J.K. Rowling Responds to Fans Burning Harry Potter Books
This article originally appeared on EW.com.
So apparently burning Harry Potter books is once again a thing.
J.K. Rowling is responding to fans who are reacting to her anti-Donald Trump tweets by claiming to torch their Potter-verse merchandise.
One of the author’s replies came Tuesday after a reader said they would “burn your books and movies.”
Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I've still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter. pic.twitter.com/kVoi8VGEoK
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 31, 2017
Ouch. Then on Wednesday, Rowling replied to a self-proclaimed fan of 17 years, suggesting that the reader seemingly missed an entire point of the Potter saga.
Guess it's true what they say: you can lead a girl to books about the rise and fall of an autocrat, but you still can't make her think. pic.twitter.com/oB7Aq6Xz8M
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 1, 2017
A few observations. First, there’s some history with book burning and Harry Potter. Christian groups actually organized mass Potter burns back in 2001, protesting the novels as satanic.
Second, notice that Rowling isn’t simply retweeting or replying to her bashers like she normally does. The reader comments were attached to her tweets as cropped photos. This allowed Rowling to grey-out their Twitter handles so the users couldn’t be easily identified. Perhaps she doesn’t want to promote those who are attacking her, but I suspect there’s another reason: She’s sparing them the avalanche of blowback from her supporters. If my read is correct, it’s an act of benevolence in the face of hostility that Dumbledore would approve of.
And finally, Tuesday’s Rowling vs. a Trump supporter story (where Rowling hit back with a rather personal jab — and the reader’s handle was shown) has a couple updates from the author, which we’ve added here.