I am not as a rule given to excessive televisual entertainment. But this past weekend, felled by a severe 36-hour gut-cramping illness caused, one suspects, by a brace or two of dodgy tacos hastily consumed on the downward-facing slope of a G&T binge, I had a chance to watch a few movies in the famed "Harry Potter" film franchise based on the novels of J.K. Rowling. I am probably the only good-looking chap under age 42 who is mostly ignorant of the Harry Potter phenomenon--and proud of it. Yes, of course I am aware of it. But no, I have not read the books, and if I had spotted a grown man or woman reading one in the late 1990s when these books first came out in London I would have berated him or her in full public view, such is my intolerance for slavish consumer 'bots.
Allow me a superficial observation or two. To begin with, I must concede, the films are very entertaining. The result is impressive: the special effects, intricate story line, close attention to detail. The dark and Gothic mood. The series is clearly derivative of the best works of Tolkien and Lewis, and as such, is missing something of the spirit of the originals, but it is probably the best we can hope for right now. Which is not saying much. I try to refrain, after all, from kicking a civilisation when it is down.
Another thing. Having watched each film more than once--I had little else to do, as I was horizontal for most of the weekend--I noticed a certain pattern, namely, the inclusion in many scenes of masses of strikingly black and brown faces in what is clearly a British boarding school. Africans, Asians, and assorted mystery meat roam the halls and corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as if they belong there. At one point Harry Potter is even granted a romantic-love interest in the form of a Chinese girl with a preposterously Scottish accent--and a Highlands one at that! WTF?! How can this be? Britain is still overwhelmingly British, despite decades of colonisation by the third world. And British public schools (private and independent schools) are still overwhelmingly British. The indigenous people of Britain have not yet been ethnically cleansed and genocided.
I think I know why. My Hollywood insider sources tell me Rowling, in selling the film rights to the Americans, stipulated the series was to be shot in Britain with British actors. In order to get around this, and to advance the 'diversity' multikult agenda that is behind much of modern pop culture, the American movie producers loaded the extras with actors of non-white extraction, while keeping the core British. This is the same agenda at work, I think, responsible for the blatant (and statistically unrealistic) miscegenation promoted in the American media and entertainment industries.
Why should we care? The on-screen depictions of an altered demographic mix, in which white people are increasingly reduced to bit-players in their own lands, or phased out of the story completely, are probably a good portrayal of the future envisioned for Britons, Europeans, and Americans by the creative and cognitive elites presently in control of our countries. If you want to see what our rulers have in store for us, go to the movies. You have only to open your eyes to see. It takes a bit more effort to speak out. And even more to actually do something about it.
But no worries. In 50 years' time, once the world is turned right-side up and we have liberated ourselves, perhaps our young film-makers will have a go at remaking these films, just as American film producers today insist on 'updating' movie classics using Africans and other non-white actors. Or maybe cinematic technology will be so advanced that our people can simply 're-do' the offending scenes, getting rid of the superfluous, unwanted characters--a process, one hopes, that by that point will have been achieved in Western society at large.
50 comments:
They ain't making many movies "based on a true story" in Hollywood these days, that's for sure.
"El desprecio de la propia casta es el peor de los vicios del carácter” ("Contempt for one’s race is the worst of character flaws")
José Vasconcelos
I think you're making a mistake in categorizing Hogwarts as a "British boarding school". Sure, it's presumably in the UK, but the implication in the books/movies is that there aren't many school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. As a result, it would make sense for Hogwarts' student body to be multicultural.
Furthermore, the homogeneity of English "public" schools is no doubt the result (at least partially) of the schools' high tuitions (Tom Riddle himself was an orphan). At no point in the Harry Potter stories is there mention of a tuition for Hogwarts. As a result, the composition of the student body would not be subject to the class (and proceeding race) divisions that exist in British boarding schools. London itself is a very multicultural city these days.
(But I could see how these distinctions wouldn't be clear during the first of viewing of the movies and without having read the book.)
Having read the books when I was younger, I can tell you that Harry's romance with Cho is not merely a detail inserted by the multikult. I do not recall if Rowling tacked a Scottish accent onto her, however. It's a shame that Rowling is a liberal (given that the villians in the HP series are grotesque right wing caricatures) since she is an amazing writer.
Concerning Hollywood, it seems that razing it to the ground and salting the earth is the only tenable solution at this point. Even a mindless action movie like Thor must be saturated with the dogma of our globalist overlords, lest someone enjoy something without constant indoctrination playing its part. It is unfortunate that Ronald Maxwell will not live to see a Hollywood where he could make his film version of the Camp of the Saints.
L.A.S., do keep in mind that the idea that anyone can do anything they want regardless of their backgrounds is a very American mentality.
Cod, if a Scotsman took a bride in Hong Kong, and returned to Scotland to raise his children, would you find it terribly surprising if while appearing Chinese they had Scottish accents? :) I would imagine that this sort of thing would not be especially uncommon after the British empire dismantled itself and its servants returned home with their families... perhaps I'm mistaken?
-J.
Racist? No. Though the "mystery meat" comment is gratuitously offensive, nowhere else does Admiral Cod display any sort of contempt for other races. Does he notice the replacement of whites, in their native lands, by non-whites? Yes. Does he notice the propaganda in pop culture? Yes.
What is so horrific about noticing reality? Perhaps it's because it doesn't comport with your ideology.
Here's a thought experiment. What if whites were replacing non-whites in Africa, or Asia, or anyplace else? Would you, L.A.S. and others who thought this "racist," be appalled? Would you call it genocide? My guess is "yes" to both.
So why isn't it appalling, why isn't it genocide, when whites are being replaced in their own countries?
P.S. to Admiral Cod: "Cho Chang" is the name of the love interest in the book, too. The Patel sisters are also in the books. Hollywood isn't the only one pushing the multicultural agenda.
maybe we can re-make Shaft's Big Score with an all Lithuanian cast.
I think, living in the US as you appear to do and not having children 'in the system' (idem) that you may not be absolutely up to date.
British private schools are the best in the world - it's probably the only thing we still do really well (because they are selective, competitive and incompetent teachers can be (and are)sacked).
As such, they have been extensively marketed in Eastern Europe and the Far East, pretty much anywhere in fact where there is spare cash and no real competition.
The result is that virtually all decent British private schools from Eton and Harrow, and even Stoneyhurst, down have substantial numbers of Chinese, Russian and other overseas pupils, very much a la Hogwarts.
At my sons' school, indeed, Economics A level is known as 'Asian Studies', but I think the overall impact has been to raise academic and culinary standards, so to be applauded really.
Just thought you should know, though probably not very relevant to your age and stage of life.
Oh reminds me of when I read an article claiming that Harry Potter was racist because the one black character with a name had little to none description in the book because he wasn't an important character. OH NO!
I am so sick of the "THERE ISN'T ENOUGH BLACK/HISPANIC/ESKIMOS! THERE ISN'T ENOUGH WOMEN THIS IS CLEARLY OPPRESSION!" crap.
Unfeasibly Awful - If you were a Brit wouldn't you be calling 'British private schools ... ' British public schools ?
I detect a case of iGentism
As a conservative working in the film business I am tempted to believe such cynical decisions are based on the old-fashioned (and racist) notion that characters of a certain ethnicity bring in $$$ from such ethnicities. This "important" notion promoted over good writing, acting and craftsmanship is why the "business ain't what it used to be."
L.A.S: Exhibit #485 of the pussification of America.
I recall when the Lord of the Rings movies came out, Tolkein (though long dead) was accused of racism. This because the orcs were clearly other and "non-white." When I started reading Tolkein's books in the late 60s, I never imagined the goblins and orcs to be as dark as portrayed in the movies; indeed, since they appeared to spend most of their time underground, I saw them as excessively pale.
The Lord of the Rings movies got some criticism because the orcs were clearly non-white. Though when I first read the books in the late 60s, I always imagined the Tolkein's goblins and orcs as excessively pale.
Thank you indeed, Admiral, for not bowing to the stigma surrounding such complaints. I wholeheartedly concur.
