Heteronormal’

52 forum 368 Kultur Fantastically ‘Heteronormal’ How the Potter franchise enforces heteronormativity amongst its young readership and how we can change it Anne Engels With the opening of Fantastic Beasts and Where criticism. However, what I am more interested in to Find Them in cinemas last month, the Harry is how this material continues to promote an ex- Potter franchise has grown once again by another tremely gender-biased view. Let us reflect on this: clever strike of Warner Bros. and co. Unlike previ- on a very basic level the Harry Potter series is a ous spin-offs, such as thePottermore website or the coming-of-age story focusing on the psychological recently released play Harry Potter and the Cursed and physical development of a heterosexual teen- Child Parts 1 and 2, this film takes place outside the age-boy wizard. And now, we have Fantastic Beasts familiar Potter universe. It takes its audience out of and Where to Find Them: five more films that will the familiar British boarding school environment (presumably) focus on a male heterosexual protago- and into the wider world of magic. It breaks with nist. The conscious decision of Warner Bros. and co. the nuclear universe where magic was concentrated not to make this film about, for example, Harry’s in scenes in and around Hogwarts, and transplants it daughter or Luna Lovegood is evidence enough that into 1920s New York. It moves away from a British Warner Bros. is reproducing the outdated heteronor- environment and the Harry Potter-focused narra- mative male-female binary. tive, following the character of Newt Scamander, author of the magical schoolbook Fantastic Beasts and If you look up heteronormativity in the dictionary, Where to Find Them. you will find the following explanation: ‘denoting or relating to a world-view that promotes heterosexual- The screenwriters have created an entirely new five- ity as the normal or preferred sexual’. As this is the part story based on and surrounding Scamander’s most commonly known and used definition of the adventures. The question arises whether five parts word, I will be using it in this context. And I would may not be too excessive. Surely, the demand for like to argue that a powerful and globally reaching more Potter-related content is imminent and franchise like that of Harry Potter should be used Warner Bros. has certainly made a great effort to to encourage sexual and gendered diversity, not to keep Harry Potter interesting ever since the release promote a heteronormative stereotype. of the first movie back in 2000. With products such as the Harry Potter Studio Tour, the Harry Potter Yes, Rowling has outed Dumbledore as gay, but it The movie Theme Park, the Harry Potter exhibition and many has never been explicitly stated in any of the nov- breaks with the smaller fan articles such as jewellery and cloth- els. Yes, Hermione is the symbol of a strong and in- nuclear universe ing, Warner Bros. actively feeds the consumerist telligent young girl. However, nowhere in the story where magic was demand. does she try to break with heteronormative rules of condensed to conduct. the scenes in and Change without Change around Hogwarts Anne Engels holds a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from (...). This excessive production of arguably unnecessary the University of Kent. She is currently completing her MA in consumerist material is certainly subject to a lot of Gender, Theory and Culture at the University of Manchester. Kultur Dezember 2016 53 The Problem with Strong Female Characters the box. She asserts her unique position within the narrative by constantly proving and defending her Luna Lovegood’s Personally, I find it quite ironic: while doing my re- – for want of a better word – queerness. Her beliefs character offers a search for this article, I have come across many essays may not conform to the generally accepted ‘norm’ different depiction dealing with the importance of Hermione Granger of the magical world: She is most often criticised for of the female and as a strong female character.1 Some essays also quote believing in the existence of imaginary objects and femininity. Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang or Fleur Delacour.2 creatures. However, her persistence in believing in None of them pay attention to Luna Lovegood. But her own abilities finally proves her right. So, for ex- Luna is, in my opinion, the queerest character in the ample, in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince entire series. By queer, I mean two things. First, I un- movie, she rescues the unconscious Harry from the derstand it as a synonym (even if somehow obsolete) Hogwarts Express by using special spectacles (spec- of ‘strange’, ‘alien’ or ‘other’. Second, I understand it trespecs) that can detect wrackspurts floating around in a form that has in recent years been thoroughly Harry’s ears.7 It may be interesting to note that this discussed in gender studies. Here, the word refers scene takes place in the movie but not in the book. to any form of gender or sexuality that does not fit It is simultaneously an attempt to give a queer char- into the binary male-female agenda. In other more acter a more dominant role but it is also an oppor- simplified terms, queer stands in direct opposition to tunity for the filmmakers to highlight Luna’s other- the heteronormative.3 ness. Although she rescues Harry, her attire makes her look ridiculous and hence undermines her he- So, if we want to liberate the Harry Potter novels & roic act. Similar events also take place in the books. I films from a heteronormative discourse, it is neces- will illustrate one of them later on. sary to promote Luna’s character as another – maybe even more meaningful – role model for girls. It is es- Queering the Heteronormal through Fashion sential to oppose her to the traditional strong heteronormal characters of Ginny and co. in order to in- It is not only her unique way of thinking that makes troduce a sense of queerness into the educational Luna stand out. It is also, as we have seen from the and formative value. While Hermione Granger is previous example, her sense of fashion. Her queer often simultaneously praised and criticised for her thinking is mirrored in the way she dresses. She is academic achievements and her engagement for the especially renowned for wearing extravagant pieces liberation of the houselves4; feminist critics tend of jewellery, such as earrings that look like rad- to demonise characters such as Ginny and Cho for ishes8 or her butterbeer cap necklace9. Most striking their relatively stereotypical femininity.5 though, is the episode in Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince film where she accompanies Harry to In contrast, Luna Lovegood’s character offers an al- Professor Slughorn’s Christmas party wearing a dress ternative understanding of the female and feminin- that looks exactly like a Christmas tree.10 She is not ity. Most often described as ‘dotty’6 by her fellow afraid of cross-dressing. Her carefree attitude enables students, she is the one character who thinks outside her to look beyond the conventional rules of fash- It’s a kind of magic. (CC BY-SA 2.0 by Wiennat Mongkulmann via flickr) 54 forum 368 Kultur ion. Unfortunately, fellow students commonly ridi- By consciously calling attention to those supporters, The only socially cule her for this exact reason. The act of ridiculing TV programmes reinforce heteronormative preju- ‘acceptable’ time can be understood as an extended comment of JK dices: Everyone who dresses anomalously, even in (it seems) one Rowling herself and highlights her unease towards the context of a football match, is denounced as be- can cross-dress breaking the gender binary. ing queer. without receiving weird looks and Similarly, in the books Order of the Phoenix and Half- The only socially ‘acceptable’ time (it seems) one can comments is Blood Prince as well as in the movie interpretation cross-dress without receiving weird looks and com- during the carnival of the latter, Luna wears a wig that looks like a li- ments is during the carnival period. In a sense, Luna period. on’s head. She hereby expresses her support for the is celebrating carnival all year round. But carnival Gryffindor house Quidditch team (a sports game is itself the celebration of the fool and the foolish. popular with wizards). Her subversion is in this Hence, by dressing up during carnival season, one case twofold: As a Ravenclaw, she belongs to a dif- does not subvert heteronormative conventions but ferent college and yet assimilates with a potentially reinforces them. Luna’s carnivalistic depiction in opponent team. But this subversion is not the most both the Harry Potter books and movies is a sign that striking one. What is most noticeable, is the fact that the author and production company are uncomfort- she cross-dresses in order to highlight her support able with queering the socio-political heteronorma- for the other team. If we look at, for example, a TV tive stereotype. transmission of a football game, the camera regularly pans through the audience. Most often, it pauses on Instead of taunting and marginalising Luna those supporters who are dressed most flamboyantly Lovegood’s character, it is about time to see (e. g. wearing onesies, extravagant hats, wigs, having how someone like her could help to educate the painted faces). Without verbally expressing it, the young Harry Potter readership on themes such as mere sensationalist showcasing of those particular cross-dressing, queering gender norms and possibly individuals is a comment on their queerness.

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