There’s no way you people would think she’s racist if she wasn’t transphobic.
She was very accepting of Hermione being cast as a black girl. Seamus was just used as comedic relief in the movies, much moreso than in the books, with his magical mistakes causing explosions being primarily when he was a kid. He was loyal and high achieving character.
Meanwhile, the blonde character who uses the offense slur “mudblood” is the childhood villain for most the books. Yet she is racist for this somehow too, I imagine.
There’s no way you people would think she’s racist
That’s mainly because she was hyped up for so long and she didn’t go all out, but it wasn’t long until someone noticed the Gringot’s bankers were Jewish Stereotypes and some of the names were a bit iffy. But I think it really was a “Little Britain” situation where we didn’t get it until the second read through.
Also, in her books for adults, she’s gone mask off, especially against Mixed Race people.
she had a reputation for racial stereotyping even before she went mask-off as a terf, decades back. like naming the one Asian character Cho Chang (sounds like ching chang chong; both names are from different Asian countries), naming the one Black character Kingsley Shacklebolt (King from MLK, shackle from slavery), naming the Jewish character Anthony Goldstein, naming an Irish character Seamus Finnegan…
…it’s not that she was necessarily super racist, she just used very stereotypical/over the top names for her characters. so I don’t hate her for being racist, I hate her for being transphobic.
About Cho Chang though, she actually looked up the meanings and choose Cho because it meant butterfly. I’ve never really associated that character’s name as a play on the racist stereotype, being Oriental myself. I’ve just associated it with general western ignorance.
As abhorrent as she is now, she was a queer ally but just didn’t understand trans, like many people around her age and demographic. She reacted to the massive backlash and drove herself into the weeds.
She’s horrible now and deserves all the hate but know that she’s a result of our own making. I think if any new people express a misunderstanding, it’s far better to make a bridge to correct that misunderstanding. It takes a lot on our part, trans and trans allies, but I’d rather make a friend out of a fool than a foolish enemy.
YOU’RE DOING THAT THING THAT REDDITORS DO
Im so glad she has no idea what Mexicans or latinos are. We would have gotten “Jose frijoles” a Mexican wizard with a moustache and hat who throws a spanish word into every sentence.
I don’t know if I’m laughing art JKR’s racism or at that funny racist sketch.
It’s ok to laugh at satire of racists 👍
Racism is so much fun amirite?
It’s fun to laugh at racist, so yes.
You can make fun of stereotypes without being racist.
This is literally just a commentary on how JK Rowling wrote her other characters like Cho Chang and Kingsley shacklebolt.
No reasonable person is offended by the joke because it’s making fun of the stereotype not of the actual race.
tbf. recently there was a fad of sketches recreating racism towards clankers. at some point it seemed like an excuse to cosplay racism, it stopped being funny and because creepy. not calling non of those people racist. just that the while vibe was off.
unless it’s hateful rather than playful, anything can be funny. being funny isn’t an indication of morality.
Ok I know I shouldnt have, but that did make me chuckle.
There’s no “shouldn’t have” here. We can laugh at these things. This was a joke about how badly JKR writes foreigners, not a joke about the race it depicts.
There are good and bad jokes about racial stereotypes. Are we making fun of Mexicans or are we making fun of racist peoples’ stereotypes about Mexicans? I’d argue this joke was the latter.
I find it amazing that she can be so fucking tone deaf.
Like, wasn’t half of your entire best-selling series about equality/prejudice, you daft fucking terf? Pretty sure there was a whole lot about the unfair treatment of house elves and muggle-borns. Pretty sure that first antagonist we meet (aside from the Dudley’s) is a poster-child for Hitler Youth.
Pretty sure there was a whole lot about the unfair treatment of house elves
no, the house elves loved being slaves and hermione was being hysterical for fighting for their rights.
to be fair, some people see palestine action, or fighting for equality and think of us as hysterical.
sometimes things accidentally line up.
The difference between Palestinians and house elves is that Palestinians don’t like being in a concentration camp that is constantly being bombarded by its guards.
House elves like being servile and the thing that struck Hermione the most is that many owners took advantage of their servitude by using them as a valve to live out their sadism. Hermione’s biggest flaw was that her goals were all over the place and it would have been better to just cross out the cruel treatment of the elves by pursuing a protection law similar to the law to “protect” muggles. Protect in quotes here because wizards and witches (especially the adult ones) are batshit fucking insane and care much more about their secrecy than the victims of the crime. Meddling with shit like health care and wages for house elves, which they don’t even want, is pointless.
