noise dept.
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@theartofmadeline
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dirt enthusiast
ellievsbear
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
izzy's playlists!
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@wizardingworld4thewin
If Lily and James are perfect for each other because of their patronus, then James and Snape are perfect for each other too.
I love this, but the technical side of me can't help but point out that James' patronus was a stag, while Lily and Snape's was a doe. 😅
Professor Eleazar Fig dies at the end of Hogwarts Legacy. Rookwood is the one who cursed Anne and the goblins were framed for it.
Too bad Hogwarts Legacy made nearly $1 billion in global sales in its first two weeks, broke records, racked up millions of hours played, and is so successful WB is already working on a sequel. Too bad your spoilers did absolutely nothing. What a shame. 🥰
i’m both
I want your pussy
You wanted Hogwarts Legacy to fail, too.
Looks like we don't always get what we want, do we shnookums?
Do you think since harry is a cop he would come home after work and commit domestic violence against Ginny
No, no, no. He's far too soft. If anything, the violence would come from her.
The Biden Administration wants to make hentai illegal. What do you plan on doing about it?
Laughing.
You seem kinda Catholic
Atheist. 👍
Do all house elves have giant squishy pussies?
Why? Were you thinking of fucking one? Seems like an odd thing to focus on, considering it would most definitely be nonconsensual. You're pretty sus, anon.
What's your main blog
This one. I don't spend much time on Tumblr. It's kind of a trash heap. I just sign in every now and then to feed the fish that are slowing dying of exposure from their own waste.
Why didn't you post any of my questions, I thought we were friends 😢
Oh, so sorry. Unlike you, I have an actual life that keeps me pretty busy. 🤣
You know there are asylums for people like you, right? I know you want attention, but I'm hardly a health professional. If you're out of thorazine, you'll need to find someone with an M.D.
Hey, since youre actually playing the wizard game I was wondering if you could tell me something. I heard from others playing it that there are items (can't remember which ones sorry) at some point in the game that do actively link the goblins to Judaism and that this connection is intentionally made throughout the whole game.
And like, the former head designer is a fascist so that checks out, but I'm just wondering if you think based on what you've played already that these instances are just a remnant of said fascists involvement and the story/depiction eventually course corrects or if this isnt fixed and is just the overall state of it throughout the game?
Cause like, I can deal with some bad plot points or connections being left over, given I'm a big fan of classic fairy tales amon other things, but I don't think I'd personally be able to tolerate it if the whole main plot of the game was just you fighting against some guys that a fascist explicitly intended to be caricatures of jews.
I have looked at some spoilers but they were generally made by people already very intent on hating the game or people who don't seem to have played it themselves so I thought I'd ask someone on the "other side", so to speak, too.
The most compelling evidence I have seen of goblins being explicitly linked to Jews is this:
Do you know what this is? Do you know how it’s supposed to connect to Jews?
I’m betting that 99% of goyim do not. Which means, again, that if this is supposed to be Nazi propaganda, it’s incredibly inept Nazi propaganda.
It is far more likely that that image—which appears on one codex entry in the whole game—is simply of an ancient horn, which may or may not be made out of ram’s horn, which is an incredibly common material to make horns out of and is neither exclusively nor universally used to make shofars. The shofar has special significance in Judaism as a way to mark that the High Holidays are coming, but to hundreds of other cultures around the world, it is just an old horn. I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume it’s a statement about Jews every time we see a bone horn. They were the most common type of horn for hundreds of years.
The only people who look at that image and think “shofar,” are Jews and people who have been told by Jews that it’s a shofar.
The claim that it’s in the entire game is a lie. It is one codex entry. About a musical instrument with a variety of real-world uses. People lie about this game and the franchise and its creator a lot. I actually don’t think the average person on this website is capable of calmly articulating specifically what JKR did to make them hate her.
People also claim the goblin rebellions are linked to a pogrom because that codex entry says a goblin rebellion happened in 1612, and a pogrom happened in the real world in 1612.
