I really love your thoughts on the 'racism' in HP.
she’s forgotten why exactly it is that racism’s considered so wrong. I don’t think it’s just that you’re looking down on people for the way they were born – if it were, then jokes about stupid blondes would be considered as bad as jokes about stupid black people. Rather, it’s wrong because minorities often suffer from discrimination, and racist language helps to reinforce and normalise the prejudiced attitudes which lead to such discrimination
Thank you so much for this! I love the way you've pinned it down there- racist comments are objectionable largely because of the way society has discriminated against minorities, and those offensive terms are a way of dehumanizing them so it makes it easier to treat them like inferior beings. It's not just making nasty comments about the way a person was born, because as you pointed out, other things like dumb blonde jokes don't inspire furious debate and rallies and everything. Speaking as a short-sighted person, I got paid out enough for my glasses at school and while annoying, it's nothing on the level of racism because it's not like I'm going to miss out on job opportunities because I wear glasses or whatever.
What I hate is how people revere JKR for incorporating serious themes like racism and slavery and death into her series when it comes off like cheap gimmicks, they're just there to make the books seem really deep and insightful when it's the opposite, because it's not treated in a meaningful manner and people don't respond in realistic ways or the way the world works doesn't jive with these issues she's trying to shove in there. I love this article (When Harry Met Buffy) which describes it as 'Harry Potter uses real-world issues as a cheap way to add colour to an otherwise unconvincing fantasy world'.
Because we haven’t really see people suffering from anti-Muggleborn prejudice, it’s hard to think of “Mudblood” as a particularly serious insult.
ITA. Hermione didn't even know what the word meant at first- she got that it was an insult, obviously, from the tone and context, but it meant absolutely nothing to her. Gosh, I can really feel the prejudice against Muggle-borns, can't you, that she managed to get through a year and a bit without ever realizing there was all this active hatred towards her kind?
Even after she realized what the word meant, it was just a nasty thing that a kid she already hated used to put her down, it had no emotional impact, it didn't make her feel inferior or threatened because it doesn't have the context of a society that's been crapping all over her and keeping her from living up to her potential and barring her from opportunities because of her birth. It'd piss her off that he's throwing such a spurious remark at her- because he has nothing else he can really use against her- but it's not something she'd be insecure about or cry herself to sleep at night over! It's not like she turned up to Hogwarts and people shunned her when they found out she was the daughter of Muggles. Because that would've totally burned, meeting new school-mates who discuss their family lineage, and then when she mentions her dentist parents, all of a sudden these friendly, easygoing kids ostracize her. But no, if anything, it's Hermione distancing herself from her roomies because she despises girly girls.
Was it hurtful? Yeah, there's this ass being mean to her, but I'd say it wasn't any more hurtful than her calling him a twitchy little ferret- and I thought that was bad because it was a teacher that had assaulted him and then it was reinforced by another teacher threatening his safety and humiliated him.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-10-24 05:24 am (UTC)she’s forgotten why exactly it is that racism’s considered so wrong. I don’t think it’s just that you’re looking down on people for the way they were born – if it were, then jokes about stupid blondes would be considered as bad as jokes about stupid black people. Rather, it’s wrong because minorities often suffer from discrimination, and racist language helps to reinforce and normalise the prejudiced attitudes which lead to such discrimination
Thank you so much for this! I love the way you've pinned it down there- racist comments are objectionable largely because of the way society has discriminated against minorities, and those offensive terms are a way of dehumanizing them so it makes it easier to treat them like inferior beings. It's not just making nasty comments about the way a person was born, because as you pointed out, other things like dumb blonde jokes don't inspire furious debate and rallies and everything. Speaking as a short-sighted person, I got paid out enough for my glasses at school and while annoying, it's nothing on the level of racism because it's not like I'm going to miss out on job opportunities because I wear glasses or whatever.
What I hate is how people revere JKR for incorporating serious themes like racism and slavery and death into her series when it comes off like cheap gimmicks, they're just there to make the books seem really deep and insightful when it's the opposite, because it's not treated in a meaningful manner and people don't respond in realistic ways or the way the world works doesn't jive with these issues she's trying to shove in there. I love this article (When Harry Met Buffy) which describes it as 'Harry Potter uses real-world issues as a cheap way to add colour to an otherwise unconvincing fantasy world'.
Because we haven’t really see people suffering from anti-Muggleborn prejudice, it’s hard to think of “Mudblood” as a particularly serious insult.
ITA. Hermione didn't even know what the word meant at first- she got that it was an insult, obviously, from the tone and context, but it meant absolutely nothing to her. Gosh, I can really feel the prejudice against Muggle-borns, can't you, that she managed to get through a year and a bit without ever realizing there was all this active hatred towards her kind?
Even after she realized what the word meant, it was just a nasty thing that a kid she already hated used to put her down, it had no emotional impact, it didn't make her feel inferior or threatened because it doesn't have the context of a society that's been crapping all over her and keeping her from living up to her potential and barring her from opportunities because of her birth. It'd piss her off that he's throwing such a spurious remark at her- because he has nothing else he can really use against her- but it's not something she'd be insecure about or cry herself to sleep at night over! It's not like she turned up to Hogwarts and people shunned her when they found out she was the daughter of Muggles. Because that would've totally burned, meeting new school-mates who discuss their family lineage, and then when she mentions her dentist parents, all of a sudden these friendly, easygoing kids ostracize her. But no, if anything, it's Hermione distancing herself from her roomies because she despises girly girls.
Was it hurtful? Yeah, there's this ass being mean to her, but I'd say it wasn't any more hurtful than her calling him a twitchy little ferret- and I thought that was bad because it was a teacher that had assaulted him and then it was reinforced by another teacher threatening his safety and humiliated him.