Which is also amazing because she is simultaneously a target herself for being muggle-born. To the point that she had to erase herself from her own parents memories.
Meanwhile in the real world, bigotry is still common among oppressed groups. See also: racism in LGBT communities, self-hating Jews, Catholics/Protestants, close-the-border 1st and 2nd gen immigrants etc.
She basically stole materials from all kinds of various books, she doesnt even know the themes she’s writing about.
Yes, but Hermione was one of the good ones and the system found her and elevated her.
They see me (rowling), they hating. Trying to catch me writing dirty…
This made me laugh way harder than it should’ve, bwahaha
She’s also derivative as hell, but children’s lit doesn’t get real deep reviews, and we were all too busy defending it from Christianity to really notice.
The erasure of Worst Witch is a crime.
starring Tim Curry? how have i missed this
It’s overlooked because he doesn’t play a villain, Curry is at his best as the bad guy
Wait…is Dr. Frank-N-Furter a villain? I always thought he was the hero and Riff-Raff was the villain.
Nigel thornberry would like a word
I was today years old when I learned Tim Curry voiced Nigel Thornberry. Smashing.
As a child I read Groosham Grange from Anthony Horowitz, and when I first heard a description of Harry Potter, I thought that they were describing that book from Horowitz. I can’t believe no one else noticed. But I also think that most people active in children’s literature will have an attitude of “anything that gets a child reading, is a good thing”, so they’re not that upset about poor quality being popular and they’d rather keep the positive vibe going.
Oh that’s interesting! I hadn’t heard of that series, but I adored the Alex Rider books as a kid. Horowitz’s children’s books at least feel well written.
The Troubles was so long ago for me that the character quirk went over my head.
The films added the stereotypes. They made the goblins hooked nosed and added a Star of David decoration to the greengots bank floor.
It’s not in the books but Rowling still had huge control over the film so retains responsibility.
That’s not a star of david, and it wasn’t added for the film. That’s the floor of the Freemasons Hall in London.
That’s not a star of david
The masonic seal of Solomon is directly referencing the star of David.
it wasn’t added for the film.
The location was chosen for the film and the 6 pointed star was in shot unaltered.
That’s the floor of the Freemasons Hall in London.
Its filmed in Australia House.
But maybe don’t include the floor in the center shot when you’re already being accused of antisemitism.
They weren’t actively being accused at that time and, again, that’s not the star of david.
The Seal of Solomon = The Star of David.
No, people were getting suspicious of the possible Goblin = Jew metaphor at that time.
Allow me to hit you with my cane. The Manchester blast was fucking loud.
…wut
They never really did.
Also I never really used Google. I am a duckduckgo or brave search or even startpage type of guy.
Just FYI - Startpage is also using Google’s search index, so you’re kind of also “googling”.
Thank you kindly for the links, I was just about to search for the Manchester Bombing, if I’m being honest I thought “The Troubles” was the name of a book or movie. I didn’t realize they gave such a non-chillant name to such a bloody conflict. Suddenly the meme makes sense though!
Thanks again!
It tends to attract negative attention if you admit there’s a civil war going on.
In the future, we’ll look back sadly on the current Times of Greatness.
According to the White House - this is the “Golden Age”.
What exactly in the above sentence would have suggested to the average person that they should Google search the troubles?
Or are you saying any time I see a nonsensical sentence I should just stop what I’m doing and google search the whole thing?What exactly in the above sentence would have suggested to the average person that they should Google search the troubles?
Well, I am still under the - maybe naive - impression that people understand context.
If one user writes about “The Troubles” (capitalised), and another mentions “the Manchester blast”, my expectation was that a person is able to put 2 and 2 together and google “The Troubles Manchester blast” at the very least.
Yeah, calling the only black dude Shacklebolt as well. The more you look the worse it gets.
Even the Irish kid gets worse in the books. Apart from making things explode, his other notable character trait is repeatedly trying to turn various drinks into whiskey.
As and American I’m also trying to turn various drinks into whiskey.
his other notable character trait is repeatedly trying to turn various drinks into whiskey.
In fucking fairness half of your personal goals as an Irish teenager in the 90s and 2000s related to acquiring alcohol and getting drunk.
Distilleries also have the danger of exploding.
Is it true that the centaur from movie 1 had more lines than all the black characters in all 7 books?
