In J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans by Sonya Saturday, the titular Harry Potter creator’s devolving relationship with followers who object to her transphobic statements is recounted by a parody of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
The Beat caught up with Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. We requested all in regards to the motive she selected The Giving Tree, the main points included in her e-book that parody the Giving Tree, and what she hopes cis readers will take from J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans.
This interview was edited for clairty and size.
REBECCA OLIVER KAPLAN: What made you resolve to make this e-book a parody of The Giving Tree?
SONYA SATURDAY: Some of the work that I do is satirical. I’ve accomplished a few satirical political issues. I used to be doing a little political artwork a number of years again. And I preserve monitor of what’s in the information. Rowling was on my radar, clearly, being trans and bizarre and all that stuff.
So I used to be protecting monitor of what was going on along with her. And in some unspecified time in the future, I used to be pondering, “I want I’d like to do a book, somehow addressing it.” And I believed the best way to do it will be a parody of a kids’s e-book.
I used to be initially pondering it will be like, perhaps like a Harry Potter story, which lots of people have accomplished and I used to be sort of leaning that manner. And on the lookout for a kids’s e-book to parody, I used to be initially taking a look at Maurice Sendak. I used to be pondering of perhaps doing one thing like Where the Wild Things Are, however it wasn’t actually meshing for me.
I took a step again. And I although, “If I want to talk about her, I need to make it about actually her, not a Harry Potter character.” So it occurred to me: what’s her state of affairs? Her state of affairs is, she created this factor. And she was placing this work out into the world that kids love, folks all around the world love, they usually adore her for it. And then she began to vary, however the followers are nonetheless there. And they don’t need to change.
I began to assume, “Well, it’s sort of like The Giving Tree, as a result of The Giving Tree is giving to this little one. The little one goes away, grows up slightly, comes again takes and takes and takes and the tree retains giving and giving with none judgment or pushback. And the kid takes and the tree offers till there’s nothing left of a tree.
But I believed, she’s sort of like that, besides once they come again and ask for extra. She simply flat-out says no, she’s basically accomplished giving the followers what they need. So these varied concepts simply sort of meshed in my head.
KAPLAN: Personally, I’ve needed to clarify to lots of people the Rowling factor. So why is it sort of essential for cis folks to learn J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans?
SATURDAY: I don’t need to promote my very own work brief, however I imply, I’m doing one thing satirical. Is satire fully mandatory in our society? I might assume so as a result of it’s a mirrored image of our world again at us.
I are likely to really feel that, as an artist, as somebody who creates paintings, my complete level is to watch the world round me from my level and mirror it again in a manner that that’s distinctive to my voice. Even although it’s a parody, it’s me translating what I believe is going on to the world.
People know that that is what she believes, that is terrible, however I needed to make it into like a enjoyable factor. I needed to make it the place the backwards and forwards that occurs in the e-book between the Rowling character and the followers, is that they’re telling her what they don’t like and what they want. It breaks it down. They’re saying, “You are hurting our feelings. This is bad for us.”
And I really feel like that’s a factor that numerous cisgender folks don’t actually take into accounts is, when there are arguments about, “we shouldn’t have transgender girls playing girls’ sports, because they’re biological males” and stuff. The manner I see it: can’t you simply be a compassionate, empathetic individual? It’s not nothing whenever you’re telling somebody that their emotions don’t matter, that who they’re doesn’t matter, that what they imagine doesn’t matter. That’s not nothing. And we deal with it prefer it’s nothing.
I imply, society treats it prefer it’s nothing usually. If it’s not your youngsters, most individuals don’t care. Generally. I’m at this level now the place I really feel like America doesn’t care about kids, simply flat out. We care about our personal youngsters. But we don’t care sufficient about all people’s youngsters to fund faculty lunches for the least privileged kids. We ship them on buses at six in the morning, which we all know is horrible for his or her psychological well being and for the sleep that they want.
I simply really feel numerous cis folks or straight world folks, don’t put sufficient inventory into what we’re doing to folks emotionally once we inform them they don’t matter. You sort of anticipate folks to similar to suck it up. We’ve obtained that complete rugged individualism factor, you’re simply supposed to place up with it.
If there’s one takeaway I’d like cis folks to get from this e-book is perhaps to have slightly bit extra compassion for folks in a distinct state of affairs than you. I imply, I don’t know if this e-book goes to vary any hearts or minds or something. Theoretically, folks would get a chuckle out of it and say, “Oh, that’s a cute way of looking at it.” But that’s actually what I would really like out of my what folks to get out for folks to get out of J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans.
KAPLAN: Do you assume satire is like, like a great way to sort of break down folks’s defenses?
SATURDAY: Yeah, completely. Humor is one of the simplest ways to get by folks’s defenses. I imply, on the one hand, humor is the best way I take care of the shitty issues in my life. All the crap I’ve needed to take care of all these items round me. Humor is simply what will get me by the day, it will get me by my life. It’s simply what I want.
