J.K. Rowling
Understanding the World Differently
After the 2017 Presidential Election, there was a lot to talk about. Clinton, Trump, and Sanders were just a few of the names circulating on social media. There was, however, another name that was appearing on Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds: Harry Potter.
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Although the first Harry Potter book was published over ten years ago, the book’s characters and concepts are still alive and well today. People all over the world have embraced the world of Harry Potter as a way to escape the normalcy of their everyday lives. However, as evident by the 2017 election, Harry Potter is also used as a way for people to understand the world around them.
"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."
For many years, J.K. Rowling was a mysterious figure. Everything we knew about her revolved around Harry Potter, but we knew relatively little about Rowling as a person outside of her books. Recently, however, Rowling joined Twitter, pushing her into the spotlight in a way that Harry Potter never did. Despite many people’s joy at having Rowling on Twitter, not everyone felt the same. In one article, it talks about how Rowling is “slinging half-baked, sporadically interesting tweets 16 hours a day” (Schwedel).
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In the past few months, Rowling has been criticized for being too political on her Twitter account, spending most of her time discussing her thoughts on both British and American politics. Schwedel describes that Rowling’s “persona had transformed for good”.
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Schwedel’s criticisms bring up an interesting point about how we view public intellectuals. Although J.K. Rowling is praised as being the author of one of the best-known franchises in the world, she is also just that: an author. Whenever she tries to step out of the ‘writing bubble’, she faces backlash.
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Into the Spotlight
Rowling has single-handedly created a world the people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds can connect to. These people are able to cross from imaginary into reality, bringing the morals and lessons they have learned with them. The world of Harry Potter has inspired people to imagine a better world for themselves and their families, and they are ready to help make that world a reality.
Many people think that Rowling should just 'stick to writing' - are there other public intellectuals that face the same kinds of criticism?
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People have used Harry Potter in order to help them understand the world around them. Are there other examples of people taking seemingly unrelated concepts and connecting them to what is going on in the world today?
Questions for Discussion:
J.K. Rowling's Commencement speech at Harvard University