And then modern fans get mad at black Snape in the TV show (if that gets to finish. My bets is it will patter out like the fantastic beasts movies)
black Snape in the TV show
lmfao, there’s a TV show??
Fans get mad about black Snape because it would instantly make Harry look like an ultra racist without rewriting half the book.
I believe you, but how so? I’ve not read the books.
Jesus fucking Christ what? there was a character named shacklebolt???
Kingsly Shacklebolt, i believe he was the personal assistant to the prime minister. His most famous quote: “dumbledores got style”
Not the only black character in harry potter btw
“Not the only black character in harry potter btw”
Yeah everyone forgets about Hermione
Black Hermione? What
JK pushed a tweet out explaining that she always envisioned Hermione as a black girl.
It was at the beginning of her descent into madness.
That makes the whole SPEW thing even more hilarious. Imagine a black girl starts a campaign to end slavery of house elves, and everybody makes fun of her. The fucking author’s position ins that the elves actually prefer slavery and Hermione is stupid for trying to end that.
I swear y’all talk out your ass so much of the time, I get Rowling is a shitty terf but lying about content of the books is just stupid.
Harry freeing dobby is a major plot point
I would watch a black Hermione rip Harry and Ron some new ones.
Off topic, but I dig black Velma in the reboot.
Sorry to disappoint, but Velma is Indian in the reboot, as Mindy Kaling is Indian.
Like a lot of the worst stuff in the book, it didn’t make it into the movies I think.
Oh goodness, I never thought of that.
And the bank goblins being Jewish caricatures
And now about the transfem character Sirona Ryan.
I don’t think she was involved in writing Hogwarts Legacy to be fair, just put her stamp of bigot approval on it. Although whoever was writing certainly stuck to her naming conventions.
Broken clock right?
Broken clock is broken, yes
reminds me of “spear chucker” on MASH.
In the book, just like in the movie, Spearchucker reveals that the nickname “Spearchucker”, ordinarily a racial slur, referred in this case to his javelin-throwing prowess.
They use the racism behind his nickname to address racism:
The film also depicts Spearchucker as a particularly skilled neurosurgeon and this, together with the experience of playing football together, helps Duke Forrest overcome his racial prejudices and the two become friends at the end, shaking hands when it is time for Duke to go back stateside.
There was a book!?
Nah… come on… please, let that not have been a conscious thing
Mate, there’s so many weird or disturbing things in the books that didn’t make it into the movies.
You can’t just leave us hanging like that?
Well, there’s stuff like how the book insists that most house elves are happy being slaves, Dobby was the exception. And how it makes fun of Hermione for trying to free them.
If you want a full analysis, Shaun did a good one.
Cho Chang
Those are at least actual popular Chinese names, as Chinese people mention every time this comes up on Reddit.
You’re California pretty
You’re really really skinny
(Cho-Chang!)
You’re cuter than a guinea piiiig
'l’ll take you down to Winnipeg
That’s in Canada!That sounds really nice! How should I pack?
Like this -pantomimes packing-
What’s racist about it? I’m not racist enough to understand
Americans seem to miss that the IRA (Irish Republican Army) were terrorists. Lots of people were killed including children.
IRA are known for setting of bombs.
To say the UK and Ireland have had explosive interactions in the past would be a bit of an understatement. There were spates of car bombings, shootings, and other forms of violence all along the border of Northern Ireland (Due to both sides believing Northern Island should be part of their nation).
Addendum: This was not a purely binary conflict. There were also those in Northern Ireland who did not align with either aggressor.
Rowling probably takes a more pro-UK stance, and therefore is comparing the Irish people to the IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombers.
The conflict(s) were part of a period known as The Troubles (Wiki page linked)
Disclaimer - I’m an American outsider with an interest in learning about history, so I may not have the most accurate summary of events from either side of the story. The Wikipedia article should summarize incidents much better.
Fighting along the border was entirely immaterial. There are a large number of English who either don’t know Ireland ia a different country, or that Northern Ireland is part of the UK. The only thing that registers for most is that “the IRA” set off some very large bombs in Manchester, Birmingham, London and Brighton, fired an RPG at the MI6 building and a mortar at Downing Street.
Its highly inaccurate to claim The Troubles as a border dispute, and most of the bloodshed was in the urban areas of NI. Most of the dead in NI were killed by their “own” side as reprisals for percieved disloyalty.
