Museum proprietors are casting a memory charm.
The Seattle-based Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) removed all mention of JK Rowling from their “Harry Potter” exhibit after calling her a “cold, heartless, joy-sucking entity,” according to a blog post that was posted in May.
Project manager Chris Moore, who is transgender, authored the piece and claimed that they 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,” continued the post. “For the time being, the curators decided to remove any of her artifacts from this gallery to reduce her impact.”
“It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s what we were able to do in the short-term while determining long-term practices.”
The Daily Mail has reported that MoPOP has kept the “Harry Potter” memorabilia on display, but Rowling’s name is not mentioned anywhere in the exhibit.
Moore’s post continues to point out other ways that Rowling, 58, has supported antisemitic creators and mentions that while writing “Potter,” the author included several racial stereotypes — such as the goblins of Gringotts, whose depiction has been compared to the Jewish community, or the fact that everyone in the books appeared to be white, as well as the lack of LGBTQ representation — and thus fostering a “super-chill outlook on the bigotry.”
“MoPOP is proud to support our employees and unequivocally stands with nonbinary and transgender communities,” the museum told The Telegraph. “In an increasingly divided world, pop culture can unite, inspire, and spark important conversations.”
“Education and creative expression are the heart of our mission and in our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, we strive to elevate those that are left out of the mainstream pop culture conversation, by amplifying voices and stories that are not always seen on museum walls.” continued the post.
The Post reached out to MoPOP and Rowling for comment.
Rowling went viral in 2020 after retweeting an op-ed piece that discussed “people who menstruate” and was seemingly offended that the article did not use the term “women.”
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she wrote, facetiously.
The initial tweet went viral and sparked outrage among many of her fans.
Since then, many “Potter” actors, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have attempted to distance themself from the author for perpetuating trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) views, which aim to draw political distinctions between trans women and those who are born female and identify as a woman.
Meanwhile, Ralph Fiennes, Miriam Margolyes, Robbie Coltrane and Evanna Lynch have maintained support for Rowling and her work.
Earlier this year, Rowling claimed that her comments were “profoundly” misunderstood.
“I never set out to upset anyone,” she said in the trailer for her forthcoming podcast, “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.”
“However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.”
Since then, more fans have threatened to boycott the upcoming Max remake of “Harry Potter” where Rowing serves as an executive producer.
The embattled author then snarkily responded saying that she plans to “lay in champagne” while activists boycott.
“Dreadful news, which I feel duty bound to share. Activists in my mentions are trying to organize yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show, Rowling cheekily shared on X. “As forewarned is forearmed, I’ve taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne.”
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