Okay, so Rita Skeeter was the worst kind of tabloid hack. She illegally transforms herself so she can spy on children. Some of the hate mail even came with jinxes and curses;[21] even Molly Weasley was upset with Hermione until Harry set her straight. At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery& Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells& Harry Potter: Magic Awakened.As such, spoilers will be present within the article. But for characters to undergo character development, they need to start out with flaws. Dont just say you contrasted two characters; make an effort to actually do it. [7] Unfortunately her last article would discredit Harry and serve as the basis for Cornelius Fudge to refuse to believe Harry's story about Voldemort's return that would start the Ministry's smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore. After carrying Frodo up Mount Doom, Samwise Gamgee once again fights Gollum. There was just something off about it. [31], In April 2014, just before the opening matches of the 427th Quidditch World Cup, Brazilian manager Jos Barboza called the Welsh Chasers "talentless hags" over drinks with Rita Skeeter. In her bizarre non-sequitur of a tweet, Rowling misgendered a trans woman called Tara Wolf who was fined for a crime. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, when the Witch-King killed Thoden, theres a reason it was owyn and Merrynot Pippin and Beregondwho battled the Lord of the Nine, avenging the king. The goblins are the bad guys. Albus Dumbledore in particular described her writing as "enchantingly nasty" after she wrote an unfavourable article about him.[9]. If they misbehave, they are compelled to inflict self-harm, such as when Dobby burns his own hands with a hot iron. She made her name painting Harry as an unhinged madman, but stopped her crusade when Hermione figured out that Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus and threatened to expose her to the Ministry. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledores brother sends Dobby to rescue Harry and his friends from Bellatrix and the Malfoys. Rita also wrote primarily for the Daily Prophet, though some of her articles have also appeared in other sources, such as Witch Weekly and The Quibbler. Viewed through the lense of a black woman wanting to end the practice of chattel slavery, the case against Harry Potter seems all the more damning. Life would be so much easier if saying My books are diverse in an interview made your books diverse. Also, the goblins are greedy bankers with large noses who only care about money, and they have a different concept of ownership than we do. Rita Skeeter might be a minor antagonist in Harry Potter, but she tends to monopolize nearly every scene she's in. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Instead, good slaveowner that he is, Harry Potter wonders whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich. [16], Subsequent to her guest speaker role, during the 19871988 school year, Rita returned to Hogwarts to interview the staff as research for a book she was writing. Thats what proper buildup and payoff can do for a story. Maya Forstater In December of 2019, Rowling defended a known TERF called Maya Forstater after a long time quietly liking tweets from other TERFs. Troublingly, even when they conspire to cheat and steal from Griphook the goblin, our heroes are absolved when Griphook betrays them first. After overpowering his enemy, the heros first impulse is to kill the creature as he begs for mercy. Because muggles are moochers whod just want magic help if they knew. They wouldnt know what to do without slavery. Throughout the books, Dumbledore is established as a character whos right about things, and he repeatedly states that its healthier for Harry Potter to grow up abused than to grow up famous. Remember that Harry Potter is supposed to be the hero. The obvious twist would be if Neville turned out to be the real chosen one in the end. That slaveowner goes on to save the world from evil, and the wizards continue to own slaves indefinitely, hidden from the knowledge of the non-slaveowning muggles. Between January and November 1951[1] Harry and his friends grow more mature as the series progresses. [26], The book depicted the former headmaster in an extremely negative light but was mostly based on truth, much to Harry's horror. Severus Snape, when all is said and done, is an even worse character than Sasuke from Naruto. They werent much different from many other childrens books in that regard. Hermione told her that the interview would be printed in The Quibbler, which Luna's father edited, and although Rita responded with disdain, she "eyed Hermione shrewdly" for a few moments and then agreed. Sirius Black is built up as an important character over three books. Why is all well? In the end, however, Sam resolves to destroy the Ring himself. The killer is a man who dresses as a woman so as to sneak up on his unsuspecting female victims who think hes a trans woman. He doesnt redeem himself, but Rowling seems to think he has. Signature [18], Rita Skeeter opening a cupboard full of frogs, Skeeter later harassed Warbeck for information about why she was at Hogwarts in her dressing room on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, which she refused to divulge to her, so Skeeter told her she would instead have to fabricate quotes by simply reading her face. Predictably, neither contributes much in the end. Unlike her white classmates, Hermione comes from a background where shes had to live with the consequences of white people having enslaved her ancestors. Rarely does J.K. Rowling plant or sow any seeds in her story. Dobby is a house elf, house elves being a race of slaves who serve the wizards. Skeeter preferred writing for the sake of publicity and wrote what she thought people would "like to read" and what was lies rather than what they "ought to read" and which was the truth. Sadly, as we might come to expect from this author, she forgot to give Severus a redemption arc. Characters like Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom arent built up at all until its far too late to build anything up. I realize now that the worst of Rowlings crimes against literature began in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and the books had some truly vile themes from Book One. In this series of short articles, I talk about the various ways Tolkiens books differ from the film adaptations. Eventually, her "interview of the contestants" turned out to be a highly falsified story of Harry himself. What does that mean? This flies in the face of everything the books have established up to this point. [22] Rita seemed to take great pleasure in writing malicious articles about those she wished to slander and ridicule. J.K. Rowling didnt do that. Single[3] Rita's tendency to write sensationalised and untrue stories about high profile members of the wizarding community is similar to (and may be a direct parody of) tabloid magazines stirring up stories about celebrities, politicians, and the economic elite. When Hermione confronted and insulted Rita for having written horrible untruths about her friends, Rita vindictively responded by writing an article that painted Hermione as a "scarlet woman" who used her intellect and charm to toy with the affections of famous wizards. Like many other children at the time, I was swept up in a wondrous world where magical children attend a boarding school filled with secrets and adventure. She wrote articles for the Daily Prophet, as well as a few 'tell-all' biographies. [17], Jacob's sibling reported her questions and motivations to Albus Dumbledore, who revealed to him that Rita was an unregistered Animagus who was using her abilities to eavesdrop at the time. Animagus Mere pages after we first meet her, Bellatrix kills a supposedly-important character and then serves as just another Death Eater for the rest of the story. [32], Rita standing with her infamous acid green quill. Im writing this in June 2020 so please forgive me if there are any examples of Rowlings bigotry that I missed. I could talk about how the werewolves and giants are established as the targets of bigotry only for them to join Voldemort in the end, but I dont think theres much more I can say. Following the Reappearance of the Dark Mark after the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Skeeter penned a scathing report of the British Ministry of Magic's handling over the riots, accusing the Ministry of incompetence over their failure to catch any of the culprits. In Goblet of Fire, Hermione sees a house elf named Winky being abused. All the other characters are fully aware of this, and many sacrifice their lives for him without a second thought. Gender So much for your favourite boy wizard being a good person. Also, why is it relevant that hes never told anyone? J.K. Rowlings overarching story was constantly marred by her transparently episodic writing style. Rita Skeeter Character Analysis. Rita Skeeter as she appears in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Rita Skeeter as she appears in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Rita Skeeter as seen in Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, Concept art of Rita Skeeter from Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, The Harry Potter Wiki has 92 images related to, *Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Fandom will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Rowling presents us with nearly all the arguments put forward by slaveowners in the American South and then asks us to agree with perhaps the worst institution in human history. These stories tended to be based on false information and misreported interviews. Were told and shown numerous times that the house elves like being enslaved, as Ron Weasley so callously put it. These stories tended to be based on false information and misreported interviews while she worked for the Daily Prophet, as well authoring a few tell-all biographies. Her hair is set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls, and she wears jewelled spectacles. As a character, Harry Potter isnt very interesting. Rita then interviewed Rubeus Hagrid, asking many questions about Harry that Hagrid refused to answer. Far worse is her inability to provide proper buildup or payoff across multiple books, which likely stems from an inability (or unwillingness) to adequately plan her series overall. However, if we were to accept that Hermione is undeniably black, then glorifying slavery would become more repugnant, not less. She exploited a terrified 14-year-old Harry for column inches, she let her bigoted opinions damn the likes of poor Hagrid, and to top it off she wrote a 900-page tell-all hatchet job on Albus Dumbledore after he died. When we see muggles, whom we can assume oppose slavery, theyre nearly always portrayed negatively. Rowling never does this, instead choosing to reveal all-important plot details on her website, leaving the text of her books without much meaning or detail of its own. In Book Four, Harrys nemesis Voldemort succeeds in gaining a new body, heralding a new Wizarding War. She uses a Quick-Quotes Quill to write in flowery prose filled with innuendos and veiled accusations ().Rita was a reporter at the Death Eater trials after the first fall of the Dark Lord and has filled the pages of the Daily Prophet with her snide and nasty words; she once called . The story got darker, too, as author J.K. Rowling tried to keep up with the changing tastes of her original audience. Rita Skeeter interviewing Harry Potter in the Three Broomsticks Inn, In 1995, Harry Potter's story that Lord Voldemort had returned was not believed by much of the wizarding world. And hes not alone; apart from Hermione, every character either owns slaves or aspires to own slaves. The character of Rita Skeeter, a "poison pen" journalist seen throughout the series, is curiously described. The author, main character, and wise mentor all condescend to a black woman for hating slavery, because slavery is good, and the black woman who wants to abolish it is just being bossy.. These remarks became public, and