This is the shit they should teach us in school. The American education system sucks. Almost everything i’ve learned about world history I learned myself.
American PUBLIC schools suck NOW (mostly since Bush II, when they really ramped up their attacks). Private American schools for rich kids do not suck, and public schools didn’t used to suck.
This is all by design, to be clear.
I’m sixty, I got a decent public school education, and I was taught about “The Troubles” while they were happening. I was also taught about the horrors of The Holocaust by a history teacher who lived through the war. My eighth-grade English teacher was a WWII vet, and he had some stories.
To be clear, we were taught extensively about the second world war and the holocaust. They really don’t teach world history after WWII.
I think it varies from school to school based on what they think is important, but I wanna say that I learned about it in high school years ago. Of course, I also grew up in an area with a lot of Irish immigrants and descendants of Irish immigrants who were very supportive of the IRA. To the point of arms deals with the IRA being a thing with organized crime in the area. So I might know of it simply from living in Whitey Bulger country.
My father is a history teacher - and he inspired me to always keep learning about every part of the world that I can (and also about unique hobbies and technical fields, since I aspire to be an engineer).
I have to thank him again for all the amazing books he shared with me (and techniques for analyzing sources on the internet).
They teach it in the European History course and schools in the UK teach it. I find it quite plausible that mandatory education does not teach something with no relation to the USA.
I was never taught this at school in the UK, that was about 10 years ago so it may be different now
I’m pretty sure I was taught it in US public high school.
I feel this characterises it as more of a border dispute between nation states. I’m not going to get into the rights and wrongs of any side in this (because it’ll take far too long and frankly I doubt I could be completely objective). I’m commenting only to say it wasn’t that.
I’m 100% an outsider on the topic, so I’d definitely defer to the wikipedia article. Feel free to let me know if there’s any holes I should patch in the post though.
(The fighting occurred along the border, which is what I mentioned, but there is probably nuance I need to add).
To add to that you also have the people living there rather split on which country they would like to be part of
Definitely.
Edit: added an addendum to the original post.
Interesting stuff, thanks for the info!
So your not American? Never drank a certain Irish named drop shot drink?
The car bomb always sounded like it was referring to the events, but I was surprised to learn much later that the black and tan was also talking about something from history. I just assumed it was the colors of the beers.
I’m familiar with the shot and the years of conflict. But I didn’t realize that’s what it was referring to initially. Sometimes it takes some help for people to piece it together.
I think what you want to ask is what’s the trouble, mate.
I’m not so sure, I think the Irish would be proud of their history of making things explode.
Only some of them, it’s very divisive I think. Can an Irish lad confirm?
Its divisive in Ireland.
Opinions on everything from that time vary widely.
Im born and reared in Cork btw.
The more South you go the less divisive it gets.
The further south you go the more people who have been generationally tortured by the brits and their northern tools
Guessing it’s due to the IRA bombings?
Correct.
I know this is just a meme but isn’t this scene of Seamus Finnigan a movie only scene?
There are plenty of reasons to shit on JK Rowling, but shouldn’t this one be on the director? (Assuming it was done on purpose.)
No one seems to have had any issue with the stereotyping didnt seem to appear until the internet decided she was a cunt. The reality is that the character is one of the better ones in the book. Yes, hes stereotyped and the blowing up gags are a lot. But the character is never shat on. Never made to be the butt of the joke. Hes shown to be brave, funny, loyal. He grows up over the course of the books, and his character goes through some shit.
The main issue seems to be that Americans dont understand, that people over here arent so thin skinned. We can take jokes about stereotypes on the chin. Pretty much everyone in the book is stereotyped in some way. But none of it ever comes across as mean spirited.
Its all just “JK bad” shit. Instead of focusing on her, the things she says and does. People want to make out like everything she ever did was shit. Its silly.
So… Stereotypes are OK as long as they aren’t “mean spirited?”
If they are mean spirited, its a reason to complain. Outside that stereotypes can be anything you need them to be. They can reduce cognitive load in storytelling, or a cultural reference point to explore or subvert. Let me ask you, do you get upset at grumpy detectives? Eccentric scientists? Italians who eat family meals together? Do you attack people who make jokes about emails from Nigerians? New Yorkers being assholes, or Texans talking about stuff being bigger? Teachers who care about their students?
