The Harry Potter series might be one of the most beloved franchises of all time, but recently, the series has been getting a fair amount of criticism because of comments made by J.K. Rowling. While questions of how to separate the author from the text are complicated, there are definitely things about the series itself that are problematic.
Here are the ten most problematic things about the Harry Potter series that you might not have noticed before.
The Ministry of Magic is bigoted and corrupt
In the series, Voldemort might be the antagonist, and it’s clear that his fathers are hateful bigots who believe that those different than them should be punished or even killed.
However, while at times the Ministry is shown clearly for also being corrupt, not enough examination is done by other characters about how the entire Ministry and wizarding world also holds up problematic ideas of wizard supremacy.
Azkaban is a cruel and unusual place
Prisons and jails in our own world might also be cruel places, but Azkaban takes things to a torturous level. Not only are prisoners kept there in pretty medieval conditions, but they are also surrounded by Dementors who suck out any good feelings from them.
Also, it seems that all prisoners are subjected to the same things regardless of the severity of their crimes.
Hogwarts is a place where professors abuse students and dangerous things happen
Hogwarts might be presented in the book as a wonderful, magical place that Harry considers to be his home. However, there are many things about Hogwarts that are quite problematic.
First of all, a lot of dangerous things happen there and even the castle itself doesn’t seem safe for students. Secondly, professors at Hogwarts have no oversight and are able to abuse students with no reprimand.
Dumbledore manipulates Harry and lies to him
Dumbledore starts off in the series seeming like a benevolent and trustworthy person, but it becomes clear that he is much more complex and morally grey than that.
He does a lot of things that are highly questionable, particularly his affiliation with Grindelwald. But, one of the worst things actually explored in the series itself is how Dumbledore lies and manipulates Harry to get him to defeat Voldemort.
Nobody gets any actual mental health help
One thing that’s frustrating to read about is how Harry, and many others, are clearly quite traumatized from horrible events. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be any mental health services.
Harry especially is left to figure out how to deal with things like death and abuse on his own, and he’s somehow supposed to be well-adjusted anyway.
There’s a lot of gender stereotypes at play
While there are many female characters from the series that fans love, they often feel secondary to the men. Hermione is clearly more capable and smart than Harry, yet she isn’t the main character.
Many of the female characters who act more stereotypically feminine, such as Lavender and Fleur, are seen as vapid and annoying.
There are no LGBT+ characters in canon
One thing that many fans have felt frustrated about in the books is the lack of LGBT+ representation. While Dumbledore might be confirmed as gay outside of the series, the way this was handled wasn’t very positive. And, even with the Fantastic Beast series giving an opportunity for better queer representation, it never happened.
There are a lot of racial stereotypes in regards to certain magical races
This is a rather hard subject to talk about, but many fans have pointed out that certain races in the series such as house-elves and goblins seem to correlate with some awful racial stereotypes.
The existence of house-elves in the series is problematic enough as they are presented as a group that wants to be enslaved.
The fact that Rowling has said many things against transgender people
This is another rather controversial point because this isn’t necessarily something that happens in this series, but some people feel that Rowling’s opinions can’t be completely separated from the work.
This is a personal question that each fan has to work through for themselves, but it definitely doesn’t bode well for future inclusivity in any of her works.
There’s hardly any representation of non-white people
There are a lot of issues with race in regards to some of the stereotypes at play with some of the humanoid races, but there’s also a major lack of diversity when it comes to characters in the books.
For example, Cho Chang is one of the few Asian characters, and she is given a name that many Asian people have said is stereotypical and inaccurate. There aren’t any prominent Black characters either. Overall, almost all of the main characters are white and even most of the supporting characters, too.