Harry Potter's Girlfriend

Melissa Hung
July 27, 2005

Now that Harry Potter #6 is out, I'm reminded of the ongoing controvery over Harry Potter's love interest, Cho Chang. I haven't read any of the books, so I'm wondering what those of you who have think about it.

Some people think it's a good thing to have an Asian featured so prominently in the story. Others think she's just another stereotype and point out that her name doesn't make a lot of sense. Apparently she is supposed to be Chinese. So why a Korean surname for her first name?

People have also been complaining about Katie Leung, the unknown Scottish actress who is playing Cho in the movie version. I'm not sure what the complaint is actually -- she hasn't done anything yet. Some people think she's not attractive enough for the part and are hating on her online. (Of course there are plenty of fan sites too.) Here's a story about it that ran a few months back. I can't believe people in the story below (I would link to it, but you have to register. Blah) questioned whether or not she could speak English. Um hello, she attends a prestigious prep school. What do you think?

***Cyber-spite over Harry's girl
By Annabel Crabb
April 24, 2005
The Sun-Herald

Harry Potter's choice of girlfriend has set off a global internet backlash with ugly racial overtones.

Katie Leung, a 17-year-old Scottish girl of Chinese descent, was recently announced by Warner Brothers as their successful applicant for the role of Cho Chang in the forthcoming film Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

Cho Chang, a sorceress, delivers Harry Potter's first screen kiss in the film, the fourth in the hugely successful series. But the unknown actress is now the target of an internet hate campaign.

Hate Katie Leung sites have been established by jealous Potter fans, while chat sites last week ran hot with criticism of her looks and Asiatic background.

"Katie is a beast. She looks like a monster, not the love interest of my Daniel Radcliffe!" said a correspondent on the Asian American Film chat site.

Elsewhere, correspondents asked whether Katie could speak English.

Warner Brothers will not allow interviews or photographs with their new star while the film is in production.

Teenage actor Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, was more enthusiastic about his new screen paramour, describing her as "very pretty and cool".

Katie's father Peter, a food wholesaler based in Lanarkshire, said he was proud of his daughter but frightened at the savagery of the response.

"I can't make any sense of it, although I know how popular Harry Potter is," he told the Daily Star newspaper.

"No one knows her, has seen her or heard her speak, yet there all these things on the internet. Unfortunately she has seen them, too. She reads them all and it is a great pressure on her."

Tags: 
yellowfevermedia
yellow fever
Contributor: 

Melissa Hung

Founding Editor

Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was the editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. She is a writer and freelance journalist. Her essays and reported stories have appeared in NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult, among others. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

