The Difference Between H.P. Lovecraft and J.K. Rowling
Death of the Author, and all that
I love Cosmic Horror. I really, really do.
I own several collections of Lovecraft’s work, I’m fascinated by the occult, and the settings of the Call of Cthulhu games are an endless source of inspiration for me.
Anyone that’s read some of my early fiction writing on Medium probably picked up on some of that influence in my work. Atmosphere, ambiance, visual storytelling, and things ‘beyond understanding’ are all common elements.
Having said that, let me be clear: H.P. Lovecraft was an awful human being.
He was xenophobic to the extreme. Even for the time, his racism was remarkable and clearly based on some measure of agoraphobia and depression. He had a clear fear and loathing of anything unknown and unfamiliar, and to this day, it shows in his work.
It’s impossible to ignore the intensely problematic undertones of his writing.
Enter J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series. Once again, I grew up with Harry Potter. I learned to read with those books as a young girl, and I still own every single one. And all of the movies. Several of the old console games are gathering dust in my garage.
I remember my mother, stepfather and I all going to the midnight releases of each book, often with me dressed up in a handmade cloak that my mother lovingly helped me make. I still have that old cloak, though the stitching is worn through and it no longer fits.
We used to buy three copies of each book because we all had to read them as soon as we got them, and we knew we would be fighting over them otherwise.
I bought all of these things long before she announced her opinions on transgender people to the world. I simply refuse to buy anything new that’s connected to the author because of her transphobic rhetoric.
The same doesn’t hold true for Lovecraft; I will happily indulge in hours of watching people play Call of Cthulhu, I have Lovecraft Country on my watchlist for when I have time to binge a new show, and I’ll never let my love of Cosmic Horror die.
So… what’s the difference between the two? How can I, someone who refuses to feed money to Rowling because I disagree with her bigoted views, continue to fund Lovecraft’s work?
No, this is not a threat against Rowling. This is an observation of an obvious fact: H.P. Lovecraft died quite a while ago, back in 1937. As a consequence of this, his writings have ceased to profit him.
He’s not using the money for anything.
In point of fact, his writings have entered the common domain. Anyone can create anything set within the Cthulhu Mythos, using characters and iconic locations from Lovecraft’s work.
In a twist of fate which I quite enjoy, people of colour have been steadily reclaiming the Cthulhu Mythos to explore the topic of racism and appropriation. The aforementioned Lovecraft Country is all about that.
Lovecraft’s work has become the perfect vehicle to explore stigma, dehumanization, and the nature of how we ‘other’ and fear things that we don’t understand.
Every time I watch a gang of tabletop players settle in to play Call of Cthulhu, the setting and themes of each game tackle this subject in a raw and refreshing way. People are reimagining the genre with a modern eye, rejecting the author’s hatred and bringing new life and avenues of discussion.
And better yet, since as I say Lovecraft is long gone, the money spent on all things Cthulhu doesn’t go into his pockets.
Not so with J.K. Rowling.
Oh, J.K… Once upon a time, I had nothing but respect for her. I loved her books; I loved the message — an outcast kid learning how to stand up for himself and for others against the surge of evil and hate. Emphasizing love as the true source of strength, in opposition to prejudice and bigotry.
It was a primer that taught tiny Sam how to deal with the bullying she was experiencing, and even planted the seeds of anti-fascist thinking in my head when I was young.
I recognized the Death Eaters as analogous to the Third Reich. In learning the history of the Holocaust as a young girl, I found I understood the horrors better for having followed Harry Potter’s fight against Voldemort and his takeover of the Ministry for Magic. It made it clearer for me.
Imagine my horror at seeing J.K. turn her influence towards misgendering and fearmongering and transphobic misinformation. Imagine my shock at seeing her post pictures of herself at lunch with infamous transphobic people like Maya Forstater.
Pictures of her at dinner parties with out-and-proud Nazis, even.
