Harry Potter is about to re-enter the pop culture stage, thanks to HBO; the new Harry Potter television series is currently filming in London, bringing a new version of the boy wizard’s world to life. While certain elements will set the Harry Potter TV series apart from its film counterparts — namely the fact that it’ll be sticking close to its original ’90s era trappings — there’s also the matter of what characters will or won’t appear in the new series. Some characters in the Potterverse haven’t aged that well, from Harry’s first crush Cho Chang, to the goblins and elves that inhabit the Wizarding World. There’s one character who’s struck up a fair amount of controversy that could be cut from the Harry Potter series, and that’s reporter Rita Skeeter.
Rita Skeeter first appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireas a reporter for the Daily Prophet, originally intending to interview Harry after he’s entered into the Triwizarding Tournament via mysterious means. She ends up writing highly fabricated articles about Harry’s life, and even outs Hogwarts’ groundskeeper Reubeus Hagrid as being of half-giant heritage; she also starts slandering Hermione Granger once Hermione calls her out for her lack of journalistic ethics. Rita’s character has come under scrutiny in recent years, and cutting her from the Harry Potter series wouldn’t be a great loss.
Rita Skeeter Can Be Cut Out of the ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series
While Rita Skeeter does prove to be a thorn in Harry’s side, her subplot in Goblet of Fire pales in comparison to the other major plot developments. Harry has to deal with the dangers of the Triwizard Tournament, his raging hormones whenever Cho enters the picture, and the resurrection of Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who tried to kill him when he was a child. A reporter slandering him pales in comparison, so it would be fairly easy to write out. Fans would also point out that Rita reappears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where she’s blackmailed by Hermione into writing a positive article to combat the Daily Prophet‘s slander of Harry. Rita also plays a small role inHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, with her biography of Albus Dumbledore revealing secrets about Hogwarts’ former headmaster. Her absence wouldn’t change those scenes; Harry could just go to Luna Lovegood for help in HBO’s adaptation of Order of the Phoenix, and since Deathly Hallows features Harry, Hermione, and Ron Weasley going on a quest, they can learn more about Dumbledore’s secret during said quest.
Why is Rita Skeeter a Controversial Character?
Anyone who’s been following Harry Potter knows that J.K. Rowling’s anti-transgender views has put a shroud of controversy over the franchise, to the point where actors are double-guessing if they want to star in the new series. Fans and critics alike are also taking a closer, more critical look at the characters within the Wizarding World…and realizing that Skeeter shares more than a few things in common with Rowling. Toward the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione learns that Rita is an Animagus — a wizard or witch who can transform themselves into an animal — and she’d been using her abilities to spy on Harry to write her stories. Youth Journalism wrote that Rita being described as “mannish” in the books, combined with her shape-shifting and her blatant lies, played into the worst stereotypes surrounding transgender women. Given this controversy, it would be better for HBO to cut out her character and give the screentime to others.
Harry Potter
- Showrunner
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Francisca Gardiner
- Directors
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Mark Mylod
- Writers
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Francesca Gardiner
- Franchise(s)
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Harry Potter