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Comments

Comments

squggily monkeys wrote on Tue, 12/20/2005 - 2:01am
Do you know who i hate GINNY!!!! I HATE HER SO MUCH!!!pleasee kill her of in the harry potter movie and books. J.K rowling i'm on my knees please KILL HER OFF!!!!!!!! She is the most irritating,annoying and cruddy thing that has ever existed!
anon wrote on Fri, 08/05/2005 - 11:37pm
"harry potter is a piece of literature and is not meant to raise controversy"????um ... weren't you paying attention in english class ... or are you attending high school in california maybe? whatever. point is, literature IS meant to raise controversy. the word you were looking for is "entertainment".
wodderly jelly wrote on Tue, 12/20/2005 - 2:04am
cho is like one of my fav characters in harry potter.
Demi wrote on Tue, 12/20/2005 - 1:17pm
now theres lyk nufin rong wif cho. shes a person like evry1 else..... now on2 Daniel. hes lyk da fittest person on earth but him bein soooooo fit has its dwn sides coz mi m8 wnt stop goin on bout him. shes da same age as me (14)nd has very sadly planned an imaginary weddin. sorry saff but dats jst plain rong!!!! Emma iz rl pretty nd Rupert iz nice aswell..... cyaz all l8rz luv dedmziex x x x x x x
jamie wrote on Sun, 08/07/2005 - 2:18pm
Fine. Harry potter is a piece of entertainment that is not meant to raise controversy. Happy?
demi wrote on Tue, 12/20/2005 - 1:18pm
da name woz supposed 2 say demzie not dedemziesozry
Demi wrote on Tue, 12/20/2005 - 1:28pm
hey dan... if ur single text me coz dis iz mi moby numba07854198797plz plz plz plz x x x x x
Kandy wrote on Thu, 12/22/2005 - 6:40am
Everybody needs to stop hate'n on Katie. She is an enesent girl who is getting ragged on for being incredible in a movie. She is beautiful and the best girl for the part of Cho Cheng. People who write rude and insulting messeges about her are wrong for that and jeealous of her. So stop hate'n because it is getting on every Katie Leung fan. So do us a favor and shut the heck up!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jetta wrote on Fri, 12/23/2005 - 10:30am
What is a Daniel Radcliffe hate site? I can't find any and I want to tell all the losers to f off and leave daniel alone. Slags.
Jetta wrote on Fri, 12/23/2005 - 10:32am
hey, is ne 1 out there?
Dellas (cho-fan) wrote on Sat, 12/24/2005 - 5:56am
Hey ppl i m glad tht after my last post some of u guys have started likin katie a bit........ and all of u those who say katies shit n shes a bitch n shes an air head mind u , u fucktards r the same!!PS : I m a gal (n i look a bit like katie)
kaesha wrote on Sat, 12/24/2005 - 10:24pm
hey ppl you should not jealous abwt hp and cho chang coz they minding thier own business so you should also mind your own business you hurt ppl like cho chang so pls stop hurt the feelings of cho changlove you daniel radcliffe and katie leung
Anonymous wrote on Fri, 10/21/2005 - 12:07am
ur so cute couple emma and daniel
Greer wrote on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 4:00am
Hey Dan u r very talented and attractive if u read this text me or call me my number is 0438291941 or send me a letter hers my address 6 Phillip Street Guildford 2161 New South Wales Sydney Australia
serenity wrote on Mon, 08/15/2005 - 8:46pm
bakit kayo ganun!!!!!!! basta ako fans nya ako kaya lobe ko kung anu man ang ipartner sa kanya. ok i love you daniel radcliffe
Greer wrote on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 4:13am
Hey Dan me again I just wanted to let you know that I understand that its hard being every girls dream guy im in the same situation most of the guys I meet or know like me but its mostly because I have long legs and most of my friends r jealus because guys r always looking at me so heres my number again 0438291941
Dellas (cho-fan) wrote on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 6:59am
hey geer, gal, dans got 10000000000000 gals who r crazy after him n dont forget 1 of them is me tooo! lol! gal dont give out your num. like this or ur addy nething is possible. bye
Greer wrote on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 5:29pm
us any1 der
Greer wrote on Wed, 12/28/2005 - 5:31pm
ppl r u der?????
Tanya wrote on Tue, 08/16/2005 - 4:23pm
This is pretty dume to talk about. I mean she is a pretty girl some of you girls are just really jealous beacuse she got to talk to daniel and hang out with him. He is cute but some of you girls are to ubsesed about him. Like a guy at your school a guy that might like you and not someone who you might not even meet in the future just get over because she is hang out with daniel. And to me she does not look like a beast. And beside's I don't think that they might have a chance together because she is almost 18 and Daniel is only 16 so you do the math.
redpen wrote on Tue, 08/16/2005 - 7:31pm
while it isn't the greatest topic, what is really pretty dumb is to spell dumb as 'dume' and we showed hope no one is ubsessed with the correct spelling of obsessed...so i suggest you stick to math.
ankita wrote on Wed, 08/17/2005 - 5:45am