The Chinese girl is actually from Glasgow, hence her accent! I thought "mystery meat" was utterly hilarious although I can see how it would offend others.
I completely agree with Horatio, we are supposed to sit back in our politically correct straitjackets and watch our culture become radically altered.
"L.A.S: Exhibit #485 of the pussification of America."
.......and the crassness of our culture. Obscenity marks the beginning of his comment.
”Or maybe cinematic technology will be so advanced that our people can simply 're-do' the offending scenes, getting rid of the superfluous, unwanted characters--a process, one hopes, that by that point will have been achieved in Western society at large.”
Beyond the crass "mystery meat" comment, this is the heart of what I find offensive about your post.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but not only are you advocating for future filmmakers to remove the "superfluous, unwanted" (read: non-white) characters from current movies, but you hope that Western society will have removed those "unwanted" people from its ranks as well?
Fucking shameful.
I'm just wondering what you folks think of M. Night Shyamalan's decision to cast white actors for the Last Airbender in roles that were originally depicting characters from other races? Darn that Hollywood, eh?
Speaking of Tolkien, I understand that "The Hobbit" movie is at some stage of production. The casting director got fired because he wouldn't even consider a Pakistani actress as a hobbit extra.
Um, hello? Tolkien was creating a mythology for England, whose natives are white. Casting a Pakistani to play a hobbit makes as much sense as casting a black actor to play a Norse god. It is a rewriting of European history to be multicultural, to be something other than what it actually was.
Then, when we complain about being written out of our own history, we're called "racists."
The culture wars are not over, not least because there are still white people who have not succumbed to liberalism.
Well said Cod. I wholeheartedly concur. One feels like a foreigner in one's own country. Racial integration is a pipe dream and one of the many negative influencers is this sort of bending of reality in the favour of the incomers.
It is ten years since the fairly major race riots that occurred in parts of England and nothing has changed for the better as far as I am concerned. The authorities say that “we” have learned from what happened but all we have done is made more and more concessions and changes toward an alien way of life.
Or British independent schools, even, Anonymous. IGentism, anyone?
I salute you sir! This post was positively staggering in its ignorance. First you berate any adult who reads Harry Potter, then you proceed to deconstruct the movies as if they were documentaries of life in the 21st century UK. Brilliant!
Check it out. CC is pissed at you b/c he can't get a white girl.
1) The liberal use of "genocide" is offensive, and minimizes the causes and effects of actual genocide. Of course, those commenters who used the term probably have no problem minimizing the annihilation of non-anglo cultures.
2) I am downright sick of privileged anglos who have this notion that their conservative views are never heard. That they're saying something different. That they are going against the grain. They have this idea that they are the underdogs, they are the radicals. This is utterly ridiculous.
3) The blog now sounds like the rantings of a senile eighty year old ... or Rush Limbaugh. I'm done with your blog.
4) For someone who probably went to decent schools, you are under-educated, Admiral Cod.
5) The "British" are take up little more than half of London, by the way. So...
6) As for anyone who wants to criticize my use of the word "anglo" instead of "white," you should know first that in academic circles discussing race, that it is correct. Also, it is not capitilized for a reason. Crazy liberal elitists, amiright?
Kirsten,
Your arguments make me sad, not because I agree entirely with AC, but because they seem to justify his opinions, and point to the increasing cultural divide we are headed towards. Think about it, is the decline of the Native American culture a tragedy? Yes, because cultures are a part of the human story and their destruction impoverishes society, just as extinctions impoverish the environment. Similarly, the traditionally african-american neighborhood of Harlem is becoming European-Americanized. This is also sad, as harlem's culture has been traditionally Afro-tinged, and beautiful in its own right. Why then can't Europeans be sad to see their way of life coming to an end? Their traditions transformed and their culture eroded? Let me address a few of your arguments...
"probably have no problem minimizing the annihilation of non-anglo cultures."
Have you ever lost a loved one? were you more sad about that passing than you are about the passing of unknown strangers? Of course, as humans we have special obligations and special connections to our own cultures, to be otherwise is to be unhuman.
