Harry Potter called out for whitewashing character recast

Despite its critical acclaim, the world-famous Harry Potter series has been majorly tarnished due to the drama surrounding JK Rowling, which has been divisive to say the least. Not only was the latest game Hogwarts Legacy boycotted and criticised, but the recently announced Harry Potter reboot series is being threatened with boycotts as well, largely due to the idea of recasting beloved Potter characters.

Yet one Twitter user pointed out that the recasts aren’t exactly new, as a character from the original films was recast in-between entries, with nobody batting an eye at the time. Now fans are paying attention, and calling out the original films for whitewashing.

The user shared a tweet stating: “You know of all the Rowling shenanigans, we don’t talk enough about how movie Lavender Brown was Black until they recast the part with a white girl so a main character could date her.”

Lavender Brown made several appearances throughout the books, as well as during the eight films. Lavender is a Gryffindor like Harry, and was one of the original members of Dumbledore’s Army, a group of students who stood against Dolores Umbridge’s takeover of Hogwarts.

Interestingly, she appeared in three of the eight Harry Potter films and was played by a different actress every time. She was portrayed by Kathleen Cauley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Jennifer Smith in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and finally her final appearance in the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where she was portrayed by Jessie Cave. This final recast changed her race from black to white, a change which has led to accusations of whitewashing from fans.

The reason for the recasting was due to Lavender Brown becoming a more established character in the sixth film, being a member of the previously mentioned Dumbledore Army, as well as having a brief romance with Ron Weasley, so the role was recast with a more established actress.

This didn’t stop fans from calling out the change, with many citing JK Rowling’s description of the character in the books, which never stated Lavender’s ethnicity.

Regardless of the motive behind the change, it has simply been added to the long list of controversies associated with Rowling’s titan franchise.