i did feel jealous a bit about cho when i read the book,but honestly i have nothing negetive to say about her. she's good as a character and i wish her all the best. And for the potter fans i must suggest "STOP SHOWING OFF!!!!!"
Dan's fan wrote on Wed, 10/26/2005 - 12:37am
Who is this Natasha???
Sam Fung wrote on Fri, 08/19/2005 - 4:30am
"Asians are the yellow peril of the world. They pretend to be whites, but really they're worse than those blacks. They think they have brains but really they are genetically inferior to white muggles. Katie Leung should not be Cho Chang because her skin colour makes her like a wizard-casted mouldy yellowberry." I couldn't believe I was reading this quoted crapulant on the HarryPotterForums.co.uk. It's the most heartbreaking comment I've come across online. I didn't know whether it was sarcasm or teenage-childlishness or real. It hurts because Miss Leung is Scottish and I'm Kiwi. Thankfully the post was deleted (and the originator banned) a couple of days later notwithstanding the hundreds of replies against it and a few that supported it too! I always preach that 'race' shouldn't be used to group people (which make up a very very tiny bit of our genome). Culture, background or fashion would be much better way of describing appearance. We're the only animals that still makes 'race' such a big deal. -Sam Fung Chinese-Kiwi
Emma wrote on Fri, 10/28/2005 - 5:28am
Does Dan really have a girlfriend called Natasha coz hes my boi and im going 2 bash her up! [jokes jokes!lol]
ruby wrote on Mon, 01/02/2006 - 9:45am
im sooo sick of ppl making bad things about katie...why dont they jst leave her alone...shes a great actor and great person and she earned her fame fair and square...i think ppl who r saying all these nasty stuff should think about this stop them being so jealous...at least katie is trying 2 strong and thats great...so plz STOP it.
sally wrote on Mon, 01/02/2006 - 12:11pm
i think katie lueng is a great actress so stao hating on her u girls dont have a chance with dan so just back off i get jelouse to but not that much i mean its not real
khortn'i (courtney) wrote on Sun, 10/30/2005 - 10:22pm
this is totally unfair! i've seen her in some pics and trailers, she absolutly gourgous, and all the other bitches who are envious, get a life and stop making this gilrs life so hard
joyti wrote on Wed, 01/04/2006 - 2:50pm
There are many people out there that are jealous, some show it and others don't. Those that hate against Katie Leung online are very dumb. No one has a right to judge a person before they get to know them. To voice your opinion on something that is no concern of yours is wrong to me. She has done absolutely nothing to hurt you in any way. It is your choice that you actually want to go and see the film, I don't think that she is personally asking you to come and watch her. There is no reason for anyone to think that she purposly wants people to be jealous at her. Just leave the poor girl alone. She is a lovely, young women and doesn't deserve this hate you are lashing out at her. Daniel Radcliffe is also a gorgeous, young man and if you start judging him as well then there is no reason for you to even be watching the fourth film. No one has told you have to watch it, it is your free choice, but do not hate against someone, even if you are jealous. No one deserves that.
sotekg wrote on Thu, 01/05/2006 - 6:33am
If some narrow-minded people thought the idea of Harry & Cho was too 'interracial' for them then imagine how those idiots will feel with the Dean & Ginny story in HBP. All we need now is for JKR to fix Hermione up with Dean in book 7 and that'll really set the bigots off.The UK is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural nation and mixed relationships are no big deal to us. The rest of the world should get with the programme.
HarryPotterfan101 wrote on Thu, 01/05/2006 - 11:14am
Personally all of you who are posting awful comments about Katie are nasty pieces of work. You're just jealous I think she's stunning and she was brilliant in the Goblet of Fire.
potter fortune... wrote on Thu, 01/05/2006 - 12:39pm
Well it doesn't matter if Harry likes Katie. In the last book, Harry Potter will die, because someone installs a broom bomb under Harry's broom. Since his broom wasnt made with the same heavy metal plates in cars from the 1960s, Harry goes kablooey. the end.
CIBIA wrote on Mon, 01/09/2006 - 7:00am
hey!! harry is so cute he walk all over of every 1 if any 1 has got dans e-mail id plz mail me!! plz plz plz plz coze there r similar things in me that dan wat his dream girl 2 b only im not american plz mail me at cute_cib91 [at] yahoo.com
an actress wrote on Tue, 11/08/2005 - 2:40pm
ok people... daniel radcliffe is allowed to have a girlfriend.. i think its sooo dumb that u ppl are making a site just to discuss dan's love life... seriously cut him some slack its his love life not yours.. and the chances of him dating fans are prettyyyyy slim.. espically obssessed weirdos.. nd honstly... umm like seriously ppl you need to mind ur own business and let him live a little... k?? nd once again its outrageous that ppl make sites just to discuss this becuase there are jealous fans.. im a huge fan of hp but do i care?? no good for him
