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Harry Potter and Representation

In a previous post it was explained why Star Wars s failing under Disney, but it’d be helpful to compare it to a huge successful franchise that represents different genders, groups and ethnicities while staying true to its roots; Harry Potter. First off, it’s important to mention J.K. Rowling and how she has been altering important details about the franchise to appeal to different audiences, which is the problem with Star Wars as well. Again, this is a bad way to be inclusive of different groups of people, and it creates a disparity between the already existing fans. But, with that out of the way, let’s discuss why Harry Potter succeeds where Disney’s Star Wars fails. Over the course of 10 whole years we grew up with some of our favorite character, Harry, Ron and Hermione, and we follow their story together in this lovable universe as they grow and fight evil within their world. Our main three characters represent different groups of people altogether, orphans with abusive homes, poor large families looked down upon by other families, and those who have family members that are “different” (muggles). It’s also worth mentioning that Hermione is one of the main characters in this franchise that plays a HUGE role throughout it, plays a strong female character without it being tacky or thrown in the audience’s face, because she is a well written, likeable character. The reason for this is similar to the show She-Ra, where the characters are openly gay but don’t make a big deal out of it, because it’s normalized from the start. This goes to show that audiences will accept feminine, gay, or racially diverse characters if they are normalized and the focus is on building them as a character and not a piece of propaganda meant to promote an agenda. The reason I mention Hermione, is because she is a strong feminine character that everyone loves, unlike Rey who is very wooden and unrelatable, and could have been a great character if the studio hadn’t been so hyper-focused on promoting their agenda. Throughout the world of Harry Potter, there are other characters of various races and sexual orientations. Unfortunately, they don’t play a huge part in the franchise, however they are there. One example is the racially diverse character, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who dons unique clothing and pops in and out of the story throughout different films to help our protagonists fight off evil. Another character, Dean Thomas is seen a lot throughout the film and remains an important ally to Harry, Ron and Hermione, even dating Ron’s little sister in one film. I do believe that this franchise could have used more diverse characters who play bigger roles, however it’s not always necessary. There are more ways than just one where someone can relate to a character, but given Harry Potter’s world building and characters, each one of them has a unique history and is important to the overall story in one way or another.