Saturday Night Live (SNL) viewers were left in hysterics after a skit that mocked Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
On the latest episode of the US sketch show, comedian Bowen Yang dressed up as house elf character Dobby, who claimed he’d been sent by Rowling, whom he called his “master”.
Days after Rowling hit out at “ignorant” actor Emma Watson, who played Hermione in the franchise, SNL poked fun at the ongoing friction between the pair over Rowling’s comments on gender ideology and trans rights.
Rowling accused Watson of using her Harry Potter link to criticise her gender critical views – and rejected the former child star’s claim that she treasures her despite their differences.
When SNL star Michael Che asked Dobby if he was scared to be in the studio, Yang as Dobby replied: “Why would Dobby be scared, sir? Dobby’s just about to publicly weigh in on trans people, that’s all.”
“Master sent Dobby to go on the telly and define once and for all what a woman is, sir.”
The elf then “revealed” that his master was Rowling and sarcastically praised the author for doing “so much for inclusion in general”.
“Remember when Dumbledore was gay after the books came out? And when Hermione was Black only on Broadway? And was Cho Chang Asian? Dobby can’t remember if the character named Cho Chang was Asian.”
Rowling casually announced that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay in 2007 during a Q&A about the books after the final instalment had been published.
Meanwhile, in 2016, Black actor Noma Dumezweni originated the role of a grown-up Hermione in the West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Yang as Dobby continued, referencing the Rowling controversy: “The point is, Dobby came here to say that women have vaginas and women’s bathrooms are for women only and girls and ghosts of girls.”
This was a reference to Harry Potter character Moaning Myrtle, the ghost of a former Hogwarts student who haunts the girls’ bathroom.
SNL viewers praised the skit as one of the show’s “funniest” in a while – particularly praising a wardrobe malfunction that saw Yang declare: “Dobby’s come undone!”
Watson and her former co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint are vocal advocates for trans rights and, in the last five years, have condemned Rowling’s controversial comments that have been criticised as transphobic.
Rowling said that “Emma Watson and her co-stars have every right to embrace gender identity ideology”, but added: “Emma and Dan in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right – nay, obligation – to critique me and my views in public.
“Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.”
