Whenever a woman achieves any modicum of success, a bunch of conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork hoping to diminish her achievements in some way. It's the reason so many Victorian female writers took male or gender-neutral pen names, it's why you see people spreading nonsense about Beyonce all over the place, and it's almost certainly the same line of thinking which started off the ridiculous fan theory that JK Rowling doesn't exist. Or rather, she does exist, just as a pen name for a bunch of writers who were the ones who actually wrote the Harry Potter books. Because we guess the idea of a broke single mother writing a goofy story in a cafe achieving worldwide fame and popularity is just too believable...? Actually this particular theory originates with Norwegian film director Nina Grünfeld, who admits that the party line is a "fantastic" story, that "gives hope", but that it couldn't possibly be real. "But can a person be so productive and commercially successful in a media industry where nothing is left to coincidence? Is it possible that a person can write six thick books that are translated into 55 languages and sell more than 250 million copies in less than 10 years? Is it probable that the stories then get filmed and commercially exploited to the degree seen here, without any well-thought-out strategy or highly professional players behind them?" Of course not! Makes way more sense that Rowling is an actress paid to act as a front for a shadowy cabal of authors and filmmakers. And she has kept schtum all these years. And kept the money.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
