Trigger warning: examples of rape apologism and discussion of what, within
the Harry Potter universe, is basically a date rape drug. (Although it's
obviously a fictional universe, it raises issues that do pertain to the real
world. So I just wanted to include a word of caution if that might remind
anyone of real-life trauma.)
****
Today I was thinking of the whole
concept of love potion within the Harry Potter world and how many issues it
brings up. What would happen if somebody slipped it to a person who was already
in love with them? Would it cancel itself out and cause that love to disappear?
Would it make no difference? Or would it just add a desperate, miserable
element to the feeling that was already there? Also, would it work if given to
someone who wasn't attracted to your gender? And if so, would anti-gay wizards
exploit that in order to promote "ex-gay" therapy?
I wonder all those things about
the concept of a love potion, as well as the way it would undermine the
foundation of consent. J. K. Rowling recognized that factor, which was why it
was always presented as a very harmful and destructive potion. She emphasized
that it didn't really create love, as genuine love can't be replicated or
artificially formed. Whenever a character drugged someone with it, it induced a
desperate, unhappy, and insatiable obsession. I imagine that it was probably a
heavily contested substance within the Harry Potter world. Whoever marketed it
would probably argue that it didn't compromise your agency because you were consenting while under its
influence. Those who sought to outlaw its sale would reply that you weren't
acting of your own volition, since it altered your mental state and you didn't
even agree to take it—it was always slipped into your food or drink,
specifically because the person knew you wouldn't otherwise be interested. The
marketers (and probably the wizarding community's version of gross, predatory
pick-up artists) would disingenuously respond that nobody really consents to
falling in love, anyway—that your own brain chemicals basically
impose it on you. Protesters would rightly argue that at least the natural
process isn't instigated by an outside source who is deliberately acting
against your will.
I was telling Mike about this and he felt the same way. Then he said, "See, this is why you were never invited to Hogwarts. Because you'd go in and start pointing out all the problems with their social norms."
I was telling Mike about this and he felt the same way. Then he said, "See, this is why you were never invited to Hogwarts. Because you'd go in and start pointing out all the problems with their social norms."
