Why Tilda Swinton wanted nothing to do with ‘Harry Potter’: “I think they are a very cruel setting”
It’s also not easy to forget that before JK Rowling’s public remarks grew more incendiary, Harry Potter was subjected to other forms of criticism based upon the parallels it drew to British society, but Tilda Swinton has a unique reason for not liking the damning author’s ‘Wizarding World’.
Although it once seemed like Harry Potter was a uniting franchise that brought together fans from all walks of life in celebration of a fantastical work of fiction, the series has become embittered and controversial in recent years, where much of this discourse is the result of author JK Rowling’s offensive comments about transgender people, disturbing many of her long-time supporters.
A major reason why Rowling’s comments have caught fire is that the franchise has been a unique phenomenon on the big screen that gathered a vast majority of Britain’s finest actors, with the sheer number of award-winning thespians involved is an embarrassment of riches; members of the cast included Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, David Tennant, and Kenneth Branagh, just to name a few, such that those not included make for an interesting study of their own.
One of the few stars not to be involved with Harry Potter is Swinton, even though she has dipped her toes into franchises like Doctor Strange and The Chronicles of Narnia. In an interview with The Scots Magazine (which was recorded before Rowling’s bigoted comments caught fire), Swinton said that she disliked the way that the franchise framed the boarding school experience, which she referred to as a “lonely and isolating environment”.
“I dislike films like Harry Potter, which tend to romanticise such places,” she told the outlet, “I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up, and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education. Children need their parents and the love parents can provide.”
In addition to the active debate over boarding school, Harry Potter got blowback for the enslavement of the elves, the gender-essentialist presentation of the characters, perceived anarchist themes, and some wild accusations by religious extremists that the books and films endorsed witchcraft.
Although attending a boarding school may have been accepted as just one aspect of the fantasy world, the films do present an idealistic portrayal of the communities that exist within isolated educational environments. Even if Hogwarts itself comes under fire rather frequently in the series, it doesn’t change the fact that the school is allowed to continue operating when students and faculty are killed on a yearly basis.
Swinton’s comments are particularly amusing because they came at a time right before anti-Harry Potter rhetoric was beginning to take shape. If anything, the release of the Fantastic Beasts films (which were penned by Rowling) seemed to confirm that the franchise was short on ideas and that the writer’s work might have been best when handled by an outside screenwriter and director.
The various controversies haven’t slowed down Warner Brothers’ Discovery’s attempt to keep reaping benefits from the franchise, as the new HBO Max television series is set to be one of the most expensive shows in history. Although the show has already assembled an impressive cast that includes John Lithgow, Nick Frost, Janet McTeer, and Johnny Flynn, it’s safe to say that Swinton will not be involved.
