Harry Potter and the Military Industrial Complex

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    535 months ago

    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.

    • Johanno
      link
      fedilink
      425 months ago

      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

    • @pyre
      link
      155 months ago

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

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          175 months ago

          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.

          • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝
            link
            fedilink
            English
            75 months ago

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

        • @pyre
          link
          11
          edit-2
          5 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

    • Flying Squid
      link
      10
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      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.

          • Flying Squid
            link
            95 months ago

            I have no clue. I literally have no idea who this person is.

        • Flying Squid
          link
          95 months ago

          I was agreeing with you. I don’t even know who you are.

          • @Jiggle_Physics
            link
            45 months ago

            At first I figured this was a joke about “flyingsquid be everwar, der” but… Maybe you had a nasty argument with this person in the past, and you don’t remember them, but because you are one of the more prominent lemmy users, they will always know who you are?

            • Flying Squid
              link
              35 months ago

              If that’s the case, it will probably happen again. Oh well.