When HBO announced a new Harry Potter television series, it appeared that the internet and I were in agreement: cool, but why?
With the movie adaptations, in my opinion, being one of the best book-to-film adaptations, with near-perfect casting and beautiful aesthetics with added nostalgia, viewers are left to question what possessed the industry to follow through with this.
Why touch perfection? Is it yet another cry about how Hollywood has lost creativity?
The new trailer for this TV show dropped on March 25, and while the show looks beautiful with gorgeous cinematography, I’ve realized that the only thing it has over the films is the ability to add deleted scenes from the book… that’s about it.
With the Harry Potter universe already established clearly in culture, especially in the Universal parks, there’s little aesthetically that the trailer can change without disrupting the millions of other flows of money the Wizarding World brings in.
Merchandise at the Universal parks already features the old film designs in everything and anything, ranging from Peppermint Toads to cloaks and Quidditch gear. In the trailer, we can see the series has already made some minor changes to these designs, specifically in the Nimbus packaging, which begs the question as to how Universal Studios will adapt.
However, these design changes are rather small, making it feel like the remake will be nearly identical to the films. Which again leads us to circle back to the why of it all.
Following original idea spin-offs like the Fantastic Beasts franchise and The Cursed Child stage performance on Broadway and West End, this decision to redo the past series from J.K. Rowling (JKR), the creator of the Wizarding World, has left many confused.
Rowling is a billionaire. She’s made a ridiculous amount of money from the original movies, Universal Parks, merchandise, video games, and more. While many have called this a cash grab, there doesn’t seem to be a lack of financial capital.
Some have also speculated that this series is an attempt to return to form and gain back control. In the past, she’s tried to expand her universe, and yet her writing, whether in the form of novels, film, or stage scripts, always seems to miss the mark.
This leads me to believe she’s just going to milk the most of where she struck gold — the Harry Potter series itself.
Hence, this unnecessary show. Which, to be quite frank, with slight changes in robes and new costumes for the varying scenes we didn’t see before, I’m sure that the minds behind the Wizarding World are already thinking up ways to profit from it.
With basically a second-chance, redemption TV series, you’d think the producers would like to perfect the series. However, controversy seems to follow the Wizarding World wherever it goes.
The controversial casting of Severus Snape remains one of the audience’s major qualms and questions with the show. The haughty double-agent potions professor, who was played spectacularly by Alan Rickman in the films, has been cast as actor Paapa Essiedu.
The issue many have pointed out with this new casting direction is the fact that Snape is bullied relentlessly by Harry Potter’s father, James Potter. With the added racial element of the casting, it now makes Potter’s father and his friends not just look like bullies… but racists.
Surely, there was a better character to race swap than Snape, especially since some of James’ bullying in the original movies involved tying up Snape from his feet and hanging him upside down from a tree. This adds a whole new level of complexity to this dynamic, not found in the books.
This isn’t even considering some of the ways Harry described Snape in the book, including but not limited to comments about his bat-like appearance and his need to “wash his hair, the slimeball,” in Chapter 14 of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
With this casting, new readers will take these comments as subconscious racism, especially since Essiedu is wearing dreadlocks for the character.
The implications are quite damaging to the current culture, if you ask me. This casting also tethers the line of only race-swapping villains, and with Rowling’s lack of diverse representation throughout her entire franchise, it seems like some subconscious racism may stem from this casting choice as well.
Other complaints have also stemmed from casting, because people miss the originals. Many, including myself, had mixed reactions to Hagrid’s voice. Maggie Smith’s presence as Professor McGonnagall was missed. Many viewers are still reminiscing about the not-even two-decades-old franchise.
Despite the issues cited, many are still excited about the new take on the franchise. For some, the chance at a book accurate take outweighs nostalgia.
Hopefully, these new actors and new take can be allowed to breathe new life into the franchise. Even for those not excited for the new show, take this as an opportunity to rewatch the movies and relive that magic.
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