[ SECRET POST #4292 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4292 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #614.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

When JKR wrote it she was kinda just focusing on Britain, and from that POV it's reasonably diverse and representative of our national makeup in the nineties.

The criticism she gets now seems to be entirely based on a UScentric standpoint. Which, frankly, is totally irrelevant.

And this is all why I stopped paying attention to HP stuff and actively avoid most things to do with it.

[(Anonymous)]

This whole post seems like a bit of an old misrepresentation of what's going on

[(Anonymous)]

Come on. Even in the 90s, the UK wasn't that white, and I'm pretty sure it was a lot gayer than what Dumbledore represented at Hogwarts. Also some of the criticism Rowling's gotten recently was for her handling of North American magic, in which case a UScentric standpoint is very much relevant.

[(Anonymous)]

It's not like there would have been any social justification for a sensitive portrait of a closeted gay man in the UK in the 1990s

[(Anonymous)]

Right. Because there were hardly any gay people in Britain back then. It's good that the series got the house elf population represented, though!

[(Anonymous)]

Now to take a big sip of coffee while I put on this Bronski Beat record

[(Anonymous)]

(nayrt) Oh come on - I'm in complete agreement that the books were ultra straight and much whiter than they could have been, but that's a stupid argument, and it always derails shit. Leave it alone.

[(Anonymous)]

The person who brought it up is the person who said that the books were an accurate representation of 1990s Britain and the only people who complain about it are dumb Americans.

[(Anonymous)]

i like how you added that "dumb" to "American" all by yourself, op didn't use it

are you projecting perhaps

[(Anonymous)]

The comments you're referring to are in response to a comment that claims the canon is representative of Britain's population in the 90s. They're not coming out of left field, and I agree, it IS a stupid argument... but you're not responding to the person who initiated it.

[(Anonymous)]

You're suggesting that an expensive British boarding school in the 90s wasn't mostly white? Huh? And you're acting like there weren't non-white characters. There absolutely were, and they were named, developed, and even affected the plot. The fact that the main trio is white is not racist.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT - I actually had this thought the other day, but I couldn't remember if it was ever mentioned in canon that Hogwarts was really expensive, or if there were cheaper alternatives. Are there any other magical schools in Britain?

[cakemage]

According to JKR, tuition at Hogwarts is free.

[(Anonymous)]

So why did HBP say Tom Riddle needed the equivalent of a scholarship?

[cakemage]

To pay for books and supplies, like his wand and cauldron and whatnot.

[(Anonymous)]

It's hard for obvious reasons to get a read on how Hogwarts lines up with real-world demographics (and I personally don't think it's that useful). But it does seem like Hogwarts has a fairly robust scholarship program, and I think you would probably expect it to be close to an economic and racial cross section of the UK than an our-world public school. Rather than a tokenistic handful of non-white characters.

And this certainly doesn't apply to the bit about gay characters.

[(Anonymous)]

The students attending fancy British boarding schools come from all over the world, though. You might be surprised how many rich families from the Middle East and Asia send their sons there, for purposes of networking as well as obtaining a fancy boarding school education.

[(Anonymous)]

Edinburgh was (and stillis comparatively) white. I have been to concerts where we literally counted the non white people coming in and didn't need both hands.

[(Anonymous)]

what has that got to do with anything

[(Anonymous)]

The 2011 census says that Edinburgh's population is approximately 5.5% Asian. Was Hogwarts 5.5% Asian?

[(Anonymous)]

No, it definitely lacks anyone not straight.

As for whiteness, actually HP is more diverse by far than my nineties school experience and every one of my friends except those who lived in certain areas of London.

[(Anonymous)]

Mine also. I grew up in what I suppose is essentially suburbia well out from any city (closest big area was still designated a town), and I can count on one hand the number of non-white families I knew of.

I now live in a city and the demographic is VASTLY different (i.e. much more diverse)

[(Anonymous)]

Mostly seems to be Asian people complaining about Nagini (I don't know where all of them live, though).

Personally, I kind of like how Nagini's actress looks, though maybe it would have been better to have an Indonesian, if that's where Nagas are supposed to be from.

[(Anonymous)]

Do we know that the complainers are Asian though? The criticism is against the white man/subservient Asian woman trope but I have yet to read a hot take that started with the premise that the author was an offended person of Asian descent.

Meanwhile, I, an Asian woman, am meh on the issue.

[(Anonymous)]

DA
I'm guessing it's mostly white Americans or at the most Asian Americans who have a problem with this, like every time these things happen.