Do you know how many pogroms there’ve been? There were over 500 in Europe in the Middle Ages alone?
And yet, despite that, there actually wasn’t a pogrom in 1612–not one that I can find in literally any source. If you Google “1612 pogrom,” the first result is a twitter post complaining about the goblin rebellion. And if you read their post, you will see that the “1612 pogrom” they are claiming is the missing link between the goblin rebellion and antisemitism… actually happened in 1614.
It wasn’t even during the same year. You can read that right their in their own source on the original twitter post. The goblin rebellion was in 1612. The pogrom was in 1614. This information that disproves their whole point is right there, on the original post itself, in the preview of the source it cites.
People will say whatever they want about this game. They do not care if it’s true. They do not care if they are looking right at a source that disproves their claims, they will just keep on lying to feed the outraged mob. I strongly recommend assuming everything coming out of their mouths is a lie at this point, because most of it is.
did you just. did you just imply that 99% of gentiles don't know what a shofar is.
I didn’t imply it. I said it pretty clearly. Not a single gentile I have asked has been able to tell me what a shofar is or identify a picture of one. I showed a few gentiles just the picture from the game. They identified it as a musical instrument “of some kind” and nothing further. My extremely religious (Christian), music-teacher cousin said it was “maybe some kind of bugle.” My ex-girlfriend, who attended shul with me more than any of my other exes ever did and even thought about converting briefly, identified it as some kind of horn and nothing else, and did not connect it to Judaism. I do not have a single memory of a shofar being brought up, ever, in any religious studies unit focused on Judaism. (I both enjoyed religious studies and had to take it to graduate.)
Maybe you live in New York City or something where the average gentile knows a lot more about Judaism than they do here in the Midwest, but I think that if you polled the gentiles in your life, you’d be surprised how much they don’t know. I would rank the three most recognizable symbols of Judaism as the Magen David, the chanukiah, and the yarmulke. And those are pretty much the only three I expect the gentiles in my life to recognize.
To recap, not a single random goy from my irl sphere identified the image from the game in any way that connected it to Jews. Not even the one with the educational background in musical instruments and religious studies.
If the only people who can understand your propaganda to hate Jews are Jews, you are really bad at propaganda. I like to assume that people are generally smart and, if not good, at least benign. Most of the loudest detractors of this game seem to believe that most other humans are both stupid and evil. Sounds unpleasant to go through life that way.
You're right. I only know what a shofar is because I have Jewish friends and family. I didn't find out about it until I was an adult and the horn in the game, as far as I can tell, absolutely is not a shofar.
If anything, this most resembles a Roordahuizum drinking horn, which the game literally implies in the description. It was found in the Hog's Head Inn, which is a BAR. Shofars are, if I'm not mistaken, made of ram's horns and must coil or bend upright because it represents bowing to God or something (please correct me if I'm wrong). The one in the game doesn't bend or coil and it's clearly made of metal and wood.
Also, the description implies that the sound the goblin horn makes is annoying, which matches actual 13th century English, Scottish, and Irish lore. Shofars, on the other hand, make beautiful winded sounds that I wouldn't think could ever be described as annoying. Even knowing what a shofar is, I don't think I ever would've looked at that horn and thought it was a shofar.
Can’t wait for Rowling to reveal she donated the royalties to an anti trans or Jewish organization, and you and every hogwarts fan live in denial you were partly responsible for that. It’s gonna be fun to watch, gonna make popcorn for it and everyone
The funny thing is she won't get any royalties from Hogwarts Legacy. Avalanch Software bought rights to the IP upfront, which means they get all the profits and were able to do whatever they wanted. Regardless of sales, players have nothing to do with what Rowling made from this game. Whether no copies sold or every copy sold, Rowling already got paid by the studio.
As for her donating to some anti-trans or anti-Jewish organization, of course that would be bad, but she doesn't need the royalties from some random video game to do that. She makes between $50-100 million every year from various other sources. Just what do you think boycotting a game is going to change? What do you think bullying streamers who play it is going to change? The answer is nothing. In fact, it's just hurting your own cause. I myself am nonbinary and I have Jewish friends and family who preordered the deluxe edition, and we're all embarrassed by the way our communities have acted. If you truly want to make a change, reclaim Harry Potter and go after whatever organizations you claim Rowling is donating to.
I’ve finished Hogwarts Legacy, and I want to address some rumors.
Myth: This game involves crushing a slave rebellion.
Fact: The goblins are not slaves, and the rebellion never happens. There is a minority faction of goblins with dreams of a violent revolution that will not only free them from wizards but subjugate all wizards to them, and of course put the individual goblins in the movement at the top of goblin society as well. They kill multiple goblins for not agreeing with them. They are not a social justice movement. They are a totalitarian minority group trying to overthrow one oppressive regime in order to create another. The vast majority of goblins do not support Ranrok’s rebellion or want him in charge; not because they are okay with being oppressed by wizards, but because they realize that Ranrok isn’t going to be any better and may even be worse, since he’s a lot more violent toward dissenters. The only people who would interpret Ranrok’s rebellion as a social justice movement are the braindread boycotters who think that telling Jews to kill ourselves and sending graphic rape threats to trans men are social justice acts.
Myth: You commit genocide against the goblins.
Fact: No, you do not. You kill goblins under the exact same circumstances you kill wizards: they are part of an evil group that has inserted itself into your affairs and decided of its own accord that they wanted to hurt you. You were just trying to get to school when Ranrok first attacked you. At no point does anyone in this game have the goal of wiping out goblins, and there are numerous goblins that you help throughout the game. Additionally, most protagonists are pro-goblin rights. There is only one companion who is anti-goblin, and you defend goblins to him (the game does not even give you a choice; you defend the goblins) and he is completely invalidated by the narrative.
Myth: The goblins kidnap wizard children and steal their blood.
Fact: The only wizard “child” that Ranrok is after is the protagonist of the game. I’m pretty sure he needs that teenager alive, not for their blood but for their sight, because they can see ancient magic that most other wizards can’t, and Ranrok needs someone who can do that in order to find the ancient artifact he’s seeking. I feel like I’d remember a scene where he stole my blood, and I don’t. I can’t even imagine what his motivation for doing that would be, since at no point in the game was my blood needed to unlock or control anything; just my sight. (Even Salazar Slytherin didn’t put a blood-key lock on the door that he explicitly only wanted his own descendants to be able to get through.)
Myth: The only Jews in this game are goblins.
Fact: This game doubled the number of Jews in the Harry Potter series with recognizable faces. That’s not saying much, but still. Abraham Ronen and Ruth Singer are both extremely Jewish-coded names, and they’re names that will actually register as Jewish-coded for a lot of gentiles. Personally, I find Officer Singer absolutely useless, but not in any way that I don’t expect from an adult cop in a narrative with a teenage protagonist. If she were good at her job, what would we do? Abraham Ronen is extremely likable and a wonderful teacher, and I am very pleased to be able to say that Hogwarts has Jewish professors.
Myth: One of the lead devs was a Nazi.
Fact: Troy Leavitt, who left the project two years ago, was a head designer whose duties mostly included animating NPCs and designing the castle. He had a youtube account which expressed pretty mainstream Republican views and some gamergate sympathies. I disagree with him about a lot, but I’ve seen no evidence so far that he’s a Nazi or that he has any ill intentions toward Jews. If someone can show me evidence to the contrary, I will amend my views accordingly.
Myth: The shofar is a collectable item in the game and they call it annoying.
Fact:
This is the horn in the game:
These are shofars:
I don’t think there’s a strong resemblance, personally. I don’t even think the horn in the game is ram’s horn. Granted, not all shofars are or have to be ram’s horn, but I think it’s hard to make the argument that that is “clearly a shofar” when it’s not shaped like shofar and probably isn’t made out of the same material. Bone horns were used around the world, on every continent, for centuries. Not all bone horns are Jewish.
