Harry Potter and the Rage Against the Creator
An Echo of a Deeper Truth
Truth is constantly bubbling up to the surface. You’ll sometimes find it in the oddest of places. Like in the steaming cauldron of a transgender temper tantrum aimed at the creator of Harry Potter.
A heap ton of Harry Potter fans hate J.K. Rowling.
If you don’t know why, take a gander here or here or just Google “J.K. Rowling transphobic”.
I proceed with the assumption that you’re up to speed.
Some observations.
A generation or two of children have grown up immersed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter through books, movies, video games, theme parks, and merchandise.
They use terms and motifs from the books to relate to every day life and it shapes how they view the world. Boomer lefties called Trump, Hitler. Millennial lefties called him Voldemort. That kind of thing.
There is meaning and understanding when someone declares, “I’m a Hufflepuff” or “She’s a muggle”.
They find further connection through identifying with the characters. There is comfort and solace found in the misunderstood, outsider characters, like Lupin. There is confidence and boldness found in the powerful characters, like Dumbledore. But Harry Potter is chief among them.
Harry is the poster child for victimhood culture. He’s not only the most victimy victim that ever there was, he’s also the most powerful wizard imaginable. Everyone knows him, everyone (but fascists) love him. He is the ultimate Victim Hero. This is quite appealing to a generation of victim heroes who have waged many online battles over who is the most aggrieved victim group, worthy of the most accolades. And the Victim Hero de jour is the Tranny. Which explains why Rowling is now Literally Voldemort.
Early on, a fundamentalist strand of Christianity misunderstood the books. All they heard was ‘witchcraft’ and they reflexively threw them into the fire. Interestingly enough, after more than a few read the books the controversy died down and many changed their initial opinions, some realized it was basically a nothingburger, but others went further and outright praised the books, recognizing more than a few allusions to the biblical narrative. Ironically now, it’s not Christians burning the books, it’s the Witches.
This relatively newfound rage against Rowling provides us with a fascinating little allegory. We might even see it as an echo of a deeper truth.
Rowling creates the Wizarding World. People are amazed by it, immersed in it, gain understanding and life experience from it. They even heap praises on her as the creator. But at some point this Wizarding World becomes so familiar, so entwined, so loved, that these people begin to believe they, rather than the creator, have the final say. And not a moment too soon because the creator, they tell us, has now tarnished her legacy. Her stubborn insistence that a fundamental truth of reality has ramifications for humanity has disqualified her. She may exist, much to their chagrin, out there somewhere, but she’s no longer here, messing with their precious Wizarding World which is now full of an ever progressing representation of cultures and identities made, not according to Rowling’s design, but of theirs. And it can be anything they want it to be. It’s their Wizarding World.
They hate Rowling, but love her world. In their weaker moments, when they’ve failed to suppress the thought, they remember that she still owns the world, and they rage. They pour out upon her every name they can muster. They wish her dead. They can’t escape from the world she made, the world they love. They are Dumbledore’s Army and she’s Delores Umbridge!
And isn’t that the very picture of humanity? Doesn’t that weirdly line up quite nicely with how the Scriptures lay out the human predicament?
It’s almost as if there is a design latent in the world that pops up every now and then that points us to a deeper meaning; to remind us that God is the creator of this world, that reality conforms to His righteousness, and that Mankind rebels and rages against the Creator, seeking to oust Him from the very Cosmos He created, or at the very least replace Him as God, in order that they may do whatever they please with the world that He created.
Truth and righteousness reverberates throughout the cosmos. We find patterns of the reality of God’s Grand Epic all over creation; in seasons, in stories, in the stars, in wildlife, in history, in news articles, in our own lives. It’s all in there by design, bubbling under the surface, waiting to be discovered. Sometimes it doesn’t wait, it just pops up and we have to deal with it and you can’t help but nudge a fellow and say, “Hey, look at that.” That’s really all I’m doing here.
This little episode of an author creating a world which people love and engage with, but then rebel against and hate even unto longing for the death of its creator is another glimpse of how God has integrated His unfolding and unstoppable plan into the design of the world. All of the Trans & Friends Harry Potter fans who hate Rowling but love the world she created are just playing out the same old story. Their hatred for the creator of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a microcosm of their hatred of the Creator of Everything.
Truth is constantly bubbling up to the surface. Let’s be on the lookout for it even in the oddest of places.
You da G.O.A.T. Rich!