"I am downright sick of privileged anglos who have this notion that their conservative views are never heard. That they're saying something different. That they are going against the grain. They have this idea that they are the underdogs, they are the radicals. This is utterly ridiculous."
Fine, but do you have any evidence? Look at the educational system, the media, the arts, etc. Can you really say that AC's sentiments, right or wrong, are given anything near a respectful hearing? Of course not, and I'm sure you're fine with that, but you can hardly then argue that
those arguments don't cut against the cultural grain.
"As for anyone who wants to criticize my use of the word "anglo" instead of "white," you should know first that in academic circles discussing race, that it is correct. Also, it is not capitilized for a reason. Crazy liberal elitists, amiright?"
No, but using racially tinged nicknames doesn't help your arguments.
Anyways, just some thoughts...Evelyn
At last someone speaks the truth about the travesty that is the fictional Harry Potter universe. If only Admiral Cod could now turn his attention to the prominence of non-British magical creatures such as the Hippogriff and Manticore usurping the place of such noble, traditional beasts like the centaur, boggart and the blast-ended skrewt. Just look at the varieties of dragons - Norwegian Ridgeback, Romanian Longhorn, Peruvian Viperhorn ... what about the Common Welsh Green? Keep fighting the good fight, Admiral, and keep a stiff upper lip.
I think you should probably discount the more foam flecked comments; 'Kristin', for example, is clearly in the most frightful bate and has abandoned grammar, syntax, spelling and sense.
I don't know what iGentism is either, but am intrigued. Could you explain?
Wow. Where does this notion that anybody "replaces" anybody else in a space/place and time come from?Absolutely, stunningly ignorant.
One could make the opposite argument, in that all the major characters (bar the Chinese one) are white - minority characters are relegated to being in the background.
UK private schools are 75% white (http://bit.ly/jK7uWB) so if anything, the stories under-represent minorities.
My mother's old public school friends were a mixed bunch (including African royalty, Saudis and Russians) and that was in the 60s/70s.
Evelyn ~ You are most welcome. Keep up the good fight.
Sharon ~ I rarely pay attention to comments made by people called 'Sharon.'
Anon @ 7:59 ~ That would make sense, as he is a beta, a poseur, and a vulgar opportunist. CC is still angry at me because I (1) refused his invitation to meet up in Laguna Beach and (2) declined his invitation to write for the Ivy Style website. He nurtures his grievances like a scorned girl.
CK ~ Believe it or not I have some pity for people like Kristin. For people like her, liberalism is a religion of the most primitive, fundamentalist kind. Liberalism is a cult. Liberals are unable to conceive in their narrow, closed-off mind that not everyone agrees with them. Indeed those who do not are not only wrong, but evil--and must be shamed, punished, and burned at the stake as sinners and heretics. Try to imagine how it must feel to be someone like Kristin. The views expressed in my column must have struck her as an enormous, bone-crunching shock, like a punch in the face, to which she responded in the only way religious cult members know how: with fear, hurt, anger, incomprehension, confusion, and violence. If I were a religious man I would pray for people like Kristin, but I'm not. And anyway, unfortunately, prayer isn't going to save her.
"The blog now sounds like the rantings of a senile eighty year old ... or Rush Limbaugh. I'm done with your blog." -Kirstin
Ha,Ha,Ha. Rush Limbaugh isn't conservative. He's part of the liberal rear-guard just like the rest at Fox,National Review,etc.
H.P. and the half-cast prince?
Conservatives feel that liberals too often play a game of victimhood and blaming imaginary oppressors: men oppressing women, whites oppressing non-whites, wealthy English lords oppressing impoverished subsistence-farming Irish people, developed countries oppressing developing countries through unfair trade treaties, etc.
Liberals believe that those such scenarios are very real, that systems of oppression do exist, and it is the interest of society to protect the weakest and most exploited. Conservatives, or anyone who is in favor of the status quo, are part of the problem which prevents the dawn of a more egalitarian society.
So conservatives will always view liberals with suspicion, as pushing for racial diversity when it is not warranted, such as in the case of Harry Potter and non-white actors. Conservatives will also view policies like affirmative action as pushing for racial equality at the expense of true merit and the promotion of real talent.
In my experience, those two parties will never see eye to eye, no matter how hard they try to understand each side.
Anonymous @ 21:40 ~ The main error in your analysis is that the liberal vs. conservative paradigm does not exist. It was an artificial construct designed to keep liberal ideological choices within acceptable range.
I also enjoy how non-marxist viewpoints are seen as a result of being "grossly uneducated", which in some sense, I suppose, is true - given what passes for education these days...
Anyhow, three cheers to Cod for once again calling things out the way they are.
Shut up and sit at the back of the bus, whitey!
Admiral Cod:
Come for the style, stay for the commentary!
This post (among others) is worthy of a Waugh. Regarding the negatories, not everyone appreciated "The Loved One!"
No wonder AC is the first blog I check every afternoon (after awakening from gin-soaked slumber).
-Archibald
In the spirit of anti-egalitarianism I'd like to wish AC and all of his fine followers a happy Restoration Day! Long live the King!
Admiral,
check out TV series from the past: Star Trek featured a vision of the future with whites, blacks, asians, russians and even alien(s) serving on one vessel under some united planet flag called Starfleet (or whatever...).
We may not travel in space that much like we thought we would, but the rest of the vision came true...
Cod obviously your comments did not get the stamp of approval from the Ministry of Propaganda. Expect a knock at the door any minute.
As an old school trekkie, over the age of 50, I remember how thrilling it was as a child to see "Star Trek" recognized Lt. Uhuru as an important part of the crew. I know Gene Roddenberry worked very hard to maintain the racial equalness (as he saw it) on his show. But, that was the 60s, a time of change was in the air. I wouldn't even want to be a part of the media as far as doing movies, books, etc. today for fear that I would be criticised for being a racist or worst today.
This post is well written and thought provoking. I attended an English public school in the 1970s. We had students there from Hong Kong, Malaysia (both Chinese and Indian Malays), the Caribbean, India & Pakistan, as well as a very few black British and African students. Our head boy in my year was Gambian. This at a time when the Black & White Minstrel show was still popular on television. Non-white people who grow up in regions of Britain of course have the accents of those regions. Hogwarts seems about right to me, proportionally.
So what you're REALLLY trying to say issss.......
AC, this is why I read your blog! Time and time again you show yourself to be one of the true cognoscenti standing against the charade of talking heads and dogmatic "feel good" societies, and might I add not giving a damn about who might be insulted!
Kudos for being among the very few to see that the illusion of bipartisanship is but another means of division in our society, another means of pitting one against another.
In my opinion, if someone is pushing an agenda regardless of sound logic, they have lost the ability to maintain an open mind and can thus be ignored barring any substantial event that forces a change. Furthermore, if someone responds to a well reasoned argument with emotion, you can be assured they are among the proverbial "sheeple".
Always a good time here, Cod. Chin-chin.
I have a challange for you- Watch T.V. for 1 week with a notepad. You can take notes as you go.
1. If a commercial has a man and a woman, and one is portrayed as being in error, stupid, or owner of an inferior product, it is the man.
2. If it is a white guy, and any minority, it is the white guy who is the schmuck.
3. If it is a TV program, the father (in a family, male in a couple) is invariably an idiot, or lazy.
Whatever would white men do without our infinitely more intelligent wives/girlfriends/minority best friends??
How strange to think of English boarding schools as white havens. Just for reference, I taught at an English boarding school in the Midlands, and it was populated predominantly by white Britons, an enormous number of East Asian students, a healthy helping of South Asians, and then a much smaller proportion of other races & nationalities.
Wow. The irony of democracy and freedom of speech. Even a racist passing himself off as an erudite sartorialist has a forum. Sadly, your opinions reek not so much of hate but fearfulness, which in and of itself is extremely unprep and alas, unstylish. Cheerio.
Dear Evelyn, this reply is beautifully articulated and poignant. I am writing a book on ethno-nationalism and would like to quote an excerpt from your excellent post. Would you mind? No problem of course should you prefer not. And I hope the excellent Admiral Cod doesnt mind me soliciting on his comments list either!
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