BBC One series, in association with HBO/ Cinemax, ‘Cormoran Strike’ (CB Strike) has managed to unseat ‘The Last of Us‘, at least during yesterday, according to the page Flixatrol with its season ‘Cormoran Strike: Murky Blood’, which is now available on HBO Max. The series is based on the detective novels that JK Rowling wrote under the pen name of Robert Galbraith, known for writing the ‘Harry Potter’ books.
A series with controversial origin
The starting point of ‘CB Strike’, which has slipped into this week’s number one of many countries such as Spain or Slovenia, is the character of Cormoran Strike, a war veteran who becomes a private detective, and whose office is located in Denmark Street, in London. Strike must battle the physical and emotional wounds of the war and use his investigative instincts and experience to solve complex crimes.
The first miniseries has 7 chapters based on Rowling’s first three novels, ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, ‘The Silkworm and Career of Evil’ and starred Tom Burke who plays the detective accompanied by Holliday Grainger as Robin Elacott, the detective’s assistant and assistant. The latest season is based on the 2020 novel, the second most recent in the Strike series, ‘Troubled Blood’ in which Strike tackles his first cold case.
The official season synopsis says:
“Private detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for his help in finding her mother, Margot Bamborough, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1974. Strike had never tackled a cold case before and much less a 40-year-old, but despite the slim chance of success, he’s intrigued and takes on the case, adding to the long list of cases he and his agency partner Robin Ellacott are currently working on.
Robin herself is also juggling a divorce on top of fighting her own feelings about Strike. As Strike and Robin investigate Margot’s disappearance, they are faced with a devilishly complex case involving a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot be trusted. They learn that even cases from decades ago can be fatal.”
Projected transphobia or provocation?
The cast of the series is growing and through it they have passed Kerr Logan, Natasha O’Keeffe, Sophie Winkleman, Joseph Quinn, Nick Blood, Natalie Gumede, and Robert Glenister. Sue Tully takes over the helm, with the likes of Michael Keillor, Kieron Hawkes and Charles Sturridge participating. Written by Tom Edge and produced by Mark Kinsella and Jackie Larkin, JK Rowling also uses the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to produce.
The author of the ‘Harry Potter’ saga, who has been accused of transphobia on many occasions, once again created controversy over the protagonist of the book, since its protagonist is a serial killer who dresses as a woman to commit his crimes , an example of fiction with a lot of controversy since ‘The silence of the lambs’, which was supposed to be much surpassed, which made him face criticism in networks for supposedly lean towards portrayals of trans people as villains.
…I have to say, the irony here is rich: Basically JK Rowling is posing as a man (Robert Galbraith) to write a novel about a man who poses as a woman to kill people. PROJECTING MUCH?!?!
— Julia Serano (@JuliaSerano) September 14, 2020
I have to say, the irony here is plentiful: Basically, JK Rowling is posing as a man (Robert Galbraith) to write a novel about a man posing as a woman to kill people. PROJECTING A LOT?!
Author Marieke Nijkamp went further, commenting that while she has tried to ignore Rowling’s previous comments on trans issues, found controversy impossible to avoid:
“Usually we are not perpetrators of violence, we are victims. I can’t imagine going back and explaining to my teenage self, ‘Hey, this author you love so much blatantly hates people like you.