Also, the average gentile does not know what a shofar is. I’m telling you, I have asked multiple different gentiles of various educational backgrounds, and not a single one knew what a shofar was or connected the image from the game to Jews at all. Using shofars to signify that Jews are evil and bad when the average gentile cannot identify them or connect them to Jews is some pretty inept propaganda writing.
Myth: 1612 is a reference to a Jewish rebellion that ended with a pogrom in 1614.
Fact: First of all, it’s weird to use the date 1612 to signify a pogrom that took place in 1614. Second of all, the date 1612 is from a list of goblin rebellions that was included in the original series. I’m pretty sure JK Rowling was not slipping secret messages to kill Jews into her books and then going on twitter and denouncing antisemitism in UK politics. JK Rowling has gone out of her way to be an ally to Jews on multiple occasions. Not a perfect one; I stand by my criticisms of antisemitism in the Fantastic Beasts series. But in the absence of literally any other evidence that she secretly wants Jews dead, I think–and I know this is an extremely unpopular thing to say right now–I think JK Rowling deserves the benefit of the doubt about this. Especially since there is so much doubt. If 1612 is an obvious message to kill Jews, why was no one talking about it when it first appeared in the original Harry Potter series?
Myth: The boycotters are just politely stating their opinion.
Fact: The boycotters are telling people to kill themselves, doxing people and threatening them, and sending them graphic rape threats. I’ve received several myself. I know numerous other people who have received death and rape threats from boycotters. It’s why I do not wish to associate with anyone who is still openly supporting this boycott. If you think playing a video game is violence, but sending real people death and rape threats isn’t, there is something deeply wrong with your moral compass. You can deny that it’s happening all you want, but that’s not going to change how bad supporting this makes you look to everyone who knows what’s been happening. (Which is… really the entire internet outside of your echo chamber. Your movement came out on Day 1 strongly in favor of rape and murder for everyone who disagree with you, and everyone knows. Denying it doesn’t change that.)
@belrosie 🥰
Hogwarts Legacy Review - by a mixed-race woman with Jewish roots.
So I've been playing about 12h total I guess, I'm level 13 now and Ravenclaw.
Graphics: I was surprised to find my laptop doesn't do too well if I don't put the graphics at low quality, but that's all right. I didn't buy my laptop for gaming, and actually even in low settings I am so amazed by how astonishing everything looks. Also it looks so artistic, like paintings? It's just so beautiful!
Open world: It's massive. MASSIVE. But the map tools are fantastic, so you really don't get lost and if you did, there are thousand ways to find your way.
Similarity to books/films: So they've taken A LOT of creative freedoms, which is great, because it provides another option, if you catch my drift. There are areas of the castle that look like an absolute palace, compared to the official Potter videogames that were less stunning, and areas wild and green and gorgeous, and some areas of the castle are in a different place than you'd expect, same with Hogsmeade, but like I said, the map tool is just fantastic so it's fine.
Story being anti-semitic? So, careful with the spoiler, but the TRA people spent I don't know how long saying the game was some anti-Semitic horrible thing because Rowling is apparently anti-Semitic (so these jerks say) and the main plot is wizards-vs-goblins-who-apparently-repressent-jews. OK let me debunk this for you. One, the plot is there's an evil allegiance between some wizards and some goblins, and so then there's a good allegiance between the other wizards and the other goblins. You'll find a ton of goblins who need your help and a very scarce minority of bad goblins (and I'm currently stuck on one of these missions btw). But the majority of goblins are villagers and innocent gents like that. And goblins are not Jews. I've read about a good bunch of Jews who are not finding any issues with this videogame, and personally, between me and the Jewish community I'm in, of those of us playing, no one, so far, has felt even slightly offended by anything. And we know Rowling to be allied with several Jewish friends of hers, to have stood for Jews multiple times, and that in Potter, Voldemort repressented Hitler and Hermione and other "mudbloods", the Jews. That's the only repressentation of Jews I care about by this author, and I believe it led millions of children back then to better understanding anti-Semitism and what happened with Nazism.
LGBT-friendliness: It's as friendly as it could possibly be. You get trans characters, I've already found a lesbian marriage as well, and when you create your character you can choose which loos they use (which I find a bit absurd because you don't have a need to go to the loo at all), and you can wear any hairstyle regardless of your sex. Facial hair, for what I've seen, is not available (you're supposed to be 15, so it makes sense) and clothes, because it's 19th century, are quite different sometimes depending on sex. But you've got a massive variety of clothes, so you can probably find something that suits you either way. Personally, I've loved all of the clothing options I've found.
Canon: So far I've only recognised some surnames from the books. Everything else is not from the books and their own invention. Quite imaginative!
Difficulty levels: So you can choose between, if I remember correctly, Very easy, easy, normal, and difficult (or something like that). I'll probably end up lowering my difficulty level because I'm so rusty with videogames!
Quidditch: It's been cancelled by the headmaster, but you can still fly broomsticks around the massive open world and other animals.
Animal interaction: you'll love it.
Character mobility: You can swim, jump, walk, dodge, run, swim faster, dive, climb up things... Pretty much everything you'd normally do.
Castle secrets: So, so many. I'm making a massive use of Revelio left and right, quite entertaining!
Spells and combat: So you get many duelling opportunities, and duelling has never (and I've played every Potter videogame to date) been so realistic and fun. It's incredibly wild, savage, you really have to improve your coordination and make sure to get familiar with your console or keyboard. You get many spells, keep unlocking more as you go, and the visual effects are jaw-dropping.
Glitches: To everyone complaining about glitches, you just really need a decent place to game in. I'm doing it in PC and it's not a gaming PC, but also it's not your average PC, and it does quite well with graphics left as recommended by my graphics card. I had a couple minor glitches that disappeared shortly after on their own.
What you missed from the films: WE HAVE PEEVES!!! And keep your eye out because he's a little devil. You also have access to classes, your own place to brew potions in your spare time, same for planting things, and so on.
Relationships and interaction: There's no romance, but there's so much interaction. There's friendship, you can choose to have people duelling in your side with you, and as you walk around you'll constantly hear voices of people around you, and there will always be stuff going on. I went to the Quidditch pitch and found a group of players from my house complaining about the headmaster, then losing a quaffle, and then going to fetch it. And it wasn't on loop, it was very natural. Then around the castle the ghosts will say things, students... Lots going on! lots of life!
Accesibility: All voices are both on subtitles and in your ears, you can change language as well, and brightness and things like that. They do warn people who might suffer seizures from epilepsia.
Shopping: So you'll find money all over, and then you can buy clothes, haircuts, lots of things. And when you buy clothes it has this super cool option where you can choose one item because it gives you more defence or attack points, but give it the appearance of any other you got that you might like more. Magic!
Multi-racial representation / sexism: So far very good. My house partner is Asian I think, but I've quite befriended Gryffindor's girl, who's from Tanzania I think? Well, she went to the African school and mentions a fictitious town she lived in with her Mum. The only white character is the Slytherin boy I believe (can't remember who was in Hufflepuff). And as for random students / teachers, you really get massive diversity. It's like walking around London for me. Also, about as many important males as females, which is great.
About that trans character! So Sirona is named after the Celtic goddess of healing and I find the name quite fitting. She manages the Three Broomsticks (can't remember if they give it another name in the videogame though), and is this heroic warrior who helps you massively through a tricky moment and basically saves your arse.
Anyway, if there's any specific question about the game you've got, I'm here!
Imagine "having Jewish roots" and not understanding the history of antisemitic caricatures and stereotypes.
Good job being a disgusting shande fur die goyim.
