this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2025
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There are long video essays where former Potter fans reread the series with today's knowledge and find antisemitism, fatphobia, ablism, essentialism, slavery apologetics, ...
"today's knowledge" nothing, i was pointing most of it out to my classmates as the books dropped and all it got me was branded a "contrarian" who hates popular things just to hate them. liberals willfully turned a blind eye and elevated that crap for years.
I never liked Potter so I never really looked into it to see enough to find it problematic. I know that there have always been voices who did, like Ursula K. Le Guin
Essentialism... hmm I thought I kept up reasonably well with knowing about bigotry but this one is new, unless I know it by a different name. Lemme look it up.
Oh, the basic ideology that makes people think eugenics is good and is a huge basis for a ton of other bigotries.
Tbf essentialism is a broad term and some queer people use essentialist rhetoric as well (think "born that way"). And while I would disagree (because it doesn't include all forms of queerness, some people just aren't born that way, for some it is a choice), I wouldn't problematize it and wouldn't call them bigots. Essentialism doesn't automatically lead to eugenics.
Yeah, maybe I said it a bit too harshly but that's more of what I meant by saying basis of. You can take something that has some truth (after all, humans do have some things that would absolutely fit into essentialism) then make it so ubiquitous that you start applying it to things that don't fit it, like inclination to commit criminal acts etc. The issue is in the degree to which it is applied, not necessarily the belief itself.
Yeah ive heard that. There's also some irony with the four houses that I've forgotten.