Let me preface this by saying I have always shipped dramione. However, Iām re-reading the Harry Potter series for the first time in years. In that time Iāve become a lot more educated on racism (and itās many forms, etc...) Also, this is my first time reading it where I didnāt think of mudblood as some made up word for muggle born wizards, but the wizarding world equivalent of the n-word. Given all that, my feelings about the dramione ship have shifted. (1/2)
I often wrote off Dracoās violent racism as the fault of Lucius not Draco, but at what point does it become Dracoās fault. It is chicken soup for my souls when I see racist teens being denied or expelled from schools because of using the N-word or doing something equivalently racist. They probably learned it from their parents as well, but I still blame them. I donāt know what my question is. I just wanted your thoughts
I have a lot of thoughts and here they are in a stream of consciousness format
one is that I think youāre right to recognize thatĀ āmudbloodā is the wizarding worldās n-word and in a lot of ways there are problems with the dramione ship that we have to be careful about. thereās a reason, for example, that I never write draco using the termĀ āmudbloodā in a romantic or sexual way (I really donāt understand why people seek that out) and also a reason I never write historically untenable situations, such as the nazi officer and auschwitz prisoner prompt someone asked for a few months ago. I do think youāre right that thereās a layer of distance weāve taken advantage of in romanticizing the relationship; itās hard for us to make the connection to white supremacy because the potterverse is an imaginary worldāwhich is important for children! we feel safe within this world because our imaginations are supposed to be safe and they are childrenās books. also, the decision to cast a pretty white actress named emma watson meant that for a lot of us, issues of racism seemed like very distant parallel. should we realize differently now? yes, probably, maybe. Iām still working through my feelings on this, so weāll come back here
point two: this is the problem with so-called cancel culture, though, that you seem to be implying that at some point dracoāsĀ āracismā becomes unforgivable. but itās not just within the dramione ship that he realizes his wrongsācanonically he shows evidence of awakening, if not actual repentance. isnāt the idea that we want people to wake up and realize theyāre wrong, regardless of how long it takes? I would LOVE for donald trump to wake up tomorrow and be like oh shit Iām a racist misogynist, fuck!! thatās obviously not going to happen and it wouldnāt undo anything he did prior to thatābut the whole point of dramione is to write dracoās process of 1) realization and 2) contrition. I would argue that every dramione fic (certainly every dramione fic of substance) involves him facing his prejudice and perceiving his error. does it matter that he doesnāt figure this out until his life is threatened at age 17? I mean yes, of COURSE you can blame him for his prejudice (and his prejudicial actions) whether it starts with his parents or not.Ā
but isnāt THE WHOLE POINT that he changes his mind?Ā
I mentioned in our AMERICANAH discussion that I think the author was rightāthe only way toĀ ācureā racism is romantic love.Ā āNot the kind of safe, shallow love where the objective is that both people remain comfortable. But real deep romantic love, the kind that twists you and wrings you out and makes you breathe through the nostrils of your beloved.ā I think the dramione ship has this concept at the root of it: that draco falls in love with hermione and in valuing her over himself (which is what love is!), he begins to not only understand her trauma and the way he caused her pain but also begins repenting for it with his choices. this is always at the heart of it. we always want draco to feel that crushing devastation of knowing exactly what heās done, and then we want him to be on her side, unconditionally.
is it EXTREMELY ICKIER when you think about this within the frame of a nazi loving a jewish woman or a white supremacist falling for a Black woman? YES, immensely so, I hate it and I would never write an AU for either of those scenarios. I would absolutely not touch that at all. so I think that distance I mentioned earlier is pretty crucial here, because yeah, this is a fake world with magic that doesnāt exist andĀ āmudbloodā isnāt the n-word because it isnāt preceded by centuries of slavery, imperialism, or punitive institutional bias. well, thereās obviously institutional bias once voldemort pops up and wrecks shit, but historically? itās unclear
āwhich is not toĀ excuse anything. I do think intellectually there is a line to be drawn between these comparisons, though itās a fine one. if I could choose to unship this at this point in time... maybe I would. personally I have always been diligent about the way I address morality in my fics, but was I ever considering it in terms of racism? no, not really.Ā would I have romanticized this relationship if it felt even remotely like a real prejudice that existed in the world? I donāt believe so, no.
ultimately... I stand by the way I have written this ship. can I stand by the ship in general?Ā I think thatās much more questionable, and also the reason I have avoided so many dramione fics and tropes in the past. because sure, you can romanticize the bad guy for the thrill of the angst, but at a certain point there has to be a moment where we question what, exactly, weāre romanticizing. while I do think thereās an argument for making the intellectual distinction (again, these are childrenās books, and also as a first gen immigrant american who was neither british, white, nor magical, I already felt extremely distant from literally everything in these books, so at 11 years old I would not have made the connection between the n-word and āmudbloodā) there is also a strong argument for being more conscious of what you read.Ā if you seek out fics where draco is the one who saves hermione, are you seeking something akin to a white savior narrative? if you like fics where draco fetishizes muggle culture, is that the same as fetishizing Black culture? or are you just normal and horny and interested in reading fantasy romance using characters you already know from a fiction series you grew up with??
in conclusion: I think, as in all things, there are gradations to the morality of what we romanticize, and being aware of what we consume and why we consume it is whatās important right now. on a broad scale, however, there are no definitive answers as to whether something is wrong or right, and I will definitely have to think about this when I approach it in the future.
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