I loved Harry Potter as a kid, and Harry Potter World this summer at Universal Studios.
Perhaps it was all the Butterbeer (or just the beer) but I couldn’t get the blatant antisemitism J.K. Rowling cashed in on in her world.
Some have speculated that Ethiopians are Israel’s lost tribe, but I’m now fully convinced it’s the Goblins who run Gringotts Wizarding Bank. In the first book, they’re described as short, have big noses, greedy, have complete control over the wizarding economy, and are not to be trusted.
It’s everything you’d expect from Nazi Propaganda, hold the yarmulke.
I would fully expect this from Disney (stay tuned for my take on their lack of a Jewish Princess), but Universal Studios? I expect better from the distribution company behind Schindler’s List.
Were there no “Goblin” producers working on these movies or theme parks thinking to themselves, “Shalom, is this all Kosher?” Or at least, “Can I wear the sorting hat to Temple next Saturday?”
Now all I can think about is what The Hogwarts Express was being used for between semesters in the early 1940’s. Slytherins are purebloods, and Draco Malfoy is the posterchild for Aryanism.
A Fairy Tail
On a lighter note, I’d still do dirty magic with Sirius Black — human or doggy style. We’d roleplay: he’d be an Azkaban prisoner and I’d be a sexy dementor trying to suck his soul out of his magic wand until he accio’ed.
However, I can’t help but wonder if animagus who could turn into dogs in Harry Potter would age in dog years. For example, if Sirius Black turned 80, would Padfoot look like a 560-year old dog?
Then again, hea’s from a Pureblood Wizarding family, and I’m a Goblin. It would never work long term.
