Not My Canon!

To Be The Villain

The film "The Dark Knight Rises", while having nothing in common with HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, championed an interesting phrase: "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

To me, as sad as it sounds, this is what has happened to J.K. Rowling.

Her journey from obscurity to the most famous author of all time so mirrored the main character of her book that she was an intriguing interview. And like the reporters of the imaginary Daily Prophet, interviewers pushed her for as much information as she could spit out, quite aggressively, all attempting to scoop one another, and coerce the soft-spoken, confessed housecat to tell all under the bright lights and in front of massive, expectant crowds. No one, not one of us, can know what that truly feels like. And, out of this process, incorrect statements are likely to happen. The longer it goes on, the more hardened, certain, and even obstinant an individual could become. Someone of her subdued nature may even resemble something new. An Obscurus, perhaps? So, we should give her some leniency when it comes to the direction in which she has taken the franchise.

Once the seven books were completed, the need to answer fan queries and hard-hitting interview questions was so intense that it led JKR to update character backstories and create new scenarios and controversies with fancy tidbits (some that seemed based in the social craze of the moment). It started innocently, and the draw was always there. She wanted to keep her fans happy. And, of course, she still loved Harry. I should add that I'm not frustrated at all by JKR's choice to take the canon in different directions. I think it rounds out the world nicely, and have borrowed some of those details in my own writing. But her post-facto musings often deconstructed previously defined framework from the novels instead of adding to the story. And that's not cool.

This begs the question, will the books ever be closed to revisionist thinking? Cursed Child pressed this question by challenging our impressions of established characters. And not necessarily in a good way. This is the hallmark of an artist who will never be satisfied. An artist who wants to control the interpretation of their work to the point that it takes the story in directions that eliminate the potential for the all-important "head canon" to exist. How is this possible? Because her opinion holds a lot of weight with the fans and spreads rapidly.