Transgender rights discussion

Scandi Red

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26 is so arbitrary. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the discussions when they nailed it down to that specific age. Fecking weirdos. Don’t suppose it was a significant age for Jesus, or something mental like that?
My bet is that one of the cretins found out that the human brain reaches full maturity in the mid-twenties and used that as their main argument.
 

2 man midfield

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I guess they’re going for 26 because the frontal cortex isn’t fully formed until you’re 25. Or am I giving these people way too much credit?
 

Mr Pigeon

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What do people think of the argument surrounding the new Hogwarts Legacy game?
I think it's a bit shit that a game made by developers, that have done a lot to ensure their game is diverse and welcoming, might lose out on sales because the original author is a total fecking prick.
 

calodo2003

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Isn't conservative love grand? Should surprise no one that he is an outspoken christian...

 

Mike Smalling

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What do people think of the argument surrounding the new Hogwarts Legacy game?
As I understand it, the objective/plot of the new game is to quell an uprising by the goblins, who are seeking more equal rights. That is certainly an interesting way to go, but clearly in line with J.K. Rowling's political views as already expressed in the Harry Potter series, such as they are.

Whether it's intentional or not, it sure is hard to not see the goblins as a stand-in for every anti-semitic trope ever conceived. Hooked noses, runs the banking world, greedy, scheming, untrustworthy, etc. It's kind of hilarious that it made it into these movies for kids. I mean, look at what they decided to put on the floor of the bank in the first movie. Link.
 

Pogue Mahone

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As I understand it, the objective/plot of the new game is to quell an uprising by the goblins, who are seeking more equal rights. That is certainly an interesting way to go, but clearly in line with J.K. Rowling's political views as already expressed in the Harry Potter series, such as they are.

Whether it's intentional or not, it sure is hard to not see the goblins as a stand-in for every anti-semitic trope ever conceived. Hooked noses, runs the banking world, greedy, scheming, untrustworthy, etc. It's kind of hilarious that it made it into these movies for kids. I mean, look at what they decided to put on the floor of the bank in the first movie. Link.
J.K. Rowling is anti-semitic? That’s a new one to me. I thought her only problematic views were around trans rights?

EDIT: She’s being called anti-semitic because of the decor on the floor of a bank in one of the movies?! :lol:
 

V.O.

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EDIT: She’s being called anti-semitic because of the decor on the floor of a bank in one of the movies?! :lol:
That's almost as wacky as most actual fecking anti-semitic conspiracy theories. :houllier:

There's a star on the floor because they filmed it in Australia House in London and that's what the floor of Australia House looks like.

 

Pogue Mahone

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That's almost as wacky as most actual fecking anti-semitic conspiracy theories. :houllier:

There's a star on the floor because they filmed it in Australia House in London and that's what the floor of Australia House looks like.

I just love the idea of her phoning up the location manager or production design team “Listen, I’ve been thinking about the sort of tiling I want on the floor of the bank…”
 

Mike Smalling

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J.K. Rowling is anti-semitic? That’s a new one to me. I thought her only problematic views were around trans rights?

EDIT: She’s getting blamed for the decor on the floor of a bank in one of the movies?! :lol:
I don't think she consciously set out to make the goblins antisemitic, but I think much of the lore around goblins in general is based on antisemitic tropes. The floor thing is probably a coincidence, but the design of the goblins is quite interesting.


Anyway, this criticism is not new, but I think it was recently brought up by Jon Stewart in a podcast or something, which is why it has resurfaced.
 

V.O.

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I just love the idea of her phoning up the location manager or production design team “Listen, I’ve been thinking about the sort of tiling I want on the floor of the bank…”
:lol:
 

Pogue Mahone

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I don't think she consciously set out to make the goblins antisemitic, but I think much of the lore around goblins in general is based on antisemitic tropes. The floor thing is probably a coincidence, but the design of the goblins is quite interesting.


Anyway, this criticism is not new, but I think it was recently brought up by Jon Stewart in a podcast or something, which is why it has resurfaced.
You think Rowling had input into the design of the goblins in the movie?
 

Mike Smalling

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You think Rowling had input into the design of the goblins in the movie?
Probably, yes. She was heavily involved in the production of the movies as I understand it. But even it she hadn't been, the goblins have the same features in the books, so any designer would have come up with something similar, if they wanted to be faithful to the source material.

But again, I want to highlight that I don't think J.K. Rowling is a raging antisemite that consciously designed a race of characters with nefarious motives. Rather she leaned on common lore about goblins, which definitely is inspired by centuries old tropes about Jews - whether she knew it or not. This is nothing new, and many other fictional races and characters have faced similar criticism.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I think there could definitely be some substance to the idea that visual depictions of goblins might have some basis in anti-semitism. If you google image search goblins there’s a lot of images of goblins looking similar to caricatures of Jews. Blaming Rowling for the way that goblins have always been depicted in print and on the screen is obviously mental.

Is this her fault too?
 

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You think Rowling had input into the design of the goblins in the movie?
Most likely. But that’s besides the point, I think. As others already said, the lore around goblins tends to be based on antisemitic tropes. Quite heavily, actually. Now that’s not Rowling‘s fault. The issue is more that she just made use of them without trying to get rid of that connotation. Which, while obviously not ideal, is hardly the end of the world and likely something she didn’t know better, like plenty of writers before her.
The issue I see nowadays is that she’s been made aware of these things numerous times and instead of acknowledging the underlying issues, she’s doubling down on it with this game. Which for me is the point where all this starts to become problematic.
 