Sounds like she understands perfectly. She's simply smart enough to know that all the rumors surrounding this awesome game are bullshit. The goblins are not caricatures of Jewish people, they're just goblins from pegan folklore. In the books, they're considered one of the smartest beings in the Wizarding World, and Professor Flitwick, who's half goblin, is one of the nicest teachers in the school. He's also a competitive duelist and he survives the final battle. Pretty odd for an author to do if her work is meant to be antisemitic. There's also different types of goblins in Harry Potter, such as hobgoblins and red caps. Are they supposed to represent Jewish people too? If you actually think people are walking away from Harry Potter with antisemitic beliefs... I don't even know what to tell you.
I can't believe there are still people defending this shit, but since I have some time to kill, lemme break it down for you.
1. Pagan folklore is, surprise! often antisemitic! There are centuries of caricatures to back this up. Jews aren't new to Europe. In fact, we've been there longer than Christianity.
Something being folklore doesn't mean it's exempt from being problematic. Little people get harassed and called leprechauns and dwarves. Those are both fictional creatures based on a real condition that continue to cause real harm.
2. I've read the books. Nowhere is Flitwick described as half goblin. There's lot of attention to Hagrid being half giant, but none to Flitwick. Now, this might have been mentioned in one of the side books is Rowling's Twitter, but whatever. No evidence in the text. Frankly, I don't really remember Flitwick being a major character, let alone someone worth noting as a decent duelist.
3. Go Google the term "court Jew". Go look up "model minority." Having a character be "one of the good ones" doesn't magically mean it's not incredibly antisemitic.
Uncle Tom, of the famous Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a kind and caring man... who was still presented as basically being a child, unable to make his own decisions, and unable to understand what was happening to him. That book is racist as hell even if the protagonist is Black.
4. Jews being intelligent is one of the most constant stereotypes about us. We're crafty, which is why we—allegedly—control the world. We're tricking people. If anything, goblins being intelligent backs up goblins being Jews.
4a. Hey if goblins are supposed to be so intelligent, why are they treated like second class citizens? Why aren't goblins allowed in Hogwarts? Why isn't Diagon Alley (stupidest name for a street) filled with goblin shops? Right, it's because Rowling's world is incredibly racist.
5. There are multiple kinds of Jews. I should not have to say this in 2023, but here we fucking are! You want some examples? Here's a well-known Reform Ashkenazi Jew. I'm sure you're familiar with him:
Of course, you might be familiar with traditional garb, like this:
There's also Sephardi Jews, Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula during the Inquisition:
A lot of Sephardi fled to the Middle East where their culture mixed with Mizrahim. (Hence it's hard to find pictures specifically of Sephardi Jews.) Speaking of...
We also have Mizrahi Jews, who never left the Middle East!
Let's not forget Kaifeng Jews, who live in China! Their community was very isolated but they've preserved their culture diligently.
We got Beta Israel, Jews from Ethiopia!
We also have Ugandan Jews, seen here with their Torah scrolls.
We have so many types of Jews and ignorant comments like this are so common that we have groups specifically for Jews of color!
They even have shirts! The lady in the middle is modeling a shirt from Jews in All Hues.
See how ignorant it is to argue that goblins can't be Jews because there are multiple types of goblins?
6. Let's talk about how a shofar, a Jewish holy object, is a collectible in this game, shall we?
7. The lead designer was a gamer gate schmuck who rubbed shoulders with Neonazis. He got removed when there was outcry, but only toward the end of the project. That means that everyone on board was okay working for an alt-right troll.
8. Do you know what blood libel is? Of course you don't, so here it is:
Blood libel is the false accusation that Jews are kidnapping Christian children, killing them, and eating them and/or drinking their blood. (Pretty weird coming from a religion with Communion.) The blood supposedly made people more powerful, whether that was physical strength, casting spells, or holding a position in the community. The Jews who allegedly consumed Christian blood were drawn as monsters. This got people murdered. Jews wouldn't be seen with gentiles because if that gentile died or went missing, we got killed for it. This belief was used to justify ghettoes, curfews, pogroms, lynchings, etc.