But additionally, you may inform folks just about no matter message you need so long as you do it with a smile on your face. And persons are extra receptive. If you’re on the market with hearth and brimstone and shouty, there are individuals who will reply to that.
KAPLAN: Do you assume it’s attainable to get to a post-Harry Potter world?
SATURDAY: I imply, actually, like, I don’t essentially blame followers for loving the factor that they love regardless of the creator being terrible. I personally personally relate to that. I used to be by no means actually into Harry Potter. It simply didn’t do something for me. I didn’t dislike and it, simply wasn’t my factor.
But different issues are “My thing” and the creators are horrible. Like HP Lovecraft. He was terrible. He would have thought I used to be the worst factor in the world. He was homophobic, he was sexist. He was racist. He was xenophobic, he was simply the worst.
But his writing has meant lots to me. I don’t like that rubbish that he put into it. But numerous his ideas which got here from his actually tousled worldview nonetheless imply lots to me.
So, I can completely relate. The distinction with Rowling is, Lovecraft died many years and many years and many years earlier than I used to be born. So I can learn his stuff now and know what it was like, in the context of the time, take what I take from it, take what means one thing to me, and in addition nonetheless perceive there was numerous rubbish in there that I don’t agree with. And I can acknowledge that.
With Rowling, it’s tougher as a result of it’s taking place to us and her followers in real-time. People simply cherished her they usually cherished her writing. And now it’s very sophisticated. So so far as a post-Harry Potter world, I don’t assume there must be a post-Harry Potter world. I hate to say this, however will probably be higher once we’re in a world the place Rowling’s not a factor. Where we simply look again on the previous and say, “Yeah, she was kind of awful. But she wrote some stuff people love, and we can acknowledge that.”
Right now. It’s extra sophisticated, as a result of if you find yourself shopping for her books, shopping for her video video games, going to the Harry Potter world at Universal Studios. Every greenback you place into it, if a few of that goes to her. Do you are feeling okay about that as a fan? I imply, for those who do, I suppose go for it. If the place you spend your cash counts… If she wasn’t bringing in any more cash, she would in all probability change. One of her one among her huge arguments, which I’ve her saying in J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans, is “I’m very rich and very famous and I don’t need to listen to anybody.”
As far because the followers go, a private selection, no matter you need to do. I really feel like you need to simply preserve in thoughts that for those who’re nonetheless shopping for her stuff, she’s getting the cash. And if she will get the cash, she’s gonna really feel completely cool with persevering with what she’s doing. And she’s gonna donate a few of that to her causes.
She’s a giant donor. She donates some huge cash.
This can also be completely different artwork model for you slightly bit?
Well, I’m parodying an current e-book, I’m parodying The Giving Tree. I really spent some time looking for the comfortable medium between Silverstein’s paintings and my artwork model. It’s not completely his model, it’s additionally not completely my model. I spent some time creating these characters, the search for it. It is sort of completely different from how I sometimes draw faces. There are some similarities, however the eyes for these characters are simply black circles, and that’s not sometimes my factor.
But I began doing that in my current caricature. Sometimes I’ll simply have characters like that, and that’s sort of a brand new factor. My paintings is all the time evolving. I’m all the time making an attempt out various things. And really, with this e-book, I actually did do issues that I don’t usually do.
I’m sometimes very specific about drawing in a mode that lots of people check with as “a clean line style.” It’s like European comics and clear line model the place I don’t do numerous heavy shading, lighting stuff. When I draw a personality, I draw the road for this facet of the hair, the road for that facet of the hair; that is how these fingers go. It’s all the identical shapes. I need you to see all of it and I need all of it to attach
With J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans, I attempted loosening up slightly bit. So I don’t know if the truth that I used to be parroting and current work was a possibility for me to only type of department out slightly bit with my very own model.
KAPLAN: I used to be questioning since you usually letter your personal stuff.
SATURDAY: Right. But The Giving Tree is typed. If you undergo J.Ok. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans, it basically matches up one to at least one, like a way of life. Not simply the model, however the story beats.
Look on the phrases and there can be sentences that may begin on one web page, and it’ll proceed on the following web page. In The Giving Tree, will probably be the identical manner. That sentence will proceed on the following web page.
It’s actually a fairly actual parody simply because I used to be very specific about it in my very own head. It’s the very same size as The Giving Tree. Fall is basically the identical, basically the identical beats, it’s simply the inverse of it.
It’s very a lot the identical pacing. That was all intentional. I’ve cherished Weird Al Yankovic since I used to be slightly child. The factor with Weird Al is, whenever you hear his songs, one motive they’re so nice is that for those who’re not listening intently, you’d assume it’s the unique track as a result of it’s such an ideal pairing. And then whenever you give it a second, you notice, “Oh, it’s his version of it, but it sounds so much like the original.”
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