Trailer for new Harry Potter series

[ItsCoolForCats]

The trailer for the new Harry Potter series has been released. In its write up, the Guardian of course had to have a dig about JK Rowling's "anti-transgender views" 🙄

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/25/harry-potter-tv-series-trailer

It got me thinking, this series will run for about ten years, and I wonder if the perception of JKR will have shifted by the end. Will people (including so called journalists) be able to discuss the substance of what she has said, rather than just shouting "Bigot!", "Transphobe!" etc.

There was an interview with Paapa Essiedu in the Times recently, where he said he hasn't spoken to JKR, he doesn't regret signing the letter condemning the Supreme Court ruling and would do it again.

He said "“My points of view are mine and will continue to be so. I signed that letter because I believe that artists in the trans community have a right to be treated with dignity and should be able to work without being intimidated. I have been really supported by the production team and I’d sign that letter again today.”

If he actually spoke to JKR, he might be surprised to find that she would agree with him that people should be treated with dignity in the workplace and shouldn't be intimidated. I think it goes to show that he, like others, doesn't have a very good understanding of what this is about at all. Doesn't stop them sticking the boot into JKR though...

www.thetimes.com/article/8b7a7b6c-8e6e-4eef-bf45-69bb76a52f9d?shareToken=abbccd1782106049bcb5f5f3210ebc4c

But the defining characteristic of dairylea slices always has been their flaccidity, rather than the flavour.

Can’t wait to see it. My 16yo daughter refused to watch the trailer with me. She loved the books so much, watched the movies over and over, has been to the studios multiple times, but now wants nothing to do with JKR. It’s a debate I cannot win with her as she has trans and non binary friends, and at the age she is, my opinion has no value to her.
JKR is my favourite author. I admire her genius storytelling, but more than that I admire her for standing up for the rights of women and girls.

Please do provide a screenshot of this, as I don't like calling people liars without doing my research.

Fair enough. It's not like I'm making a conscious choice to boycott - I find I just can't enjoy them, once I know.

Tired of Explaining Reality to Fuckwits

Yeah, I'm not very consistent about it. I find there are some writers, artists etc whose work I get put off by their ethics or politics or whatever, but not others.

I am disappointed but not remotely put off by Margaret Atwood being gender identitarian. She's a great writer with a ton of insight about women, men, power and collusion, and she's allowed to be wrong about something important. I might be put off if she wrote a book that's based on many GI ideas but although I am mostly a fan of her older novels I still re-read them and I'm thoroughly enjoying her autobiography.

So I don't like making public statements about it because then people get into "why does X bother you and not Y?" People might assume it's because I care more about one issue than another but that's not really the case.

I have been put off David Tennant by his views. But on a rather shallower basis I was also put off Colin Firth by an interview he did shortly after pride and prejudice that blew my image of him as Darcy out of the water. I can’t remember what he said, nothing consequential but totally un-Darcy like. Generally though I find actors are very disappointing out of character.

She's actually called me out for being trans on twitter

You make that sound like it's an insult?

Looking forward to the HP series, I'll sail on the lake of man tears to get some watching snacks.

i enjoyed the Harry Potter books and films as great examples of children's /family fiction.
But a certain kind of adult seems to have maintained themselves at the mental age these stories were aimed at, and see themselves as the owners and gatekeepers of someone else's intellectual property. (And some kind of moral task force)

JKR is not anti trans, as anyone with a reading, comprehension and emotional age of 10+ can discern.
Even if she were, the amount of authors who had major character faults and reprehensible behaviour are legion, including perennial favourites like Enid Blyton, Raold (sp) Dahl and Lewis Carroll.
But no, it's a woman who is like many of us, gender critical and unafraid to say so, who gets this ludicrous targeting from virtue signallers and bandwagon jumpers.

Now, to the new Potter offering:
Wasn't there something about this series having the space to be truer to the books?
But the first thing they did was to race swap Snape.
Despite the clear description in the books, despite the issues that will undoubtedly arise when James and co bully Snape, hang him upside down from a tree, for heavens sake, plus have Lily reject him as a suitor. No sinister racist undertones here..

We have seen Disney ruin Star Wars, Star Trek, Dr Who and many more. We have seen the Witcher, Lord of the Rings and others be mined for money, with inferior presentations.
What on earth makes anyone think this isn't another doomed cut price production, complete with preaching and exposition?

