Daniel Radcliffe doubles down

[SidewaysOtter]

Apparently he hasn’t spoken with JKR for years. I’m sure she’s gutted, given his bleatings

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/daniel-radcliffe-j-k-rowling-anti-trans-rhetoric-response-1235013076/

Thank you @GwenogJones for that brilliant analysis.

And I've just realised where your username is from!

I think our visitor thought that they could plop onto the thread and “educate” us. Then they realised we would debate with them and their arguments fell to pieces, so they’ve plopped off again.

I can't speak for the Jewish community but I think the attempts to exploit the Holocaust and denial of it to smear JKR completely baselessly are actually really antisemitic. And offensive to all other victims of the Holocaust too. I wonder if it has anything to do with the Israel/Hamas war prompting an increase in antisemitism.

I've been trying to figure out which of the alphabet people our visitor's username represented. Then I remembered that none of it makes sense and I was being a bit silly. Damn my lady brain.

It is actually possible that goblins, the way they have been represented in hundreds of years of European folklore, are an antisemitic trope. Antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of prejudice after misogyny. But I don't think any individual author can really be blamed for including in their books a fairytale creature and depicting it consistently with how it has been depicted in literature since time immemorial. Even if the first person who depicted goblins in that way was antisemitic, how are we supposed to know that hundreds of years later?

As potentially offensive tropes in Harry Potter go, I'd have said the leprechauns were a more obvious one. But if you complain about the leprechauns in Harry Potter (who appeared in the context of Ireland winning the quidditch world cup and everyone being delighted about it, which strikes me as a pretty positive depiction of the Irish), people are going to think you are being silly.

If you want to cancel someone, "antisemitic" is the accusation you go with. Even if it's completely untrue.

Agreed, that was a fascinating post. Many thanks, @GwenogJones!

Yes, ‘JKR is a Holocaust denier’ is at the ‘JKR eats babies’ level of absurdity, but we are now at the point where if she said something that was possible to twist and misrepresent in that direction, say she ate a baby tomato or something, they would be repeating that claim with equal seriousness, similar tantrums when not believed and the same utter lack of awareness of how silly and childish it makes them look.

Another thanks to @GwenogJones for that incredible post.

Indeed;dogs,vets and all that.

100%. I note that DR himself chose as his own partner the kind of woman who can have babies.

A beautiful analysis @GwenogJones , thank you!

I'd just like to add that house elves have enormous magical powers which the wizards take for granted will produce results at their masters' command, and which are otherwise ignored and neglected by the wizard world. The wizards seem mostly unaware of both the effort and the magical power it takes to produce those results. I don't think that's coincidental either 🙂

Complete detail but how did I miss Sirius being so awful to Kreacher? Feel so sad about that!

@GwenogJones cracking-yet shattering! - post at 22.48 yesterday, thanks!

Yup. He was so enjoying that moral high ground too.

God give me fucking strength. Child star of mega successful Harry Potter franchise, the books written by total genius JKR is arrogant enough to apologise on her behalf. As if he in some way was a co creator. Chirruping MRA Emma Watson is another one. Bloody clueless, virtue signalling and more interested in invites to the Vanity Fair party than having morals. An extremely rich, privileged group of self important child stars, none would be in this position without JKR, yet they down her. Shit actors and shallow virtue signallers. Hope JKR invites them to a public debate.

Unpopular opinion but I don't really like Sirius much as a character 😅

GwenogJones; you've made me want to go and re-read all the HP books again. Damn you; there is already a dangerously teetering pile by my bedside!

Even if the first person who depicted goblins in that way was antisemitic, how are we supposed to know that hundreds of years later?

"Hundreds of years"? Some things have been embedded in our culture for hundereds of years and "how are we supposed to know?" is not a good answer. But it's a long way from there to accusing individuals. Or it should be.

I certainly noticed that about the goblins the first time I read Harry Potter not long after the book first came out and long before all these accusations of anti-semitism were thought of. Because this wasn't just a bunch of greedy goblins with their hoard, the "working in the bank" bit pushed the stereotype just a little further and the film emphasised it more with the goblins' appearance.

It was clumsy and thoughtless but not enough for me to think it was worth worrying about or making huge leaps of dodgy logic and throwing accusations about. I didn't then, and I still don't.

What I find strange is that millions of people were reading Rowling's work for over two decades before someone discovered all the antisemitism and racism. This discovery happened round about the time that she made a comment about women being women. Strange coincidence 🤔

If only the TRA's would put as much effort into tackling racism and anti-semitism as they do telling women that men are women and women (the ones with vaginas) should shut up.

Of course he did. That's why I always roll my eyes when I hear (straight) men say TWAW. Unless they are going to walk the walk what they say is meaningless.

Or rather, before someone decided it was bad enough to kick up a stink about. Like I say, I did notice but if we kicked up a fuss about about everything I notice then we'd have no literature left. It's one thing to discuss prejudiced representations in general and quite another to attack an individual work or writer. Such an attack should need something a lot clearer and a lot worse.

So we don't do that unless we either have other motives for attacking the writer or we are tiresome decolonisers of the curriculum.

Against all advice given by my Hollywood agent more like.

Still , he isn't reverse ferreting . Is that commendable , sticking to his beliefs when others recant ? Maybe he's just a bit thick though.

Others are triangulating thus : of course we really agreed with Cass all along. But we love trans people and JKR is just horrible. He might get there too.

Is that commendable , sticking to his beliefs when others recant ?

Not when your beliefs are patently, provably absurd and support dangerous, unresearched medication of children and the erosion of women's rights and safety.