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I think there could definitely be some substance to the idea that visual depictions of goblins might have some basis in anti-semitism. If you google image search goblins there’s a lot of images of goblins looking similar to caricatures of Jews. Blaming Rowling for the way that goblins have always been depicted in print and on the screen is obviously mental.

Is this her fault too?
You misunderstand. He's not saying that she's being antisemitic, just pointing out all of the ways that she's being antisemitic. Or something
 

Scandi Red

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Not this. They’re being paid anyway.
I meant more in an artistic sense. Money is one thing, but it must suck to pour your heart and soul into such an ambitious creation for years only for people to boycott it because the creator of the books that the games are based on is a turd.

But I can understand the people who wants to boycott it too. It's a tricky matter. Especially if good sales means more money for Jowling Kowling herself.
 

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That's almost as wacky as most actual fecking anti-semitic conspiracy theories. :houllier:

There's a star on the floor because they filmed it in Australia House in London and that's what the floor of Australia House looks like.

It's a beautiful building inside and out, as an aside.
 

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Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I can't recall any mainstream fantasy works prior to Harry Potter in which goblins are depicted as being involved in banking/obsessed with gold. I'm also not particularly aware of that being a theme of folklore surrounding them?
 

Pogue Mahone

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Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I can't recall any mainstream fantasy works prior to Harry Potter in which goblins are depicted as being involved in banking/obsessed with gold. I'm also not particularly aware of that being a theme of folklore surrounding them?
Check out the link in my last post.

Also, check out the name of this plant.
 

NotThatSoph

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Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I can't recall any mainstream fantasy works prior to Harry Potter in which goblins are depicted as being involved in banking/obsessed with gold. I'm also not particularly aware of that being a theme of folklore surrounding them?
No, it's not common at all.
 

jeff_goldblum

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Check out the link in my last post.
The Clash of Clans thing? Surely that doesn't predate Harry Potter?

Also, goblins as thieves/tricksters is an established fantasy trope originating in folklore. Goblins as bankers is, as far as I can tell, a Rowling thing.
 

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And the goblin gold moss? Also inspired by Rowling?
A quick wiki search reveals that it's named after a folktale about goblins tricking greedy humans into coming into their caves and gathering up what they think is gold, which in the light of day turns out to be clods of earth.

That's the trickster golbin archetype.
 

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I don’t think Rowling is consciously antisemitic with the goblin thing, she’s just like most 60 something 90s liberals - see Baddiel and the blackface thing - who simply don’t ever interrogate their ingrained systemic prejudices (or 30 year old ethical template) because they’ve always seen themselves as “the good guys.”
 

That'sHernandez

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Almost nothing in the Harry Potter universe is original. My wife and I watched the films again over the Christmas period and it's all lifted from Roal Dahl, Tolkein and other fantasy/fiction authors with minor spins on them to make them different enough to not be outright plagiarism.
 

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Smaug is antisemitic as he hoarded gold.
 

Pogue Mahone

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A quick wiki search reveals that it's named after a folktale about goblins tricking greedy humans into coming into their caves and gathering up what they think is gold, which in the light of day turns out to be clods of earth.

That's the trickster golbin archetype.
So. Tricky and known to deceive humans with gold. Plus well known to be greedy. I don’t think I’ve even read the stupid book which features goblin bankers but inferring that she’s antisemitic because she chose to make her bankers goblins seems absolutely nuts.
 

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So. Tricky and known to deceive humans with gold. Plus well known to be greedy. I don’t think I’ve even read the stupid book which features goblin bankers but inferring that she’s antisemitic because she chose to make her bankers goblins seems absolutely nuts.
Further to this the 1st description of a goblin at the bank in the 1st book doesn't mention anything in the way they are depicted in the movie with big common Jewish tropes of hook noses and the like, also Jon Stewart himself debunked all of what was claimed he said in a video he released.
 

Pogue Mahone

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I also can’t even understand what the antisemitic thought process might have been. She’s writing a book in which she decides to put an evil fantasy creature in charge of a bank and her decision to choose goblins is antisemitic because… goblins look Jewish? Should she have chosen a less Jewish looking fictional monster? Is that why she’s being accused of being an antisemite?
 

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I also can’t even understand what the antisemitic thought process might have been. She’s writing a book in which she decides to put an evil fantasy creature in charge of a bank and her decision to choose goblins is antisemitic because… goblins look Jewish? Should she have chosen a less Jewish looking fictional monster? Is that why she’s being accused of being an antisemite?
If you've a choice to use fairly obvious anti-Semitic tropes or not use them then you probably shouldn't use them. She may not have been aware of it at the time of writing but my brother said that when he watched the movie with his kids, who are quite young and only got into Harry Potter recently enough, he was surprised and googled it to see if there was kickback because it seemed so blatant.
 

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I'm going to watch one of the Harry Potter films now actually
 

Pogue Mahone

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If you've a choice to use fairly obvious anti-Semitic tropes or not use them then you probably shouldn't use them. She may not have been aware of it at the time of writing but my brother said that when he watched the movie with his kids, who are quite young and only got into Harry Potter recently enough, he was surprised and googled it to see if there was kickback because it seemed so blatant.
Explain it to me like I’m 8. What was the “fairly obvious antisemitic tropes” she chose to use in her book?
 

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Explain it to me like I’m 8. What was the “fairly obvious antisemitic tropes” she chose to use in her book?
I haven’t read the books since I was a kid, but the whole secretive sub human group obsessed with money and accruing it, treated with suspicion and generally untrustworthy to outsiders. Put in place solely to run the financial world