In a move that we can only assume will soon serve as the genesis of an entirely new and best-selling fantasy franchise–Hagrid And Voldemort and nobody else does anything Sorcerer’s shit, perhaps – Ralph Fiennes chose not to participate in “Nothing!” he could have said, and instead expressed his sincere confusion about why people are being so mean to their old friend JK Rowling. In an interview that the actor gave to The telegraph this week, Fiennes – who played the One-who-could-just-shut up in all the past Harry Potter films – stated that “I can’t understand the vitriol aimed at her. I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this era of accusation and the need to condemn it irrational. I find the level of hatred that people express about points of view that differ from theirs and the violence of language towards others disturbing. “
And, really: If Ralph Fiennes is horrified by the violence, verbal or not, he really should take a look at the things people say and do to trans people, especially when instigated by transphobic bullshit propagated by people like Rowling, whose comments over the past year they played a consistent drum beat, claiming that trans women are not women, that trans men are not men and that being trans is, like, some kind of highly complicated ploy to gain access to women’s bathrooms. He said that doubling and tripling those ideas led to a large number of people associated with the franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint– making clear statements that transphobia is reprehensible and that believing in people when they say who they are is the key to treating people properly in this world.
Fiennes gave no further details on the matter – moving on to complaints about plays that people no longer let him stage, and talking about the eventual launch of No time to die. Byouit is clear from his comments that he sees the issues surrounding Rowling as decorum and speech, rather than, say, human rights – that is, “There is no reason to be mean to someone just because he is questioning his humanity or identity , as long as they do it in a polite way. ”Still, good news for Rowling, who is kept the Death Eaters vote once again. Huzzah.