this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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Harry Potter and the Military Industrial Complex

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I had trouble believing Harry Potter as a kid. The whole house elf thing seemed unrealistic. Then when I grew up, I realised English people really are that racist.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I remember seeing a meme of Harry Potter, but I can't find it anymore. Basically a conversation between Harry and dumbledore.

Harry says to dumbledore:

We are wizards, we could cure cancer. Fix world hunger and end all wars. Why we don't do it?

Dumbledore says:

Harry you forgot the most important reason: we are British

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)

you don't enjoy a little decorating decapitated slave heads for some wholesome Christmas joy?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That's in the book. Grimmauld Place has the preserved heads of all the Black family elves hanging by the door. During book 7 when Harry and gang are hiding there, they put Santa hats and beards on the heads for Christmas.

These are supposed to be the good guys.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Yeah, there are parts of HP that are deeply fucked up, come to think of it. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Shaun has a takedown of the entire series on his channel, and this is one of my favorite parts:

so our heroes decide to decorate their decapitated slave heads with little Christmas hats...

now I'm gonna need to hit pause here, next to the Christmas slave heads, and ask: what is happening right now... why are the Harry Potter books like this

not my absolute favorite quote either. long video but definitely recommend; even Shaun's extremely dry delivery breaks at a couple points: https://youtu.be/-1iaJWSwUZs

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

My father grew up poor in the East End of London and got a scholarship to go to the sort of upper-class school that Hogwarts emulates. Apart from being proud of the achievement of doing so well academically there, he had very little good to say about it, especially the upper-class snobbery and, yes, the bigotry (he was Jewish) from both the students and the teachers. He told me that every morning just before school prayers, the headmaster made a big deal about excusing all the "Jews, Catholics and other heathens" (or something to that effect) to humiliate all of those kids. One of his only friends at the time was another kid there on scholarship.

Ironically, he said his favorite teacher at the school was the school's chaplain, who was a really kind and funny man that didn't care that my father wasn't an Anglican, just that he was a smart kid.

My wife loves Harry Potter but I could never get into it after hearing all of my dad's stories about his school when he was growing up.