It was a fall from grace I could not have predicted. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt for a while, thinking surely, she’ll realize it was a mistake.
She didn’t. In fact, she has doubled down. Over the years she has gotten steadily worse. So, I stopped giving money to her.
And before anyone goes after me for that — let me be clear, I have tremendous empathy for her as a survivor of abuse, having survived an abusive relationship myself.
I also commend the charity work she’s done for disabled children, and I absolutely condemn the death threats that she’s gotten. It’s never okay to threaten someone with harm.
That said, I also believe that her influence is doing active harm to the transgender community. She is not an ally for LGBTQ+ people, she is helping to inflame bigotry against us.
While I have empathy for her as an abuse survivor, I have no empathy for her fear of transgender people. No matter where your bigotry comes from, it is always invalid.
Always. No exceptions.
You lose all of your moral standing as a victim and survivor the very instant you use your platform to victimize others.
So, while I do not want to see her harassed and degraded, or threatened, I do want to see her publicly criticized. Hell, I have publicly criticized her myself, and quite harshly. Especially when she opened her mouth and shoved her foot down her own throat by claiming the Nazis didn’t go after trans people.
They did. History is my domain, Rowling, don’t start a fight without receipts.
I do want to see her learn, and grow, and realize that the people she’s helping to demonize are not the people that we should be afraid of.
Unfortunately, given how many times she has doubled, tripled and quadrupled down, I’ve pretty much given up hope of that. She’s a bully, a bigot, and at this point I feel quite comfortable calling her a horrible human being.
She uses her money to hurt people.
Now, I’m not delusional. My tiny stand against giving Rowling money will not in any way damage her pocketbook. The woman has more wealth than I will ever see in my entire life — she lives in a literal castle.
On top of that, there is simply no way to be completely ethical with your spending in a capitalist society. It’s impossible. No matter what you buy, the money you spend will find its way into contributing to some form of exploitation.
For that reason, I won’t waste time shaming other people for buying all things Harry Potter. If you bought the Wizarding game, fine. I hope you had fun playing it, I know several people — queer, cis, straight, and otherwise — who absolutely loved it.
I wish you wouldn’t do that, because whether you know it or not you’re giving her money to keep hurting people, but I can’t control what other people choose to do. I can only make the choices I believe are right and express my opinion on the subject when it comes up.
Especially when a fair number of the purchasers are people who do know they’re supporting her, and that’s why they do it. Harry Potter merchandise has become a dogwhistle for a reason.
Bigots are gonna bigot. We can call it out, but that just gives them the attention they crave.
I, respectfully, choose not to financially support Rowling. I choose not to give money to Tim Hortons, now that they’ve partnered with her for a Harry Potter promotional line.
I would much rather spend my time and money supporting artists from the LGBTQ+ community. I would rather spend my time highlighting their work and their tireless efforts to fight for equality and justice at a time when they are being maligned and dehumanized across the world.
I would rather highlight the work of activists like Erin Reed who throw themselves into raising awareness of the way that transgender people are demonized in the United States. She follows and writes about anti-trans legislation across the country to help her readers stay informed.
I would rather draw attention to Jessie Earl, a wonderful creator and Star Trek fanatic with a great sense of humor and a strong voice in the battle for human rights.
I’d rather elevate the voices of women like Janet Mock, a transgender activist and woman of colour who has written and campaigned in support of marginalized people.
And lest you think I’m only advocating for women, let me draw your eye to Kylar W. Broadus, an attorney fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, and a beloved transgender icon.
If I’m going to be throwing my money into the ring, I would rather it go to support equality, justice, and love — the way Harry Potter taught me to. And I would like to thank J.K. Rowling for teaching me that when I was a little girl.
I hope she learns that lesson herself someday, but at this point, I think she’s too far gone.
Solidarity wins.
As an IS person I have no regard at all for J.K.Rowling. I have read what you have written Sam and I accept your point of view and the arguments you have made, but as for myself I wouldn't spit on her if she was on fire.