🎶How do you solve a problem like Hermione?🎶

I can’t stop thinking about Hermione Granger… sounds like the opening to a fanfiction I never wrote. It is a sentiment that is probably echoed in a thousand and one ships, no worry there. Fiction has always been a port of exploration, especially identity. Many times the protagonists of our favorite stories spend a lot of time pondering their identity and how they fit into the world. Part of the joy of fiction is seeing the hidden, inner lives of others and recognizing a common struggle that we can empathize with. Practiced authors take care to give their characters certain flaws and generally give the character or the narrator the self-awareness to tackle those flaws in a way that makes the resolution of conflict feel satisfying and realistic. Even though we tend to think of endings in terms of resolution this does not mean a character will necessarily shed their so-called negative qualities nor, most of the time, do we want them to, after all that is part of the unique make-up that drew us to them in the first place. 

Tony Stark’s main quality is arrogance. Sarah Connor can’t quite believe the danger she’s in or time travel, and some actors even make careers out of playing certain archetypes which all come with their own shortcomings and pitfalls, often making predictable and repeated mistakes. As media consumers we often become biased towards our favorite characters which is no surprise look at the explosion of the POPs figurine industry and other collectible hunting activities that no doubt drive millions if not billions of dollars each year. I would say this is extremely true of series or franchises that may have been comforting or even a lifeline for people who are struggling, especially when those who are struggling are also fighting to see themselves fairly, accurately, and most importantly WIDELY represented. 

Rewind nearly twenty-five years earlier to 1997 as an incoming zeitgeist stands poised to take over and launches the characters and universe of the Harry Potter series into some of the most recognizable and shared pop culture currency among the then adolescent Millennial generation. I would stress that this is not meant to understate the importance of other pop culture moments or impacts of the time but to emphasize the sprawling impact of the franchise including and especially in online spaces and communities. There were many talented, kind, and caring people who were able to enrich the universe despite the built-in flaws that depict the not-so-hidden bigotries and prejudices of the author. In fact, many of these fanworks exist precisely because there were so many people who did not see themselves represented in that world. Sadly, these same fans who were underrepresented, ignored or had harmful stereotypes about themselves repeated by the author were also forced to fight for their fandom spaces; receiving harassment, pile-ons, doxxing, threats, and often had social media security features leveraged against them. This is a cycle that has been on rinse and repeat as Rowling has consistently expanded her bigotry rather than reflected and learned from past mistakes. 

That brings us back to Hermione Granger, one of our three main protagonists as she happens to be the titular character’s second of two best friends. This is also a character that beyond the confining pages of the novel has gotten to experience the true meaning of ‘death of the author’ and has seen many joyful transformations in fanworks. At least, joyful until the aforementioned cycle kicks in which is what has concerned me about the recent discourse. It is a problem to see white neurodivergents do a pile-on attack and amplification of a Black person’s criticism. Full stop. As white people, we have a responsibility to think about how our visible, online interactions with others may cause them harm in ways that are not for what they said but by their profile. I think there are some people that need to think about this situation from a wider perspective and maybe even apologize or acknowledge that harm can come in many varied forms, some harder to recognize than others.  

I want to pause on “an annoying know-it-all” because while it is certainly an insult that has cut some of us deep it is not nearly as bad as “an annoying know-it-all white person" who is convinced they know best at the expense of others, especially Black women and the Black queer community. White women, in particular, already have a tendency to silence and speak over Black women and this phenomenon also, unfortunately, transfers into queer spaces due to the systemic nature of racism. In, this case by insisting that calling Hermione an “annoying know-it-all” is a form of ableism (once again many individuals participated in agreeing or defending this point) without also considering the point of view of the critic is not allowing a) grace and b) nuance. 

[[Note: It has been made clear to the author that the critic most likely identifies as non-binary and uses she/they pronouns while another main participant identifies as fae which is defined as, "a non-binary/genderfluid gender meaning sometimes feminine but never masculine," and uses she/her pronouns. The author intended to make a more general commentary based on the actions of multiple participants as well as referring to a larger well-documented trend within fandom spaces that has spanned decades and social media platforms, to those who I failed in that endeavor I apologize for any hurt or harm I caused. I have made edits and modifications for clarity and respectful inclusion.]]

I don’t want to discredit those that see parts of themselves in Hermione and I think there are interesting conversations to be had about some of Hermione’s traits within the context of the novels, but I think we have to be careful not only because asserting certain universal autistic character traits comes with its own set of problems and slippery slopes but also due to other pertinent character information. Fan theories and fan works color outside the lines of canon but that flexibility often comes at the cost of ignoring certain facts or accepted rules of the fictional world that may undermine those points of view. 

For example and perhaps most glaringly, the long and well-documented scholarship of J.K. Rowling’s internalized misogyny, including that she sees herself in Hermione. Think about that in the context of Rowling’s transmisic crusade in the UK or her refusal to include POC voices in her universe while botching their culture with her own attempts at world-building as well as the fact that she has also espoused her internalized misogyny in interviews, criticizing women’s friendships in particular. This may be a case of, “You’re not wrong that these traits could be considered autistic BUT you are failing to consider the context of sexism and the intersections with racism by piling on and failing to consider the actions and red flags of the author.” (note: general you in all instances of jocular quoted audience address)

And of course, you'll say, "But Ash, I'm focusing on the specific traits being critiqued!" well... you're kind of forgetting about the sexist origin of those traits you're defending, in the specific context of Hermione Granger being a woman informed by Rowling's misogynistic POV, and I think that needs to be considered before going all-in on the "annoying know-it-all," is bad for all time thing especially when the situation involved taking up criticisms on words of critique from a Black person without fully considering her perspective re: how white people, specifically white women embodying traits like Hermione Granger could be perpetuating racism and how those actions end up hurting Black people especially women, nonbinary, and queer individuals. Once again, technically there are points to be made here but in your rush to make them did you perhaps fail to consider the other factors at play? Think back to what I said about Rowling's own actions as a "know-it-all" as well.

Also, and maybe I'm wrong because of perceptions of tone through text and all, BUT I feel like the critic didn't get very much benefit of the doubt just a lot of shouting down; this observation is completely subjective and anecdotal based on behaviors of multiple participants. Not only did this attract trolls to the critic it also opened up the autistic participants and commentators to harassment and abuse from Twitter users who joined in precisely because users were identifying themselves as part of the neurodivergent community.

I'm not sure if I'm right, wrong, or somewhere in between but I feel very strongly that while the autistic community is right to defend themselves they also have to consider their intersection with whiteness and white privilege and that de-centering ourselves sometimes means conceding that there was a miscommunication or something you failed to take into consideration. This conversation could have been way more tactful or happened apart from the critic's thread with some disclaimers. There could be something to be said about jumping to conclusions about the motive of the critic and going back to racism but that's not something I really have the authority to speak about. However, I can comment that a lot of people also seemed to get caught up in their personal experiences of bullying, exclusion, and alienation at the hands of our neurotypical peers using those types of insults but that doesn't mean protecting Hermione's flaws at the expense of halting criticisms of her whiteness or white feminity/white womanhood. 

I feel like this attitude also teeter's dangerously near coming back around to pathologizing all "negative traits or behaviors" as neurodivergence but this post has gone on long enough. Just consider how you're framing this discussion, how you may be impacting other communities visibly or invisibly, and also consider the other layers and maybe consider that there are other nuances that need to be taken into consideration before making sweeping proclamations. Otherwise, you really are trying to catch a cloud and pin it down.

This post has been edited since originally posted.