JK Rowling has made it into America's cultural zeitgeist, Saturday Night Live. SNL mocked the Harry Potter author's stance on women's rights and transgender issues in a recent skit.
I don't mind SNL; it can be a hilarious and accurate gauge of culture, politics, and hot-button topics. Despite some occasional moments of sanity and common sense, it's got its pulse mostly on Hollywood and New York elitism. The show, hosted by Bad Bunny, wasted no time in using Rowling's recent spat with Emma Watson to mock Rowling's traditional views about the need to maintain women's spaces and privacy.
The fact that SNL took the liberty of mocking Rowling for the very views Watson has also scolded her for is ironic. It's a great example of just how upside-down leftists have gone on this issue, how far away they are from most Americans' views on the topic, and why Rowling's strong stance is so important to women.
Rowling has been vocal in her defense of women's spaces and privacy for years now, but it surfaced again because Emma Watson, the actor who played Hermione Granger in the films based on Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, finally spoke about the best-selling author on Jay Shetty's "On Purpose" podcast.
Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, who were made famous playing characters Rowling created in Harry Potter, did not publicly support Rowling when she began to be mocked and scorned for speaking out about the harmful effects of transgender policies and activism that erodes women's spaces in the United Kingdom.
Yet now, on the podcast, Watson acted demure and contrite, seemingly extending an olive branch to Rowling over their differing views on transgender policies. The actor said she refuses to "cancel [Rowling] out" even though Rowling has taken a loud, public stance in support of women.
Watson told Shetty, "It's my deepest wish that I hope people who don't agree with my opinion will love me, and I hope I can keep loving people who I don't necessarily share the same opinion with."
A sweet sentiment, I'm sure she intended well, but Rowling wasn't buying it.
Rowling offered a correction—or a different perspective—in a lengthy thread on X. She pointed out disparities between her and Watson, saying that Watson's been able to hold generous views of transgender policy due to her fame that protects her from living a regular life. "Like other people who've never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she's ignorant of how ignorant she is," Rowling wrote.
"I wasn't a multimillionaire at fourteen," Rowling went on. "I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous. I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women's rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges."
Rowling's bold statement on X is just what has made her a lightning rod to the left and a beacon of light to the right.
Despite her clarity, common sense, and courage, SNL's skit makes fun of her, not Watson. This is how topsy-turvy leftist views are, how they contort reality to progressive ideas. Rowling is a self-made millionaire who wrote a series that became an entire franchise that millions of people have loved. Yet she is mocked and scorned. Not because she is transphobic, rude, or unkind, but because she thinks that many transgender policies in the UK have eroded a female's right to compete in sports, use the bathroom in private, or be safe at a women's shelter.
Watson is entitled to her views, but so is Rowling. But only one of them has basked in their fame and used it as a blanket of protection to truly be engaged in controversial political policy.
Rowling could have relaxed, stayed out of this topic altogether, basking in wealth and good vibes. Instead, she propped herself up on the cushion that fame and fortune gave her—using it as both a shield and a platform to stand for truth, common sense, and protection for women.
Yet, for this utter verve and bravery, Rowling has consistently been on the receiving end of extraordinary vitriol for taking a common-sense stand for women around the globe. It's unfortunate that SNL chooses to mock one of the world's most prominent authors-turned political activists for women's spaces. But I guess it's proof that she's taken an honorable stand, and America has taken note.
