Page 12 | JKR accused of 'quoting hitler'

Dominoodles · 2025-09-15T21:38:46+00:00

Within the context of condemning political violence following the murder of Charlie Kirk, she quoted on X a line from Mein Kampf where Hitler talked about how he utilised political violence for his own gain. This was a clear statement in how allowing for political violence against one's rivals can lead to that in power manipulating things in order to harm others. Unfortunately, articles are springing up across the internet shaming JKR for quoting or referring to this text at all, with many condemning her for 'nazi' views and accusing her of being far right. (Personally I love JK, and it is such a shame that every single thing she says is twisted to mean the opposite of what she's actually saying!)

SionnachRuadh · 27/09/2025 18:20

I mean it's not necessarily a dumb idea to think that someone with a socially unacceptable prejudice would seek to conceal it, only for it to slip out in unguarded moments.

I mention Corbyn because for quite a while I took the "moderate" view that he probably wasn't antisemitic, at least not consciously, but he had a massive tin ear on the issue which wasn't helped by being surrounded by sycophants who told him there was no problem. I didn't get any credit for taking the moderate position; actually I got scorn poured on me by assholes like James Meadway who would later reinvent themselves as honest brokers trying to solve Labour's antisemitism problem.

But then there was one incident after another that made the charitable interpretation harder to hang onto. And then there was that election debate where he was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, and bizarrely overpronounced Epstein's name to make it sound more foreign - like Ep-SHTOIN.

As David Baddiel commented, every Jew in the audience heard that.

There really wasn't an innocent explanation. And the next day I went on Facebook and found a bunch of friends tying themselves in knots to say they never knew Epstein was Jewish, so how on earth was Jeremy supposed to guess, and anyway Jeremy is such a lovely man who prides himself in pronouncing foreign names correctly that he was only giving Epstein's name its correct German pronunciation...

You get the picture. They couldn't believe their idol might be flawed, that there might be some truth to the accusations against him, so reality had to be rearranged to make him the innocent, wronged party facing yet more false accusations from Zionists like Baddiel.

So I don't rule out that these things can happen.

And I'm not emotionally bound to defend JKR as a flawless person. I'm not on X, but when I was she frequently said things I disagreed with. I appreciate her advocacy for women's spaces, and I enjoy her detective novels (though I wish she'd make them a bit shorter). I think she has many admirable qualities, and I'm sure a few flaws as well, because we all do.

What I don't buy is that her clear and consistent condemnation of antisemitism is performative and therefore lying, while her published work is littered with antisemitic dogwhistles revealing her true views.

I'm sorry, but I don't see an evidential basis for that. It's a theory that is popular in those parts of the Harry Potter fandom who start from the premise that she's a full spectrum istaphobe and then pore through the books looking for problematic elements to prove their. It was being pushed on YouTube years ago by the likes of Contrapoints and Lindsay Ellis. But those are not sensible people arguing in good faith.

Maaate · 27/09/2025 18:27

Despite all the forums and message boards full of in depth discussions of all the minutiae, fan-fics and general obsessiveness, no one noticed the supposed anti-Semitism and racism in HP after she came out on the side of women's rights.

Strange, huh 🤷🏼‍♀️

JaquelineHide · 27/09/2025 18:59

SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice · 27/09/2025 14:56

I did not misquote JKR’s description of goblins. I linked the lexicon which references each book each part of the description is from. Here is more detail

“Goblins are short and dark-skinned. They have very long fingers and feet, and some have pointed beards (PS5) and dark, slanted eyes (GF24). Griphook, one of the hundreds of goblins working at Gringotts (PS5), has a bald head, pointed nose, and pointed ears (HPM). Some goblins wear pointed hats (OP7). Goblins speak a language called Gobbledegook.
Throughout the history of the wizarding world there have been rebellions where the goblins have fought against discrimination and prejudice. They are still considered subservient in the minds of most wizards, and they are forbidden by the Ministry from carrying wands, which has lead to deep-seated resentment, although Goblins have their own kind of wand-less magic. Goblin rebellions were most prevalent in the 1600s (PA5) and 1700s (GF15, OP31), but even today there are subversive goblin groups who work in secret against the Ministry, according to the Daily Prophet (OP15). One rebellion, in 1612, took place in the vicinity of Hogsmeade; the Inn there was used as headquarters for the rebellion (PA5). The rebellions have been described as "bloody and vicious." The names of the rebels tend to run along the lines of "Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean," according to Ron (GF31).”

I am by far not alone in my opinion of the antisemitic undertones of JKR’s goblins
https://theconversation.com/how-hogwarts-legacy-video-game-reinforces-antisemitic-scapegoating-with-goblins-202710

https://forward.com/opinion/480578/think-the-goblins-in-harry-potter-are-antisemitic-try-british-literature/

https://www.thejc.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-reignites-allegations-of-antisemitism-in-harry-potter-universe-nk1u9r1d

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JKR did not invent goblins or their appearance or love of gold now, did she? Their depictions are centuries old, just like dwarves (small and bearded, good at mining) and elves (tall and slender with pointed ears, magical).

This is getting really silly.

RedToothBrush · 27/09/2025 19:02

Anyone who has half a fucking clue about JKR knows she has written against authoritarianism in numerous books and via twitter in various forms for many years.

