J.K. Rowling And Others Back Hermione Casting For ‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’
Author J.K. Rowling and others have chosen to back the Hermione casting decision to hire Noma Dumezweni, a Black actress. She will play the only female in the famous Harry Potter trio in the upcoming production of the stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The play is about Harry and his son Albus, 19 years after the finish of the seventh installment in the original series. The two spend their time grappling with the Potter legacy. Harry is played by Jamie Parker while his best mate, Ron, will be played by Paul Thornley. After many White actresses had auditioned for the part, Dumezweni was cast as Hermione.
This casting decision brought about some pretty incredible backlash. It virtually split Potter fans into two as some are ecstatic over the decision while others are furious. This comment was written in an article from The Guardian, “We solved racism with the announcement of a black Hermoine in the new Harry Potter stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The casting of Noma Dumezweni in the upcoming play strikes a fatal blow for the cause of equality: a made-up wizard can be black.”
J.K. Rowling backs the Hermione casting decision wholeheartedly. She posted her approval on her Twitter page, saying “Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione.”
Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione ? https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015
Rowling also shared some artwork of Hermione as a Black character. This artwork was made some time ago and was just now posted by the author:
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 22, 2015
Others share the sentiment of excitement for a Black Hermione. The Twitter universe has exploded with tweets about the casting decisions, and many approved of the decision.
@jk_rowling Absolutely brilliant casting! Bravo!
— David Harewood (@DavidHarewood) December 21, 2015
Every time @jk_rowling tweets =??: "brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione ?"
— Dawn Rose Kelly (@aka_dawn) December 21, 2015
@jk_rowling @mauvedust @goldregulus people, heres the thing: the actress isnt playing emma watson, shes playing hermione granger. xxx
— aarøn (@tributoes) December 21, 2015
@jk_rowling @mauvedust @goldregulus THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL FINALLY AN OC HERMIONE!!!!!!!!
— Sabi (@sabrinahdg) December 21, 2015
Others were less than thrilled about the Black Hermione casting announcement. Many have commented that Hermione was White in the books, and it shouldn’t change in the live productions. They felt it didn’t make sense that Hermione changed her race halfway through her lifetime.
Rowling had even created a painting once depicting Hermione Granger as white, which had a few others up confused about the whole thing.
Some believe that these tweets aren’t about race at all, that the architects of the comments are simply angry that the younger version of Hermione was white while the older version is black.
Most of the #BlackHermione criticism is not racism, more to do with a lack of imagination.
— Jon Bradfield (@JonBradfield) December 22, 2015
Others simply believe the outrage over the whole situation is ridiculous.
As a whole, the comments are largely divided, and those on Twitter continue to defend their viewpoints. The fact remains that J.K. Rowling backs the Hermione casting decision, which, for some people, is a good enough explanation.
[Image via FeatureFlash/Shutterstock]
