"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has been something of a cultural battleground unto herself. She was never just a person with an opinion that many people on the left didn't like; she was also a big part of many people's childhoods thanks to her books and the movies based on them. Whether many want to admit it or not, Rowling is a massive part of Millennial culture, in particular, and her mark will be left on society for generations to come because of it.
This is what made her such a controversial figure, and her opinions on transgenderism caused such a massive rift that her voice became the leader of a resistance for many, and the chief focal point of hate for others.
As my colleague Sister Toldjah reported on Monday, Rowling's clearly been proven right about her stances, as everyone from the U.K. government to corporations has begun pulling back on their friendliness with the transgender movement, and it appears that some in Hollywood have gotten to a point where they've gone from thumping their chests about how horrible Rowling is to demurely suggesting that people should be allowed to disagree without being hated.
This is what Harry Potter actress Emma Watson did, and instead of just spiking the football and gloating, she did something interesting with Watson's sudden change of heart; she pointed out that Watson is, for all intents and purposes, an ignorant coward. She didn't seem hateful in her post on X, but matter-of-fact about who Watson is and why her sudden change rings hollow:
The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me - a change of tack I suspect she's adopted because she's noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was - I might never have been this honest.
Adults can't expect to cosy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend's assassination, then assert their right to the former friend's love, as though the friend was in fact their mother. Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public - but I have the same right, and I've finally decided to exercise it.
The thing is, I think this is a much larger moment than two women having an exchange, albeit indirectly.
This is indicative of a turning point in our society.
The question that would inevitably arise is, if Rowling were still on the losing side, would Watson still sound like she's trying to be thoughtful and respectful of others' beliefs and philosophies? Rowling suggested the answer to that question without asking it, and I asked myself the same.
My guess is no. If the transgender movement were still gaining momentum instead of losing it, Watson would still be holding a figurative middle finger at Rowling, and publicly to boot.
But she's not, and I think Watson's actions show where we are on transgenderism as a society.
If Rowling represented the thread of common sense running through the common populace, Watson represents corporate globalism. As the transgender movement fades, corporations' interest in it goes the same way. You can see this in the way many have more or less abandoned overt displays during Pride Month, and some have even walked back their support for LGBTQ+ programs and events openly, in hopes that it will attract lost customers back to their checkout lines.
I can see many actors and actresses doing the same. Either shutting up about it completely, or like Watson, saying that disagreement doesn't have to mean silencing people who disagree, that they aren't evil, and that respect should be maintained. Since popularity is often tied to whether or not they're selected for the job, Watson is doing what corporations do, and that's whatever's necessary to get you to pay to see her work.
I don't believe her, but I don't believe the corporations when they walk back their support either.
I often say that if a great deal of people decided that something was the most important thing in the world tomorrow, corporations would bend over backward to make you think they agree. If the very next day, everyone decided they hated that thing, corporations would do their best to walk back what they said before and make it look like they "evolved" after a good long think.
Watson is, however, an individual, and can't hide behind the massive structure that is a corporation. She's shown her hand, and it's not a good look.
As Rowling notes about Watson in her X post, Watson is blissfully ignorant of what it's like to have to live life in common ways. Since she was young, she's lived a charmed life of spotlights, catering, bodyguards, and praise. She was deeply associated with one of the more positive aspects of Millennial youth, and no matter what she does in her career, she'll always be "Hermione Granger." That can be something of a curse for an actress, but it's also a massive blessing, and one that Watson doesn't fully realize since her blessing is her commonality.
And that's part of what helped the transgender movement lose so much momentum. The people who supported it continued to make themselves look more and more asinine, especially as the science caught up to what we already all knew. They were ignorant, emotional, too often violent, and told us we were wrong despite the proof sitting right in front of us collectively.
Watson figuratively bending the knee to Rowling isn't just a moment between individuals. This is one philosophy that was at war with another. This is one lifestyle showing its total lack of understanding and authority. This is them admitting defeat by becoming passive toward the other. It's an admission that the people who denied transgenderism's takeover and actively stood in its way were right all along, and while it may have taken a hot minute, more and more people got to Rowling's position thanks to constant examples of horrible behavior and bad faith "conversation" from the transgender movement's side.
The fight isn't over till it's over, but I think it's pretty clear that the momentum has gone from the transgender movement, and it's all over but the crying.