That's really similar to goblins being falsely accused of a curse and stealing wizard magic to become more powerful and turning into a dragon. Wow, almost... Exactly... The same.
There's a reason Jews are calling this Harry Potter and the Blood Libel.
If you're reading or playing Hogwarts Legacy and you don't see antisemitism, I'm going to assume that 1, you're an alien brand new to earth; 2, that you don't want to see it so you ignore it; 3, you're too stupid to see it; or 4, an amalgam of the above.
This game is antisemitic. You can tell this because the people justifying it like @wizardworldftw are always incredibly misinformed about antisemitism, if not outrightly malicious.
1. As I already explained, goblins are not caricatures of Jews. No more than fairies, mermaids, red caps, dragons, or any fay creatures are caricatures of Jews. Goblins date back as early as the 13th century and they're associated with pegan mysticism, mostly used to scare children into obedience or explain missing items.
Yes, sometimes people are assholes and call little people leprechauns or dwarves, but be mad at the assholes, not the fictional beings with hundreds of years of folklore behind it. Are you saying that since little people exist, we can no longer have leprechauns or dwarves in fiction?
2. I don't really know what to say here besides... you missed stuff. In the books, it's mentioned that Flitwick is a former dueling champion several times. He's also loved by his students and he survived the final battle by using his dueling spells to help turn the tides. It's also mentioned that, much to Umbridge's chagrin, he passed her vile little exam despite her desire to sack him for being part goblin. She went after Hagrid too, because he's half giant. She was racist and called any non-wizard "half breeds", but Flitwick was just far too much of a powerful and well-respected charms master.
3. I'm going to assume you haven't read Uncle Tom, as is the case with most people who bring up that book in any capacity. Well, I have. People who claim Uncle Tom was "childish", especially to the point of being stupid and naive, have no idea what they're talking about. SPOILERS, Uncle Tom dies. How? He disobeys his master. Many times, in fact. He disobeys and disobeys and disobeys until his drunk, pathetic master thinks he has him cornered. He tells Uncle Tom to whip a slave woman as punishment, and tells him that if he doesn't comply, he'll get Quimbo and Sambo, two other slaves who've aligned themselves with their master, to whip him to death. To his master's surprise and ire, Tom refuses. He won't hurt another slave. He'd rather die than taint his soul and hurt an innocent. So, as promised, Quimbo and Sambo do as they're told and whip Tom to death. In his final moments, as he lay dying, the two slaves that beat him feel shame and remorse and realize that following their master's orders was wrong. They'd been brainwashed for years, but Tom broke through it with his resilience. Also, while Tom's story unfolds, we follow an escaped slave (George Harris) and his family. The novel jumps back and forth between the two characters, but only the Harris family makes it out of America. While Tom's disobedience is more passive—and what else can he do, he's trapped on a plantation—George's is more active. He even shoots and kills the slavers that track him down. His wife escapes with her child by pushing a raft across an icy cold river (which is the most famous scene in the book) and risking both their lives rather than turning back. Every action the slaves take is presented as righteous and brave, not submissive.
Whatever your personal feelings towards the book and its, in some cases, admittedly dated concepts, it was written by an abolitionist and meant to rally the moral sentiments of whites against the horrors of slavery, and it succeeded. Harriet Beecher Stowe was horrified by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill in 1850, which required northerners who were protecting black people to return them to the South and back into slavery, and she decided to write a book to combat that influence.
So maybe, just maybe, you're wrong about this.
4. What about all the aspects and physical features that don't match Jewish stereotypes? Goblins in folklore are greedy, devious, and have hooked noses (which do indeed match Jewish stereotypes, which were mostly popularized around WWII), but they also have sharp teeth, green or dark or peach skin, cat/demon eyes, long fingers and nails, big feet, and pointy ears. That's also exactly how they're portrayed in Harry Potter. It's far more likely that Rowling based them on the original folklore, not Jewish people...
