Anti POC Hermione? Riddikulus!

So I went for a punny title, but at the end of the day this is going to be a serious blog post. Because it's on a subject close to my heart. I have been wanting to write this post for a while now but have had a lot on my plate so have only just got round to it! For those that don't know, the cast for the upcoming sequel play 'Harry Potter & The Cursed Child' for the grown-up Harry, Ron and Hermione was announced about a week ago! Here's a picture of the brand new trio:

From left to right: Jamie Parker (Harry), Noma Dumezweni (Hermione) and Paul Thornley (Ron).

As soon as the casting was revealed I felt elated. As I said, this was a subject close to my heart but not just because of my adoration for Harry Potter. Some of you may not know this, but I studied Performing Arts for three years at University and wanted very badly to be an Actress before I began to love writing. The real lack of racial diversity found in Plays/Musicals/Films etc. troubles me just as much as the lack of it in books does.  Viola Davis this year was the first black actress to win an 'Outstanding Actress' Emmy award and as she said in her acceptance speech:

"The only thing that separates women of colour from anyone else is opportunity."

In truth, there are very little in the way of POC parts, certainly in comparison to those written for white people. It seems a shame that in 2015, skin colour can still be such a deciding factor. So for me, such a decision was a victory in so many ways.

While most people shared my enthusiasm as I took to Twitter to celebrate, I found that not all did. In fact, I even found horror among some of my supposed fellow Harry Potter fans. I found comments along the lines of "Hermione is supposed to be white, like in the films." and "Casting a black Hermione is obviously political correctness gone mad." that made me feel so ill I had to take a breather and stop myself from getting into a few huge arguments, especially as most of them started with "I'm not being racist but...". 

Let's start with the books. As the source Harry Potter material, surely all it would take is a simple descriptor of Hermione's skin colour to clear up whether Rowling intended Hermione to be a POC or not. The only descriptors found throughout the series refer to Hermione's 'bushy brown hair' and 'rather large front teeth' and 'brown eyes'. The only quote that even slightly indicates her skin tone is found in 'The Prisoner Of Azkaban' where she is described  as being 'very brown' after her holiday abroad. Of course this still leaves no clarification as it could refer to her natural skin colour being brown or a tan after being out in the sun. 

Simply put: Rowling has not ever said that Hermione is white. By assuming that a lack of quote proving she is of an ethnic minority must mean she is white, you are being incredibly disrespectful. In truth, Rowling has chosen to leave it to interpretation. The films of course chose to cast Emma Watson and that is fine too. As the play is not a follow-on from the films, there is no need to cast someone who looks like an older Emma Watson. It is also important to remember that Emma Watson had bushy hair only in the very early films and certainly didn't have prominent teeth. She was of course a phenomenal actress and played the role brilliantly, which is all that should be important as far as I'm concerned. 

In terms of Dumezweni's acting career, I would say that it is impressive to say the least. She has appeared in a multitude of TV programmes, Theatre productions and Radio shows making her credentials very admirable (minor roles in Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders and Eastenders will make her a recognisable face to many). I found myself even more impressed with her Theatre reviews, especially as she received such fantastic ones when she stepped into the lead role in Linda just a few days before Press Night. People, as someone who has been on stage before, that is difficult. If that's not enough to convince you then this should be: she beat Benedict Cumberbatch and nabbed herself an Olivier Award. All of these things considered there should be no concerns about her acting skills.

At the end of the day, Hermione is a fictional, interpretable character. People should be making more of a fuss about the fact that Paul Thornley is certainly not ginger-haired like Ron is supposed to be, and Jamie Parker does not have Harry's (and Lily's) green eyes that the book describes (neither did Daniel Radcliffe by the way). But no one is because that would be ridiculous, just as this notion that Dumezweni's skin colour has ruined the Harry Potter franchise is. Rowling's magical books were always about embracing diversity and turning the underdogs into heroes. I am beyond excited to see these three in action and look forward to more casting announcements in the future!

Are book lovers...weird?

This post actually sparks from a very interesting conversation that I had with a new friend on Twitter, @aoifemrtn while talking about the near-related topic of whether people watch 'Game Of Thrones' for the 'soap-opera' element, or because they enjoy Fantasy as a genre. It really struck me while chatting that actually a lot of people (including some that I know) would happily watch films/TV shows and talk about them endlessly, but are less inclined to want to read the books. Even if they have read the books, they are less forthcoming with their opinions on them unless they know that you are a book-lover too. Every day people come up to me and say "I saw the best film last night, you have to watch it!". This is not the case with books. Why is that?

I have a few theories on the matter I guess. Firstly, watching a film is much more of a social activity. It's something that a group of people can do together. You can call any number of friends up and ask them to come to the cinema with you, but it's much more difficult/antisocial to sit in a room and read a book together. As book-reading is such a solitary activity, it could account for why people keep their love for novels to themselves too. But I don't think that's 100% the case, as if I've just read a good book then the first thing that I want to do is shout and scream about it to the world (hence why I have a Book Blog and post my thoughts).