Looking at the trailer, the kids look fine, the colours are a disappointment, Snape… well that ain't Snape, pretty though he is, Snape's costume is truly dreadful and, well actually some of the others I've glimpsed don't look too bad.
So I will watch it and see.
But the first time someone starts hectoring someone about LGBT etc issues, or pollution, or global warming, or whatever, beyond what would be normal conversation, I'm out.

No it's not an insult at all, I do however believe that it isn't down to anyone else to tell someone else's story.
I'm not trans - but what if I were but didn't want people on Twitter to know? I feel exactly the same about any outings of people.

You can call me a liar all you like but I don't have a screenshot of it, because instead of screenshotting it i tried to have an adult conversation with her. However, the pile on from her "fans" was not good for what was my very unstable mental health at the time especially the people telling me to unalive myself. So I deactivated my Twitter!

I have no need to lie about someone I don't know!

So you don’t have proof then? Surprise surprise

Google tells me there are 360 pages in the book. At 25p a page that will raise £18 for each for the 5 local trans people

Hahahaha that'll get them a pizza to munch greasily

This was meant to be posted on the other thread about the bookshop inviting people to deface the Harry Potter book

It is a great read and was a bestseller for a while in the UK. One thing I especially admire about JKR's contribution to "The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht" is that she set a condition for writing it - which was that she was not treated differently from any of the other women who wrote pieces for it. She had the same page space and her name was listed in the contents and not highlighted or put on the cover.

What is this mealy-mouthed “unalive” nonsense? Do you mean encourage you to attempt suicide? This is reprehensible and I have never seen anyone do this on the GC side.

I think it’s best you’ve taken a mental health break from X, but I’m not taking your word for what happened as I read all of JKR’s tweets (and replies) and I’m almost certain I’d have seen this.

The attempt to cancel the show and the controversy over JKR has backfired AGAIN! Even quicker than the Hogwarts Legacy disaster.

Harry Potter TV show trailer becomes most-watched in HBO history

After its release earlier this week, the teaser clip, which offered a first glance at newcomer Dominic McLaughlin as the boy wizard, notched up 277 million organic views across platforms in its first 48 hours online.
This made the promo video the most watched trailer in HBO and streamer HBO Max’s history, exceeding the previous record by more than double according to Deadline.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/harry-potter-tv-show-trailer-breaks-record-b2947558.html

Every time! How many millions have the TAs given to JKR through free publicity?

Now there are news articles about how popular the trailer is making even more people watch it.

Yay! DH will be happy at this!

I do wonder if JKR will go to any premiere / press event?

"not good for what was my very unstable mental health at the time"
So were people right in not taking notice of what you said because you were more likely to be wrong?

I've read that the show writers are moving things from later books to be in the first series and they're on record as saying they've been creating their own scenes for various characters and not just sticking to adapting the books in more detail than the films.

My other concern is the casting of Snape: the actor looks nothing like Snape - he's far too handsome for a start - and Snape's entire story of being an outsider because of who he is and how he looks is a vital part of explaining the character's motivations. Also, I'm curious as to why this Snape is shown wearing a tracksuit instead of teaching robes?

Books like the Potter series have fans who adore the characters and know them inside and out. I think casting actors who can't recreate every aspect of those characters is undermining the story as well as setting yourself in opposition to the fans.

Modern show runners keep doing this thing of taking a beloved IP and then tinkering with its fundamentals in order to put their own spin on it and 'improve' it, thereby irritating fans of the IP who hate these pointless changes - the Witcher, Star Trek, Star Wars, Rings of Power, Wheel of Time etc come to mind.

And this is the point that gets to the heart of the “trans debate” isn’t it? It’s the attempts at trying to control the perceptions and viewpoints of everyone else around you. Talking about being “outed” as trans is interesting - when you put yourself in public spaces people will perceive you in ways you might not like. And that has to be okay. Otherwise what’s the alternative? We all walk around with literal labels of everything we are?

And @Prancingpickle - JKR is not responsible for validating anybody else’s identity. Individuals need to do the work of building up their own sense of self and stop expecting others to do it for them.

A kid on the bus thought I was a man the other day, and apologised profusely when he realised I wasn’t. Do you know what I did? I laughed and carried on with my day.

She’s a producer on the series isn’t she? She absolutely should be there regardless!