Tara wrote on Mon, 01/09/2006 - 8:35pm
Umm what can i say? Katie is a pretty girl, sure she may not be the number one hottie, but seriously she is just a regular attractive girl at school, and maybe to 'harry potter' she is the number one hottie. Alot of girls just wish that they were harry potter's fancy, well info flash HARRY POTTER ISN'T REAL!!!!! dun dun dun i said it, Just because Daniel Radcliffe is really gorgious doesn't mean that you should hate the girl that he likes in a MOVIE.
Webmaster wrote on Tue, 01/10/2006 - 11:41am
Attention Teenaged Girls: Perhaps you've failed to notice that this is a discussion board for an Asian American magazine, for the purpose of discussing Asian American isssues. It is not a place for you to express your desire for Daniel Radcliffe.Since no one has had anything new to add to this discussion for a while, this comments section is being turned off. Thank you for participating.
laifay wrote on Thu, 11/10/2005 - 6:55pm
hi. all of u that hate katie are gay. even if u are girls. she is totally hot. just because she's asian doesn't change anything u idiotic racists
Dellas (cho-fan) wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 5:52am
all those cho-haters this is for you: 1st of all i dont get it y the heck dont u like this pretty girl? i mean c'mon shes not that bad n shes reely good for the role of cho n if u guys think shes not perfect then, heck, go and find some girl who matches J.K.'s description .....and if u cant then, u bitches, go stand in front of the camera and pose n lets see how well you do!!This is for all the fans of cho (like me) C'mon guys! we'll beat up these cho-haters!!Katie i know u can reely do it, u got all our best of wishes. So go n show 'em!!
laifay wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 7:46am
all of u katie haters listen. u may be ugly and didn't get the part of cho but oh well. get over it. if u want to see daniel then go find him and rape him on stage but dont take it out on katie
person wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 2:21pm
all of u haters need to just shut up. harry potter isn't a real person so stop obessing over him even though he's sooooooo hot.oh yeah baby.
Katie Leung wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 2:24pm
all of u idoiots shut up. this is really katie leung. daniel is my boy. he even said so. just beacause im hot and your not doesnt mean u should take it out on me. stop living in a fantasy world and shut up. i did it with him
person wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 3:36pm
hey u person who says that ur Katie Leung, we all know ur not so stop dreaming and pretending OK. the real Katie Leung is a much better actress than u r
dude wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 5:16pm
hey person katie leung likes dellas
laifeth wrote on Fri, 11/11/2005 - 9:30pm
person. if u r katie u better shut up and not blow my cover
Wai-Yun wrote on Sat, 09/10/2005 - 11:02am
I am Chinese as well! When you insult a Chinese person, that goes as an insult to me! So what if she's Chinese? Jackie Chan is Chinese, no one posts hate sites about him! Why would people go to the hassle of insulting someone when they could be doing something more useful!?!? When I read these upsetting comments, it not only puts Leung down, but it also upsets me. These people are dispicable and jealous. What exactly does one achieve when they insult someone. Whoever insults Chinese people are racist and immoral to the Chinese people and I condemn you!
julie wrote on Tue, 11/15/2005 - 10:27am
ok what is matter with ppljust because shes asian, that doesn't mean u hAVE TO OUT "asian girl" beside her nameWOW harry's girlfriend is asian,so?BIG deal! there's really nothing interesting about harry's girlfriend is asian
blah wrote on Sat, 09/17/2005 - 2:21am
Peoples.
natileigh wrote on Mon, 09/19/2005 - 4:18am
hey guys!i guess you should definitely stop posting bad stuffs abwt katie!! you guys better have some respect,god!! you dont even know the lady so,stop it!! and i know, if you were in her place too, you wouldn`t wanna c people discriminating you in public,ryt? so please! show a little respect..
chelzhi wrote on Thu, 11/17/2005 - 4:03am
You know what honestly, wen i first read harry potter 1-4 didnt know that, jk wud put a asian something in there, i was surprised! i enjoyed it, being a asian blooded!like katie.. people who hates her only coz, she is chosen to be DANIEL RADCLIFF'S love interest(who wudnt) just think of this, if you were given a chance to his love interest? ryt?... There are just so jealous of it!!! So people why dont you shut up fun sites... Just wait for ur turn to be discovered ok! so for katie leung! REMEBER THIS, "JUST IGNORE THEM, DONT EVER GET THEM TO UR WAY!" you got the role so go for it
unkwnsd wrote on Sat, 11/19/2005 - 3:06am
This is a typical. No significant ASIAN Male character in the Harry Potter books / movies. People think the asian fever in Harry Potter is innocent but it is the white media brainwashing asian women in to believing that white men are better than asian men.

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