J.K. Rowling Declared Too ‘Hateful and Divisive’ for the Museum of Pop Culture

So many people loved Harry Potter in the ’90s and ’00s, and now they’re having a reckoning of what to do with their Potter artifacts now that author J.K. Rowling has become the number one figurehead for transphobes everywhere. Well, Museum of Pop Culture exhibitions manager and “transgender Harry Potter ex-fanatic” Chris Moore has an answer. The MoPOP is removing all mention of Rowling from its Harry Potter exhibition.

The exhibition itself is staying

Moore’s statement is available to read on the official MoPOP blog, and it carefully explains the reasons for taking Rowling’s name away, the reasons the exhibition itself is staying put, and the lessons people can stand to learn from the museum’s decision. Moore wrote of Rowling and her billion-dollar franchise:

We would love to go with the internet’s theory that these books were actually written without an author, but this certain person is a bit too vocal with her super hateful and divisive views to be ignored. Yes, we’re talking about J.K. Rowling, and no, we don’t like that we’re giving her more publicity, so that’s the last you’ll see of her name in this post. We’ll just stick with You-Know-Who because they’re close enough in character.

Her transphobic viewpoints are front and center these days, but we can’t forget all the other ways that she’s problematic: the support of antisemitic creators, the racial stereotypes that she used while creating characters, the incredibly white wizarding world, the fat shaming, the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation, the super-chill outlook on the bigotry and othering of those that don’t fit into the standard wizarding world, and so much more. We’re going to be focusing on You-Know-Who’s transphobic views in this blog post because she’s really doubled down on them lately.

If you want a good example of these issues, you need look no further than the stereotype-laden Hogwarts Legacy video game, which Moore mentions in his post. Rowling wasn’t shy about the fact that the success of the game benefited her, and thus the anti-trans people and groups she gives money to.

That’s the crux of the issue. However, Moore also pointed out that Rowling was far from the only person involved in the success of the Harry Potter movies, which arguably contributed more to the Potter iconography than the books did. The Harry Potter props in the museum were staying, then, so as to “give credit to the work of the actors, prop makers, and costume designers.” Moore also gave a shoutout to actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson for being “incredibly vocal allies” to trans people.

How should museums handle problematic creators like Rowling?

Moore acknowledged in his blog post that Rowling is far from the only questionable person whose work is featured in the museum’s exhibits. He said,

Of course, the work for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is a practice. It’s why you’re seeing more signage in our galleries around harmful language and hateful, abusive, and divisive creators, why we have ongoing conversations and trainings on all kinds of DEIA [Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility] considerations, and also why I felt safe enough to change my pronouns and start transitioning 4 years ago.

This step forward has, unfortunately but not surprisingly, met with a backlash from the anti-LGBTQ side of Twitter. Though the blog post was actually made in May, news outlets (including of course the Daily Mail, who will never resist an opportunity to have a pop at the trans community) didn’t get hold of it until August.

After the news spread across the internet, MoPOP CEO Michele Smith released a statement standing by Moore’s blog post and the decision to erase Rowling’s name from the museum. She said,

Late this week, we were contacted by a journalist in London interested in writing an article based on our May 2023 blog post about JK Rowling. At the time, a decision was made to remove references to JK Rowling within the museum and a collective statement posted on our blog.

Under my leadership as the new CEO, we have practices in place to protect our employees and brand. All views stated by MoPOP are vetted and delivered directly by the organization. 

MoPOP is moving towards the culture of philanthropy and our mission of promoting diversity and inclusion, in the next three years MoPOP is looking to create opportunities for underrepresented voices in the arts and culture sector. 

We want to root ourselves in empathy, collaboration, and empowerment.  We believe that by valuing and amplifying diverse perspectives we can create a more inclusive society where everyone’s unique talents and contributions are recognized and celebrated. 

And Rowling has simply proved, over and over, that she is not willing to be part of that more inclusive society. Until she does, she should expect more and more backlash from the people who used to love her creations.

(featured image: Neil Mockford/FilmMagic/Getty Images)