J.K. Rowling: A Bit About Gender and Death

by Dave

The Runcie documentary that’s caught some attention here and at HogPro is a mixed bag for me as a Potter reader. Stylistically, the film is as engaging as any documentary I’ve ever seen — which is quite a few because I’m a big geek (I even watched a documentary on the Sundance Channel one time concerning Jacques Derrida…sheesh). But, the film watches in some ways as a bit of a propaganda piece. There isn’t much in it that is all that revelatory, especially for anyone who has frequented The Leaky Cauldron, HogPro, or here at SoG. Much of the information concerning Rowling’s past and her take on it is already fairly well known. What reader’s are most struck by is the humanization of a very unorthodox celebrity (if such an oxymoron can actually exist). Rowling’s notoriety as an author is a strange phenomenon. She is, maybe, one of the most recognizable women in the English speaking world. Thus, she is often something of a concept to readers, presented usually in tightly scripted and structured moments like book signings, readings, media interviews, etc. Runcie’s take presents her as a person, which is quite valuable.

Thus, what’s important are the details in her answers, the ways they are related, her body language, etc. The opening peppering of questions shows a combination of thoughtfulness then tentativeness that bespeaks those character traits John has focused on in the past, namely in Unlocking Harry Potter, about her methodical nature, organization, and intelligence. Particularly, this exchange in the opening minutes I find illuminating:

Runcie: What’s the quality you most like in a man?
Rowling: Morals.
Runcie: What’s the quality you most like in a woman?
Rowling: Generosity.

Up to this point, Rowling’s answers are quick, short, and pointed. She does not hesitate in her delivery, yet she clearly hasn’t rehearsed this. That the vaguery of the answer to the question about men contrasts quite sharply to the exactness of the answer about women. Men just need a moral quality, whereas she identifies a specific quality to value in women.

Generosity in women shows up all over the place in Harry Potter. And, perhaps more pointedly, the nastiest women in the series always betray an overt lack of generosity. Bellatrix and Petunia, Aunt Marge, Delores Umbridge, then, in her different, more complicated fashion, Merope Gaunt. Partially, this tendancy on Rowling’s part might trace back to her childhood: the deeply affective relationship with her mother and the lack of a close relationship with her father. The fact that Rowling was “supposed to be” Simon John Rowling, constantly dressed in blue to contrast with her younger sister’s pink, had to drive some troubling wedges into Rowling’s formation of her own identity, especially as a child given a boy’s haircut. Given the picture that Runcie included of Rowling’s parents in documentary, she also seems to look quite a bit like her father. It would seem that Rowling, especially given her education, would have given quite a bit of thought to constantly reassessing her identity as a woman, and what would better make a woman. Given the evidence that Runcie presents, it would seem that a formed feminine identity would have been fractured in her childhood, thanks in large part to her father; in some ways her formative years might have taken place later after reaching maturity.

Thus, if Harry Potter is “one giant attempt to reclaim her childhood” as Runcie asserts, then forming such strong feminine personalities that bridge the spectrum of feminine identities only makes sense. Hermione is the ferociously intelligent young girl that views herself has an independent woman, yet constantly finds her fate intertwined with Ron and Harry’s. Hermione is a reflection of Rowling’s own lack of certainty on this part, as is Ginny, I think. The notion sheds light on some of the criticisms of Rowling’s treatment of her younger female characters. Hermione, Ginny, and Molly often seem a depcition of an unresolved tension between fully fledged independence while taking on the role of caregiver and/or emotional foil partly defined by their relationships to primary male characters.

Then, death shows up. The loss of her mother also traces itself back into the discussion. Generosity is a very motherly trait, I think. Mrs. Weasley is the ideal mother, constantly giving up so much of her self for the benefit of her family. I can’t help but wonder how much she reflects Rowling’s memory of her own mother, Ann. I also can’t help but wonder about the decision to give way to her father’s wishes for Rowling not to see her mother in a state of death, one she “deeply” regrets. Harry’s orphanhood must take on a very personal significance for Rowling in that context, even if only by coincidence and not authorial choice.