Emma Watson Doesn’t Owe JK Rowling One Iota
By Leila Hays
On 13 March 2022, Emma Watson, actor and U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador, presented the BAFTA for Best British Film to Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. This year’s host, Rebel Wilson introduced her with: “[s]he’s proud to call herself a feminist, but we all know she’s a witch.” Watson’s response was, let’s just say, controversial in certain crowds.
“I’m here for all of the witches.”
There is some debate over the following words, whether they be “bar one” or “by the way”. In a way, it doesn’t matter. The seven-word statement was enough to incense JK Rowling fans, who took the statement as a slight and a sign of Watson’s continued support for the rights of trans people. The loud minority took to Twitter to take shots at the Brown University graduate, telling her that she should be grateful that Rowling cast her in the Harry Potter franchise. The implication is that Emma Watson owes every single success in her life from the age of 10 to Rowling.
Emma Watson is very successful, and I don’t doubt that she would have been successful, whether or not she was cast in Harry Potter. It wasn’t just the character of Hermione that was smart; it was Watson too. Perhaps she wouldn’t be as renowned, but Watson’s advocacy does not spawn from Harry Potter or Rowling. Her work as a U.N. Ambassador stems from her accomplishments. None of which she owes to JK Rowling. She earned 8 A* and 2 A grade GCSEs on top of filming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She achieved 3 A grade A-Levels on top of filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
It is understandable then that there was a backlash in response to the backlash. A lot of people were horrified by the idea that previously working in tandem with someone (as Watson did not work for Rowling, but Warner Bros) should mean that you are in some way “indebted” to them or couldn’t publicly disagree with them at any point for the rest of your life. I agree. That kind of thinking makes no logical sense — which is precisely why you are seeing it from the transphobes, so eager to support Rowling, they foam at the mouth when given the opportunity to call someone a “woke brat”.
I find it interesting that a group so dedicated to women’s rights, as Rowling and her supporters claim to be, resort quickly to sexism when faced with the slightest iota of dissent. The idea that Emma Watson, top GCSE and A-Level grades Emma Watson, would be impoverished had she not appeared in the film adaptation of a book written by Rowling is, as Alejandra Caraballo rightly stated, “unhinged”.
That doesn’t even cover the classism that Rowling’s supporters — while, in the same breath and with the same inciting Watson-related incident, lauding her as a person who has lived a real-life and had real issues — have thrown at Watson. Classism and misogyny often go hand in hand; it’s true. Forgive me for pointing out the irony. I couldn’t resist.
Before you come for me, just know: I am a lesbian. I am fully aware of the debates and discourse that transphobes use to marginalise an already marginalised group. What I have to say to this entire ‘debate’ will not please them, nor do I want to. Their views are backwards, and they are on the wrong side of history. They say the most vile diatribe daily but can’t handle it when someone publicly affirms their support of trans people.
Watson wasn’t attacking Rowling; she didn’t even mention her. Are we to believe that every statement supporting trans people is a statement lambasting Rowling? If that is the case, how can it be argued that Rowling has not become the face of the anti-trans movement? Yes, she said once that she “would march with [trans people] if [they] were discriminated against on the basis of being trans.” And to Rowling, that is a big “if”.
But the thing is: trans people are discriminated against on the basis of being trans. A report published by Stonewall found that 41% of older trans people surveyed had been the victim of a hate crime in the twelve months prior. Amongst younger trans people it was higher, 53%. In 2018, there were 369 murders of trans and non-binary people worldwide, motivated by their gender identity. Some of Rowling’s supporters would have you believe that was a good thing. I beg to differ.
All I ask is that all transphobes, respectfully, shut up.