Stereotypes are everywhere. And we dont say anything, because we know they are just tools in writing. Or mildly entertaining gags. Theres a dude on youtube playing “Uncle Roger”, a stereotyped Chinese Malaysian. Over 10m people subbed to his channel. Are they all racist? Should we be boycotting a dude for making a funny character that shits on Jamie Oliver?
And what about subversion? When stereotypes are used to trick the audience into thinking a character is one thing, but they are really something else? Do you get offended then too?
But what about people who reenforce stereotypes? Sean Hayes might not be Jack McFarlane, but he does embody a lot of gay stereotypes. Should we all be coming with pitchforks for him? What about Graham Norton?
Or can we allow for the fact that stereotypes start in truth and grow from there? And the real issue is when we use stereotypes to cause harm? Ie, being mean spirited. You can make jokes about stereotypes, the question is are they coming from a good place? Or are they mean spirited? In the UK and Ireland, we make fun of each others stereotypes all the time. The Welsh shag sheep, the Scots are always drunk on the cheapest booze, the Irish are always drunk and blow shit up, and the English are all stuck up wankers and football hooligans. None of it is taken seriously, no one is clutching their pearls. And we all get on just fine. If you look to North America, Americans all think they are number 1 at everything while the Canadians are overly polite and pushovers.
The real issue, IMO, is the modern day internet user is too fucking stupid to understand that stereotypes are just that. But then you have all the people claiming that being a boomer makes you a cunt. Or that being right wing makes you a bad guy, and left wing a good guy. That being pro womens rights, means you are anti trans rights. Or that being pro trans means you hate kids or any of the other million or so other things you all get so worked up about every single fucking day in the search for worthless internet points. Seemingly none of you have any idea about the complexity of the human being. That one idea or trait or position, doesnt make you all things associated with that one thing. Im Scottish, I dont drink at all. Im Glaswegian, but my accent isnt so strong that you need subtitles to understand me. I dont have red hair either. I am none of the popular stereotypes said about the group I am in. But I can see the joke, if something makes it. Can you? Or do you just clutch your pearls, and assume that someone is saying something evil against you?
As for Seamus, Harry Potter was written between 1990 and 1992… Unfuckingclench.
That bank Harry goes to has a Star of David on the floor. The bank staffed by hideous trolls. It is genuinely funny just how bigoted this women, and by extension the director(s) have been this entire time.
There’s no Star of David, but the description of the goblins is pretty suspect.
not ever hexagram is a Star of David. like JK Rowling is racist as shit but that one is just how the real place looks
This is one of those examples of people reading something on reddit/twitter/facebook, and spreading it around like a fucking moron. That “set”, is a real place. Its the Australia House in London. That is its actual floor.
The movie:
The real place:
It has fuck all to do with Jewish people, or the Star of David. That Geometric shape can be found all over the world. Islamic art, Christian churches, Hindu mandalas, Medieval alchemy, Occult diagrams, Western architectural ornament, Victorian floor tiles, mosaics, stained glass. The list is endless.
Now, lets see you double down. Cos we all know you people cant ever admit you are wrong about something. This will be fun…
It would seem you are misinformed the location was chosen for the it’s floor’s likeness to the Star of David, and as you mentioned it was done on purpose.
Link?
K I was misinformed thanks for informing me,want a medal you self righteous cunt?Now, lets see you double down. Cos we all know you people cant ever admit you are wrong about something. This will be fun…
Excuse me, who is “you people”?
EDIT: It is a star of david that is why the location was chosen. this guy is a bigot booster who wants to curate hate against (((you people)))
proof that this is the reason the location was chosen? to be it looks like a cool looking bank that’s big enough to film in comfortably
When I say “You people” I mean spoon eating cunts, that cant think for themselves and just roam around the internet bashing their fucking skulls into the keyboard hoping to get upvotes, because their self worth is so fucking low that its the only way they can feel good about themselves.
As double downs go… yikes.
because their self worth is so fucking low that its the only way they can feel good about themselves.
That one of those accusations that is a confession, right? Fuck off you self loathing cunt.
I’m surprised he wasn’t also black.
She’d call him Kwame Kongo
Edit: omg I forgot about Shacklebolt
It may also be interesting for you to learn that Puerto Ricans can hang from steel beams for hours.
Image not loading?
I’ve noticed VPNs and Lemmy tend to not play ball.
My ISP (O₂ CZ) has blocked some Fedi instances before but always whitelisted them after I reported the error, and lemmy.world was never affected. This was likely because of Cloudflare.
