If J.K. Rowling Had A Stereotypical Character

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About

If J.K. Rowling Had a Stereotypical Character refers to a TikTok trend in which people of different ethnicities and races play-act auditioning for a character in the Harry Potter films. These videos criticize and parody Rowling's usage of characters of color and of diverse backgrounds in the series, which many believe are one dimensional and promote ethnic stereotypes.

Origin

On June 13th, 2020, TikToker @henryli.official shared a video in which he parodies J.K. Rowling's supposed reaction to the Harry Potter character "Cho Chang." They write, "When JK Rowling names the only Asian character 'Cho Chang' and sorts her into Ravenclaw, the 'smart' house." The post received more than 200,000 reactions and 2,200 comments in less than six months (shown below).

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6837836989807578374

On August 25th, TikToker @ilovewomenbutnotlikethat posted a video as the "Black character" in a Harry Potter story. In the video, other characters play into negative stereotypes about Black people. The post received more than 428,000 reactions and 4,200 comments in less than two months (shown below)

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6864962471279545606

Spread

Over the next few months, others started participating in the trend, using other groups and stereotypes. For example, on September 6th, 2020, TikToker @notyourabg posted a variation, "If Harry Potter had a Muslim character." The post received more than 245,000 reactions and 1,500 comments in less than two months (shown below, left). The following day, TikToker @morganic.lui shared another version as an Asian character. The post received more than 281,000 reactions and 1,400 comments in less than two months (shown below, center).

Later that month, the trend grew in popularity as TikToker @munchy_monk posted a variation, "If J.K. Rowling had a latino character." The post received more than 1.8 million reactions and 21,000 comments in less than one month (shown below, right).

On October 14th, the Daily Dot ^[1] published an article about the trend.