Actress Tilda Swinton Does Not Like ‘Harry Potter’ Movies’ Portrayal Of Boarding Schools

Actress Tilda Swinton recently spoke out against the popular Harry Potter book and film franchise, voicing her own personal hatred for the wide fictional world that was crafted by author J.K. Rowling in 1997.

Strangely, however, the Doctor Strange star does not condemn the sorcerer-in-training lifestyle of Harry Potter and his friends, as some conservative Christian groups such as Conservative Truth have done in the past.

Rather, Swinton believes that the wacky world of wizardry that is introduced in the Harry Potter series takes a back seat in offensiveness to Rowling’s depiction of boarding schools in the U.K. as a thrilling and fun adventure.

Instead, Tilda recalls her own sad, personal experiences while growing up as a student at London’s West Heath boarding school.

It was this real-life experience, Swinton recently told Scots Magazine in an interview, that the actress found depressingly isolating.

Apparently, Tilda Swinton did not find boarding school life as enchanting as a mystical visit to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.

During the interview, Tilda would call her time at West Heath “hell” and describe the school — unlike the Harry Potter depiction — as “a very lonely and isolating environment.”

“That’s why I dislike films like Harry Potter which tend to romanticize such places,” Swinton remarked. “I think [real boarding schools] are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education.”

“Children,” Tilda Swinton continued, “need their parents and the love parents can provide.”

Apparently Tilda missed out on the regular Harry Potter-style Quidditch tournaments while enrolled at West Heath.

https://www.facebook.com/vanityfairmagazine/posts/10154276772292572?match=I1RpbGRhIFN3aW50b24sdGlsZGEgc3dpbnRvbg%3D%3D

Today, Swinton, is known for several roles.

The one role that is most important to her, however, and the one with which she identifies herself first is as the loving mother of 19-year-old twin sons, Honor and Xavier. It is this job, the 56-year-old actress believes, that is her most important — and challenging — gig to date.

It is also this role, which Tilda Swinton took on with her ex-husband, playwright John “Patrick” Byrn, nearly 20 years ago, that has forever altered the course of her life.

“I can’t just take off and do anything I want anymore,” Swinton remarked, noting that this fact is very likely both “a good and a bad thing, I suppose!”

For Tilda, the role of “parent” is one that presents a massive dichotomy compared to how she leads her life.

“I like being able to wander in life, I like making it up as I go along,” Tilda Swinton smiled, noting the contrast between her own relationship with her sons and the upbringing she had living like the fictional Harry Potter in an all-too-real boarding school environment.

“I cherish having a certain amount of artistic freedom and embracing the idea that I am living a creative and independent life,” Tilda noted.

For Tilda Swinton, nothing — not even a fine education and independent upbringing — can ever replace the time that parents spend with their children as they grow.

“Children,” Tilda noted, “need their parents and the love parents can provide.”

And perhaps if Harry Potter had been shown more love at home, he would have never had to live the life of a young, almost orphan-like sorcerer’s apprentice.

[Featured Image by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney]