In December of 2015 J.K Rowling announced that Hermione Granger would be played by Noma Dumezweni in the newest installment of the Harry Potter series, the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Although a slight buzz on the internet is expected over the news of any casting of an anticipated work, Rowling’s choice of actress for the beloved witch caused a small upheaval. Critics and fan’s discontent with Rowling’s choice stemmed from her dark skin color as Dumeszweni is Swaziland-born. Rowling labeled those who were against her choice of actress as "a bunch of racists" which, although a broad criticism, may hold truth for some who are protesting the casting of Dumezweni are. To counter this view, it is in my opinion that Rowling is coming down too quickly on those whose protests are coming out of a place of familiarization with a young woman whose character she did not specify as white in the series, but perpetuated as such since the franchise took off.
I would like to make it clear that I have no problem with Dumezweni playing Hermione, as at the end of the day what I, and it seems, most readers cherish about Hermione is her essence as a fiery know it all with a heart of gold. She taught me and many other young intellectuals that when all is said in done with, someone with book smarts is going to help do amazing things (like discover the chamber of secrets) as opposed to someone who has been slacking off (aka Ron and Harry). As the person who willed Hermione into existence, it is assumed that the essence of Hermione is someone that she loves just as much and possibly even more than the readers. This means that she did not close her eyes and point her finger at a random actor for her play but instead put much care and consideration into selecting someone who "was the best actress for the job," much like she did when selecting Emma Watson for the film series. Due to this reasoning, I fully expect that our beloved Hermione will be portrayed by Dumezweni in her full bookish splendor, bushy hair included.
While I celebrate the choice of actress for Hermione, I am not without sympathy for those who were briefly disgruntled at the choice. I won’t lie, I was off-put when I first discovered who was cast to play her, and before you call racist I ask you to hear me out. I grew up with a white Hermione while reading the series six times over every summer from 5th grade up, and enjoyed watching the eight Harry Potter films which gave me a white Hermione to envision while reading about her escapades. No matter your skin color, I do not think it is unreasonable to say that after so many years of understanding a character as holding a certain appearance, one becomes accustomed to the portrayal of a character as looking a certain way because as much as we try to deny it, appearance often plays into how we understand a particular character or person. I feel that it is not necessary that Rowling comes down so harshly on those who are expressing discontent with her choice, even though, “Fans say JK Rowling never explicitly referred to Hermione's ethnicity,” as it is apparent that for the entirety of the Harry Potter film series she envisioned Hermione as white as well.
However, I hope that others, like myself, have been able to quickly move past their initial surprise over Dumezweni to begin to look forward to a play that holds new possibilities for the character of Hermione while still retaining the trademarks of what we know about her thus far. Rowling’s Wizarding world has had a far reach and lasting impact on the literary and pop culture community, and in many ways she has given a head nod to the fanfiction world and acknowledged a sect of reader response by casting Hermione as black, which is an idea that has been circulated since the publishing of her series. Whether it was intentional or not that Rowling did not allegedly specify the ethnicity of Hermione, it gives her a nice space to manipulate the character to allow her to speak to more than one ethnic group; something that is refreshing and needed for an increasingly diversified world .