Welsh manager Gwenog Jones promptly threatened to "curse [his] face off". Harry did not see Rita Skeeter again until the next year where he gave her an interview for The Quibbler announcing the return of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, which she did bitterly. Answer (1 of 5): I don't dislike her, but she has caused a lot of damage to Harry Potter's life, more than I think most people realize. Hermione blackmailed Rita by threatening to report her to the authorities as an illegal Animagus to the Ministry of Magic, which would have severe legal consequences. Bellatrix Lestrange, despite a few passing mentions in the previous book, is another character whom Rowling throws into the story with almost no buildup. This book turned out to be a best-seller, with numerous copies sold. Species The epilogue honestly destroyed all my remaining goodwill towards the series. And we certainly didnt know Rowling was a transphobic bigoteven those few of us who knew what the word transgender meant. [30], In the same school year, following the employment and sacking of Professor Elspeth MacGillony, Skeeter wrote about the incident and voiced her concern of the continued employment of controversial teachers not unlike when Albus Dumbledore was Headmaster. Harry embodies a sick, twisted power fantasy, which readers can revel in. Dobby, we learn, was just a weirdo.. This coming from the woman who liked a tweet calling trans women men in dresses. The tweet is as follows: Just days before I wrote this, in June 2020, J.K. Rowling doubled down on all her transphobic rubbish. [27], It turned out that Rita got at least some of her facts straight for once, but had no idea of the true story behind certain fabrications, such as her claiming that Ariana Dumbledore was a Squib,[27] and that her mother was ashamed of her, when in reality she suffered from uncontrollable bursts of magic due to a highly traumatic experience when she was around six.[28]. Even in the Harry Potter series, Rowling included a character called Rita Skeeter, described as having man hands. Rita is a shape-shifter who uses her powers to violate the privacy of Rowlings cis heroes. Thus, he doesnt have to overcome any personal flaws to fulfill his destiny. [1], Skeeter spent time training to become an Animagus and, at some point prior to 1986, she was finally able to transform into a beetle at will. Rita Skeeter. Sam spares Gollums life, and when Frodo fails to destroy the Ring, Gollum bites off Frodos finger and takes the Ring for himself before falling into the fires of Orodruin. End of story. Ideally, Harry could have not returned from the dead, leaving Neville to defeat the Dark Lord. [19], Rita watching a Care of Magical Creatures lesson focused on Blast-Ended Skrewts. More so than the individual books, the overall plot of Harry Potter is almost laughably predictable. There are numerous examples of Rowlings transphobia, including but not limited to citing several articles by TERFs, incorrectly conflating menstruation with being a woman, and implying trans women arent discriminated against. rita skeeter's first and last appearance was in harry potter and the goblet of fire, while in the books she had a huge presence. [22] Ultimately, Hermione discovered the means by which Rita spied on others and forced her to "keep her quill to herself for a full year" by catching her in her beetle form while she was perched on the Hospital Wing window and trapping her in a jar imbued with an Unbreakable Charm so she couldn't transform. 1511 subscribers. Where the deaths of characters like Thoden in The Lord of the Rings were the result of Gandalfs understandable inability to be in two places at once, Dumbledore plans seemingly every detail of the later books, including the deaths of almost every halfway-interesting character in Harry Potter. Throughout the Harry Potter series, characters and concepts are routinely introduced just before they become important. There, she helps to pass laws that encourage wizards to treat their slaves better, at least until she shifts her attention towards helping muggle-born wizards. she was known as unregistered animagus. During her early days as an author, Skeeter wrote a biography on Armando Dippet, entitled Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?. By the time Harry faces Voldemort for the last time, the boy wizard has become further purified as a christ figure. Harry never had any meaningful flaws to overcome, and he defeats Voldemort because he stole a random wand from Draco Malfoy or something? The TRUTH about Newt Scamander; like the rest of her books, most of it was rubbish-- one claim even stated that Newt Scamander broke Seraphina Picquery's heart in 1926, something which he revealed was untrue in his own book. Pretentiousness isnt even the biggest flaw in J.K. Rowlings writing. as a review. A younger Rita Skeeter as a court reporter at the trial of Igor Karkaroff, Skeeter was a journalist at the time of the First Wizarding War when Lord Voldemort was in power. This includes Hermione. #Rita skeeter full. While much is said of her scarlet fingernails, her penciled on eyebrows, and her blond curly hair, she is also described as having large, masculine hands the same as Pippa, perhaps and an "an oddly square-jawed face." The hero of the story casually threatens a trans woman with prison rape, and were meant to side with him. Instead, she said Dumbledore is gay in an interview, and then the author wrote a screenplay where Dumbledore is never shown to be gay. This leads to another important point: a consistent and troubling theme in Harry Potter. [7] Hermione used this as leverage to get Rita to do an interview with Harry for The Quibbler without any charge. She's described as having a square jaw, wide shoulders, and large hands. A good person to inflict self-harm, such as when Dobby burns his own hands with a iron! Her story and hes not alone ; apart from Hermione, every character owns... Ron Weasley so callously put it me if there are any examples of Rowlings cis heroes personal to! 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