In all honesty, part of the blame must go to society as a whole. I don't think it helps that books are always paired with the supposed Geeks and Nerds of the world. From a young age, culture shapes us to associate books with being clever and learning, and so children/teens who show an interest in that are automatically at risk of being judged or bullied by their classmates. As we grow up those thoughts on book-lovers may change but the self-conscious, paranoid feeling that you are being judged for something you love doesn't. People embrace the Geeky side of them, but still feel like it's a 'them vs. us' situation.  Being a film-buff too, I will happily walk into work and ask who has seen the latest blockbuster and what they thought, but I would never do such a thing with my latest favourite read because I feel like they would somehow think me pretentious.

And that's the crux of it: humans always worry about other people's opinions. This weird idea that book-lovers are somehow different to everyone else crosses over into genre-types too. I recently found myself reading a post-apocalyptic YA fantasy book at work. One of my colleagues, who I knew enjoyed books also, asked what I was reading. I felt myself starting to panic. What types of books did she read? What does she think about YA or Fantasy? What if her 'thing' is really clever literary fiction? Is she going to think less of me if I tell her? I cautiously gave her a basic synopsis and as it turned out, those were her favourite types of books and I'd just recommended her a new read.

In a lot of situations, people are rude about readers. The fact is, when you pluck up the courage (in any situation) to loudly praise a book you just read and someone feels it's okay to shoot back with "Oh, I've never enjoyed reading. I find it so boring." then any person will start to feel shy about their hobby. And isn't that what reading is? Something we enjoy doing in our spare time? If people started talking about their favourite TV Thriller, and the listener wasn't overly enthused they would probably politely listen anyway. Why is it considered normal to halt a conversation with a reader with "Oh err, reading really isn't my thing...sorry." and look at you as if you've grown three heads?

I have many interests and hobbies, but I feel like I only get this with reading books. Does anyone else feel the same? Am I on my own here? Obviously I get that there will be people who don't like to read and prefer TV or films, and it's fine for them to not really be bothered about the fact that their favourite movie is actually based on a book that I read recently. But the fact remains that I am still just a human being with a not so uncommon interest. Is it appropriate for me to be feeling less of a person because of it? Write your thoughts in the comments below!

How Do I Make My Blog Better?

This is a question I've been asking myself for a little while now. In fact I mentioned way back in May that I had some exciting ideas I wanted to share with you all, but never got round to doing so until now. The thing is, despite continuously coming up with posts, taking part in challenges and writing book reviews, I've felt dissatisfied for some time. The problem isn't that I don't enjoy writing these things; I do! In fact I love it! The problem is that I feel like my Blog doesn't really have a whole lot of personality, or anything interesting that makes it stand out. Some of the best Blogs I read have really interesting discussions and debates, promote books, talk about events they have attended in great detail and do a whole host of things I don't do. I'll explain why:

• I've been busy. The fact is, I have a full-time job now that takes up five of my precious seven days a week. I have to blog around my shifts, as well as do a ton of chores, try and read books and of course have a social life. It's hard to fit it all in.
• I've been lazy. Despite the aforementioned hectic schedule, there's no denying that the fault is also on my part. I fall behind on posts all of the time, and I fail to try and sit down and think of ideas. Instead, I've become stuck in a pattern of doing the same memes repeatedly alongside the book reviews. Enough is enough.

All I want is for this Blog to become more 'me' again, rather than being a repetitive chore that I do when I can. Of course I love taking part in the Memes and that will continue but I also want to feel like I'm a part of the community more.

So how do I improve?

Well firstly, more discussion posts! I love reading them so much, why not write some of my own? I do have some ideas, as well some response posts to other discussion posts I have seen on Blogs that I follow. I've been holding these back for far too long!

Next, I plan to get better at Blog design. It's time my blog had a make-over I think. It has always been very basic in it's template because I'm personally a little naff at making headers and using HTML etc. If I can learn to do a better job, I'll think I'll be happier overall.

Book tours, cover reveals and blitzes are also a huge part of the Book Blogging community and up until now, I have rarely got involved. Not just because I worry I'll 'do it wrong' but because I didn't want to commit to something, only to disappoint. Well worry no more everyone, I am on the case! I've signed up to some sites and hope to kick things off very soon!

Do you know what else needs improving? My 'Shenanigans' posts. I need to do more things where I live. This one is hugely important to me because I live in London! I should be making the most of that and finding fun things to do so that you all have fun things to read about (preferably Bookish things)!

These are just a few ideas of mine but there is one more that I'm a little unsure about, and would really like to hear your thoughts on. Some of you may remember this Top Ten Tuesday post on my very own imaginary Fairy Tale Book Club. It had a lot of comments and was very well received as an idea. The books I chose I am so desperate to read too, and I thought 'Hey! What if I actually make this...a thing?'. People would have to be on board with it though to make it work, so please let me know what you think!

I guess this post really kicks of my Discussion post idea. What top tips do you guys have for writing a better Blog? Are these ideas good ones? And what do you think of a Fairy Tale-esque Book Club? Write in the comments below and thank you all for being such wonderful followers!