I have not paid very much attention to J. K. Rowling’s transgender controversy. That is because I seldom pay much attention to the views of famous people on any subject. If I want to know more about the world of Harry Potter, I am glad to consult Ms. Rowling. On any other subject, her opinions are irrelevant as far as I am concerned.
I gather her controversial beliefs are something like the following. Men are men, and women are women. There are real physiological differences between the two sexes. It is not bigotry for a midwife to advertise her services to women, given that only women become pregnant, and the ability to become pregnant is part of what defines a woman. Because males are generally bigger and stronger than females, it is inappropriate and unsporting for a male to compete in an athletic contest as a woman, no matter how strongly he believes that he is a woman. Minors ought not to be permitted to make permanent changes to their bodies.
In fact, none of these sentiments are controversial. I would guess that they are the views of a great majority of the people of Great Britain and the United States. They would have been considered utterly uncontroversial just a decade ago. I would go so far as to say that not long ago, disagreeing with these ideas would be taken as a sign of madness.
Even if Ms. Rowling’s views on transgender are controversial or extreme, she still has the right to her opinions. There is no good reason for the many attempts to deplatform or boycott J. K. Rowling. She is not harming anyone. She is not advocating discrimination or violence against transgender people. The fact that she has become the object of hatred perhaps says more about her detractors than the writer.
But I am not writing about J. K. Rowling in this post. I am writing about a clever play about J. K. Rowling with the charming title “TERF C**T”. As you may guess, the play is not a panegyric.
Here are some details from the Scottish Daily Express:
An arts company based in Edinburgh is launching a new show about JK Rowling and her part in the transgender debate called TERF C**T.
Civil Disobedience, which has its roots in the Edinburgh Fringe and was launched by Barry and Josef Church-Woods in May 2016,described it as a “vital think-piece on Joanne, exploring just what could motivate a person with such privilege to take such a divisive stance on issues that affect her fans”.
It has been written by Joshua Kaplan, a “queer screenwriter and playwright”, and will be performed at The Actors Studio in New York City on Thursday, February 8. The plot involves Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson staging an “intervention” with Rowling.
A press release advertising the show claims: “Please note: TERF C**T is not a kill piece. It provides space for reflection and ultimately offers the audience time to explore some of the more contentious aspects of JK’s life.”
I have my doubts about whether a play called TERF C**T really provides space for reflection. It sounds like a “kill piece” to me.
The synopsis for the show continues: “Joanne led a blessed life – for a woman. Billionaire. Literary phenomenon. Natural ginger. And most importantly, beloved. Completely beloved. Until she blew it all to hell.
“Now, Joanne’s surrogate children – Daniel, Rupert, and Emma – have had enough. It’s time for an intervention. But Joanne isn’t in the mood for one, especially not one held at a Shoreditch ‘test kitchen’ organised by three overentitled Judases who know nothing about the world into which they were born with platinum spoons (thanks to her).
“From book deals to divorces, family dysfunction to broken friendships, TERF C**T goes beyond the headlines to explore the woman that captivated a world with her books only to unravel a legacy with her tweets.”
I suppose Mr. Kaplan believes his play to be edgy and courageous. But TERF C**T is neither edgy nor courageous. Attacking a woman for bucking established woke orthodoxy and repeating leftist convictions shared by all one’s peer group is hardly shocking and bold. Nothing bad is likely to happen to Mr. Kaplan as a result of his assault on Ms. Rowling. Even if the play is a failure, Kaplan will be lauded by his circle for his bravery.
If Kaplan really wanted to be shocking and brave, he might have had Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson stage their “intervention” and be swayed by J. K. Rowling’s eloquence and logic into realizing that she was right. They could then be shown apologizing to Ms. Rowloing for being such ungrateful twits. Of course, such a play could never see the light of day. If Kaplan dared to produce such a play, he would be ostracised by the theatrical community.
There was a time when artists such as Joshua Kaplan pretended to care about freedom of opinion. I don’t think they actually did care about freedom. The fashionable leftist idea of freedom seems to be the toddler’s idea of freedom. They seem to desire the inalienable right to shout dirty words, run about naked, and play with their own excrement, anything to shock the squares. They were never much concerned about the right of others to criticize them but at least they felt they should pretend to support the idea of freedom of expression.
These days, it seems that leftist artists do not even bother to pretend they support freedom. They have become Maoists who believe dissenters from orthodoxy should be subjected to struggle sessions. Since J. K. Rowling is unlikely to engage in self-criticism for her heresy in real life, Joshua Kaplan resorts to an imaginary self-criticism where a repentant Rowling admits her crimes and begs for forgiveness.
It seems that TERF C**T is an awful waste of time and talent on the part of Joshua Kaplan. Perhaps in the future, he will have something truly original to say. For the present, all he can do is engage in the defamation of a woman vastly more talented than he is.
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