The fact that various camps decide to characterise this as her being sympathetic to Hitler or whomever is not only dishonest, ignorant and tone deaf but also frankly close minded and bigoted because they read somewhere so gabbled woowoo babble from attention seeking fuckwit trying to ride on JKRs coat tails because they have zero talent themselves.

As a pp said the most JKR is guilty of herself is being derivative in talking about goblins but that works just fine for charlatans to use as a stick to beat her with.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 27/09/2025 19:04

SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice · 27/09/2025 14:56

I did not misquote JKR’s description of goblins. I linked the lexicon which references each book each part of the description is from. Here is more detail

“Goblins are short and dark-skinned. They have very long fingers and feet, and some have pointed beards (PS5) and dark, slanted eyes (GF24). Griphook, one of the hundreds of goblins working at Gringotts (PS5), has a bald head, pointed nose, and pointed ears (HPM). Some goblins wear pointed hats (OP7). Goblins speak a language called Gobbledegook.
Throughout the history of the wizarding world there have been rebellions where the goblins have fought against discrimination and prejudice. They are still considered subservient in the minds of most wizards, and they are forbidden by the Ministry from carrying wands, which has lead to deep-seated resentment, although Goblins have their own kind of wand-less magic. Goblin rebellions were most prevalent in the 1600s (PA5) and 1700s (GF15, OP31), but even today there are subversive goblin groups who work in secret against the Ministry, according to the Daily Prophet (OP15). One rebellion, in 1612, took place in the vicinity of Hogsmeade; the Inn there was used as headquarters for the rebellion (PA5). The rebellions have been described as "bloody and vicious." The names of the rebels tend to run along the lines of "Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean," according to Ron (GF31).”

I am by far not alone in my opinion of the antisemitic undertones of JKR’s goblins
https://theconversation.com/how-hogwarts-legacy-video-game-reinforces-antisemitic-scapegoating-with-goblins-202710

https://forward.com/opinion/480578/think-the-goblins-in-harry-potter-are-antisemitic-try-british-literature/

https://www.thejc.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-reignites-allegations-of-antisemitism-in-harry-potter-universe-nk1u9r1d

Show quote history

Sorry but which of these things do you think are antisemitic tropes?

Short?
Dark haired?
Long fingers?
Long feet?
Pointed beards?
Dark, slanted eyes?
Bald?
Pointy noses?
Pointy ears?
Pointy hats?
Speaking Gobbledegook?

They are also described as swarthy and having clever faces in one of the books.

As far as I am aware none of these things are associated with Jewish people.

eatfigs · 27/09/2025 20:06

I would argue that JKR's goblins are much more like intelligent extraterrestrial species that sci-fi authors write about. In that genre, goblins could be easily reimagined as a hyper-rational alien race with a quite different value system, misunderstood by humans.

HaimishaPickle · 28/09/2025 00:14

SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice · 27/09/2025 15:25

I think quoting Hitler was more than a dick move. It was an escalation with antisemitic undertones. Quoting part of Hitler’s plan to externinate Jews to a Jewish woman who has asked is Hitler on the list (of bad types) could be perceived as threatening. It’s the ultimate wave a bigger dick back at you move and completely appropriates the genocide of 6 million Jews just to make a point about violence on X. It’s not ethical.

Show quote history

What a load of gobbledegook. I'm only seeing one person misappropriate the Holocaust to make their point here and it's not JKR. And if you think any Jews are going to run trembling from the internet because someone "threateningly" quoted Hitler apropos to them invoking him in the first place then your social media feeds must not include any Jews as you've somehow managed to miss the absolute torrent of explicitly threatening antisemitic abuse directed at us on there for years, by people who genuinely do mean us serious harm. (And stop with the "my people" already. We are not your people and don't wish to be claimed as such.)

HaimishaPickle · 28/09/2025 00:25

FlirtsWithRhinos · 27/09/2025 18:08

And since the topic has come up again, the Goblins.

FWIW I think they are antisemitic, not because JKR has any antipathy towards Jewish people but because she was using themes from British literary fantasy and fairytales, some of which go back hundreds of years and have racist elements because those times had racist norms.

I doubt it ever occured to JKR, when she imagined her goblins using all the images of goblins she'd seen and read over the years, that those traditional images include elements of racist Jewish cariactures. Honestly, I doubt even the people who mixed those elements in in the first place realised they were doing it. I think our cultural image of what a miser/banker looks like came from antisemitism and so when artists and writers (not just JKR but artists both known and anonymous over the years) imagined gold loving races of goblins or dwarves they naturally gave them the images they associated with a miser/banker.

In short, I think it's far more accurate to accuse JKR of being derivative than antisemitic. I don't think she put enough orginality into her races to have any space to introduce her own prejudices!

(Sorry JKR. I like the films and the books were enjoyable but they were not exactly original.)

Edited

This is a really good theory. Lazy stereotyping and a lack of originality/imagination seems more plausible than JKR knowingly wheeling out the tropes with the aim of gaining clout with the "Zionist goblin bankers secretly rule the world" gang.

SinnerBoy · 28/09/2025 07:37

And then there was that election debate where he was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, and bizarrely overpronounced Epstein's name to make it sound more foreign - like Ep-SHTOIN.

He pronounced it in the original German way, as in the Beatles' manager - Epshtine.