
“As much as Jo is the founder of [these] stories, she wasn’t part of the film-making process as much as some people might think,”
She still gets royalties to pay the up keep of her castle.
Diplomat
Rowling is just fine. She makes good points and is a star writer. Good on her.
DarkZephyr
She’s transphobic and has helped cause an avalanche of hate that is being directed at the *entire* LGBT community.
Diplomat
I think trans women w penises are a blend of male and female and shouldn’t be called women. Women don’t have penises. Calling themselves trans women makes sense. But they are not women or they’d have vaginas. It’s not transphobic, it’s just biological fact. Getting upset about not being called a woman is a direct denial of the male aspect of their being. Both must be integrated and acknowledged to make sense of this debacle.
FreddieW
Well, no, she hasn’t precipitated an “avalanche of hate directed at the *entire* LGBT community”. She made a major character in her works to be a gay man. And how much community is there in LGBTQIA, anyway? It’s a political amalgam, and it’s nothing more than that.
Ronbo
Supporting women is not transphobic. It’s the hallmark red-flag of extremists. Kind of like MAGA is a hallmark red-flag.
We need to stop calling names and attacking. If DZ could present even one “transphobic” quotation, I’d get on board. I’m tired of the extremists who refuse to accept that women are people deserving of support and understanding. That doesn’t negate supporting and understanding trans individuals.
MAGA-type bully’s attack saying “If you aren’t marching with us you are against us.” This is the same bullying.
Diplomat
DZ,
It seems it’s the trans community that are the transphobes. They won’t accept the trans dual nature of who they are.
Jim
JK has shot her wad.
Everything she’s done since book 7 of Harry Potter has been mediocre at best.
GreekKeys
So chilling how casually queerty just slaps the word transphobe in front of someone’s name. Fortunately, the charge has lost it’s punch. Tranners hoped it would carry the same weight as racism, anti-semitism and homophobia. It doesn’t. The more people learn about genderism, the more they sympathize with Rowling. This era will be looked back on as a very sad one for The Gay Rights Movement, co-opted by a horde of misfits suffering from very obvious mental challenges.