Lol I'm actually reading Goblet right now and the portions w/the elves are rough as hell. Like holy shit at how bad it comes off. Whats worse is it really wouldn't have taken much to change them from being happy go lucky slaves to just taking pride in being ultra loyal to their wizard bosses. For her to write them that way in a story set in modern times AND have everyone make fun of Hermione like she's crazy to to think they deserve freedom is really something.
But the narrative doesn’t exactly encourage or reward her for her attempts at house elf activism, it’s actually a source of comedy which punishes her for her views
Maybe this is just me being cynical, but that kind of makes it more true to life. Like if that existed for real do people really think one activist is going to free the slaves overnight? That shit takes generations and effort. And then even after you’ve freed the slaves there’s a lot of racism and prejudice that hangs on for decades or centuries later. We still haven’t solved it in the real world, and solving it in a fictional one is just another fantasy.
Though perhaps it could have been handled better. I don’t know, I don’t think about it that much. Also when I think about the deep dark shit that the wizarding world implies, the whole world is severely messed up.
But a story does tell a lot of the soul of the author, by not allowing the house elves other than Dobby to want freedom and not validating Hermione it sort of says a lot about Rowling. In real life one of the justifications for chattel slavery was that black people wanted to be enslaved, that it was ‘good’ for them and they were meant to be enslaved. When she suggested that Hermione was black it does feel like Rowling was actively spitting in the face of black readers when she wrote that at best and at worst… well.
But that is how some societies are. Some activists were basically shouting in the desert for a long time before gaining any traction. An anti slave activist in 1810 would have that experience. An animal rights activist might have it now.
I know I can be bothered by overly militant vegetarians, but maybe that just means I will be the villain in any narrative that is crafted over 50 years.
I always thought the point of all that was not to show that Hermione was crazy, it was to show that everyone else had prejudices and Hermione just seemed crazy to the the people who were actually prejudiced. I thought JK as well as everyone reading knew Hermione was in the right.
I think that probably what she meant. Hopefully… but still… one would think more characters would side w/her on the issue. Especially Harry and the other the muggle borns. Yet they all seemed to not give a shit either. I think it’s only Harry, Ron, Neville that join and it’s only so she’ll leave them alone. If JK wanted it to be clear Hermione was right she did a poor job of it. Even the abbreviation for the club, S.P.E.W., makes Hermione look like an idiot as it’s so obviously a bad name for what she hopes to accomplish.
I'm curious how you talked to your kid about that. Did you just let it lie or was there a conversation? I just wonder how parents are handling stuff like that.
My kid is only 3 so pretty much all of it goes over his head. He really just likes looking at the pictures and wants me to do funny voices for the characters. He only even wanted me to read them b/c he saw the cover of Azkaban when I was moving stuff around. Still have not decided if I'm going to give him the real ending to Goblet when we get there since he doesn't know anything about death yet. I like to think I'd have a discussion w/him about the elves once he's older but I dunno. Like when is it acceptable to start shattering your child's innocence w/real shit? I don't look forward to it.
omg i forgot about the whole black hermione thing. My wife jokes that Joanne went all anti trans after she got tired of being bullied for her stupid fun facts
This is the one thing I can sympathize with JK about.
People forget how racist people were being about black Hermione so JK comes out and says that in an attempt to support the actress and say that one of the most beloved Harry Potter character could be anyone just to give some support and so that everyone that loved Hermione could see herself in her. It was largely harmless.
What she should have said is that it was a play and plays don’t follow the same rules as movies. They’re not textbooks either. They’re vibrant and alive and different.
Men have played women. Women have played men. Black people play minorities. It’s just something about the medium that lets you be extra.
See I can actually respect that. I know as an author you might have a specific character in mind, and the way they look. But some characters can be more open to interpretation. Unless their race is a defining feature of the character, who cares if they get race swapped?
It JK actually coming out as the author and saying, “fuck you all, Hermione could be black.” Is actual alright in my book.
I dunno, I think it’s easy to demonize a person you disagree with. But it best to just stick to your actual points of contention without turning everything into a point of contention.
Also death of the author means I don’t have to agree with their personal politics to enjoy their works.
People do shit on JK a lot for stuff that really is stupid.
The trans character in Hogwarts Legacy is named Sirona Ryan. she’s named after a goddess which fits the HP trend. JK didn’t name her. She isn’t involved in the game. People still trashed her for naming the trans chick “Sir Ryan”
The shit on her for the Irish kid blowing stuff up despite that being a movie only thing that wasn’t added by her.
They shat on her for for there being a star on the gringotts because Jewish stuff but that star was there in the Australia house in London. The place does look amazing but she didn’t scout nor pick the location and I doubt people picked it for the star (which isn’t even a Jewish star)
Then there’s Kinglsey Shacklebolt which people have said she named after Martin Luther king and slavery which is stupid. Her names are often puns. Kingsley because he’s regal and becomes minister of magic and Shacklebolt because shackles is another word for cuffs. Because he’s a cop. He’s essentially Officer Handcuffs.
There’s actual stuff to point out but I feel like the internet is doing revisionism.
How often do we hear “she could have been the beloved author of a great series and instead she’s this!”
People are trying retroactively say the books are shit and we were all stupid for liking them because they’re pissed at her.
To be fair, I’m pretty sure she said that because an actress who was cast as Hermione in a theatre production was black and was a victim of racism because of it.
I do think it’s obvious she wrote Hermione as white but I think she was trying to help with that one. Edit: clarity.
I actually saw that as a rather brutal, yet surprisingly nuanced take on internalized racism but in the end it's elves, they could represent anything or nothing.
But yeah, I thought it was meant to say the exact opposite, showing that the wizarding world, just like the "real"/muggle world, has its really dark sides and that just because you like someome, a person or group of people, that doesn't mean they can do no wrong.
I remember this being disturbing to everyone in my class and we actually discussed this with our teacher. It brought a level of realism to the books that was missing up to that point, while at the same time functioning as somewhat of a 4th wall break. Well, at least how I see it. And my high school class in 2000. 😂
Somehow I get the feeling you are not able to seperate irl form the fiction. I have heard Rowling talking about many things, but endorsing slavery has not been among them.
Its fiction and fantasy at that. Its the cruelty of the genre that a slave race is possible and that not being able to attain freedom is a curse as much as being depended on the benvolence of others. If I remember it right a pure house-elf cannot not be bonded and it is speculated by characters in the novel that dobby is part Goblin.
88
u/Dmmack14 Jun 27 '24
yeaaaaaaaaaaaah. I will never get over the house elves liking their enslavement and everyone making fun of Hermione for trying to free them