The BBC announces a new two-part documentary, that’ll spend two hours charting the story of J K Rowling. More on the announcement here. In a different life, I covered the premiere of one of the Harry Potter films, and bore witness to people being drawn together from all walks of life, unified by a universe ... ‘Cancelled’ billionaire author J K Rowling to be a two-part BBC documentary
The BBC announces a new two-part documentary, that’ll spend two hours charting the story of J K Rowling. More on the announcement here.
In a different life, I covered the premiere of one of the Harry Potter films, and bore witness to people being drawn together from all walks of life, unified by a universe that J K Rowling had created. The crowd, bringing together so many people who felt like outsiders who I talked to, chanted her name, and she seemed moved to the core by the reception she’d received. It was an amazing group of people, free to express themselves as they wanted, and be seen how they wanted to be seen.
More recently, J K Rowling has turned on people I saw in that crowd that night.
Her views on trans people and gender politics have been widely reported. Warner Bros is currently bolstering her bank account still further with its $2bn Harry Potter television series that kicks off this year, and it’ll be fascinating to see if she’s going on the press tour for the show.
After all, goes the narrative, she’s been cancelled. She dared to speak out, goes the reporting, and now she’s not allowed to have her say.
She’s a billionaire, with over 13 million social media followers, and, er, has no outlet to have her say.
No matter, the BBC has come along and announced a two-part documentary on J K Rowling, that’s going to give her a couple of hours of fresh broadcasting.
It’s heading to BBC Two and iPlayer, and according to the BBC’s press statement, “Drawing on rare archive, Rowling’s own words, and interviews from people who worked with her along the way, this documentary series captures the rise and impact of the prolific author.”
It adds: “Admired by supporters as a fearless defender of women’s rights and condemned by critics who call her an opponent of trans equality, she finds herself divided from some of the actors and fans who once championed her work,”
Rowling is not believed to have been involved with the documentary. Given that she doesn’t mind bringing in the services of a lawyer, the BBC will presumably be treading suitably carefully.
In a further bit of blurb for you, James Rogan, executive producer, said: “J.K. Rowling has achieved extraordinary literary success, with her influence spanning a generation of fans, crossing into cinema and the online world. Rogan Scotland explores her unique story from her early days as a writer to the present moment and how her unflinching personal beliefs have sparked a fraught and divisive dialogue that continues to this day.”
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I’ve not seen the documentary yet, which presumably will appear next year, so can’t comment on that. I hope it gives voice to some of those people in the crowds at her premieres, though. They’re the ones who don’t get two-part documentaries on the BBC.