As for your question about Diagon Alley not being full of goblin shops... it's literally explained in the books. The goblins want nothing to do with wizards. In fact, most magical beings want nothing to do with wizards. It's not exclusive to goblins. Centaurs, elves, vampires (yes, there are vampires in Harry Potter), trolls, mermaids, etc. all have their own worlds. The only business goblins wish to conduct with wizards is banking. They don't need wizards, but wizards need them.
5. ...I didn't ask for different types of Jewish people. I know there are loads of different types. I asked if red caps and hobgoblins are also caricatures of Jews. If so, which ones? Which Jewish group does this goblin represent?
How about this one?
These?
Just like the goblins in Harry Potter, these are all goblins from folklore and many of them are also in Rowling's works. So are they all caricatures of Jewish people? Do you really think Rowling based her goblins on Jews... or just typical English folklore?
6. I keep seeing people freaking out about this, but they have it wrong. The horn used by the goblins in Harry Potter is not a shofar. It's not even a ram's horn. It's made of brass or wood. And I hate to break it to you, but goblins and horns have gone together since their inception. Same with elves, orcs, and dwarves, dating all the way back to the 13th century. Horns are crucial to all of these races, in every fable, myth, or legend. Goblins and horns exist in virtually every medium, including the Japanese anime, manga, and video game series Overlord. There's literally a magical item called "The Horn of the Goblin", which summons an army of goblins when blown. Even the Japanese know horns are essential to goblin culture. They even exist in Tolkien's novels, where goblins used them to annoy their enemies, and Tolkein (who literally trolled a n*zi and told his German publishing house to f*ck off) was anything but antisemitic. Rowling did not invent goblins and horns, she's just copying English, Irish, and Scottish folklore.
7. Leavitt got fired two years before the game went into end production. Also, I don't know if you know this, but game developers are not writers. Developers deal with the technical aspect that makes the game playable. Nothing more. The story is not and has never been his. In addition, I used to work for Sony and I'm telling you right now, there's no way his coworkers knew about his secret little YouTube channel or alt-right beliefs. Devs are way too busy designing games, they don't have time to talk about their personal lives. For that matter, SPOILERS, the goblins in the game are completely innocent. If he had anything to do with the story, it certainly doesn't show.
8. I know what blood libel is. And hey, I agree... Christianity is weird. Still don't know what any of that has to do with Hogwarts Legacy, though. If you know the plot, then surely you must know that the goblins being accused is presented as WRONG, right? The game doesn't justify it, it condemns it. You're applying far too many real life sentiments to a fun fantasy game, and one in which the people that you think represent Jews are portrayed as innocent and victims. As OP said, far more good than bad.
I reiterate, no one is walking away from Hogwarts Legacy with antisemitic ideals. Not unless they already had them, but in that case it had nothing to do with the game. Just stupidity.
Well that was a condescending load of bullshit.
You remain incorrect. You aren't Jewish and you don't know what antisemitism is, clearly. I'm not actually sure you care. (Correction: I know you don't care.) But for any followers who are on the fence about this:
1. Yeah, goblins are caricatures of Jews. Point blank. Numerous Jews and even several gentiles have explained this in detail. You can make them sympathetic and remove those similarities, but Rowling didn't.
2. He's not relevant to the story. You can rewrite the entire books without Flitwick. And again, tokenism.
3. I actually have read Uncle Tom's Cabin, you condescending fool. I know the plot. Again, nothing that you said is contradicting me. Seriously, you typed up a whole paragraph about how great Tom is while ignoring that the story itself is so racist, it's painful to read. You mentioned yourself that there's a character called Sambo, ffs. It's racist depiction of Black people. Tom being one of the good ones doesn't mean he's not written as a child. He is. It's super duper racist. The protagonist being Black doesn't absolve the book of its colorism and racism. (Which you might know if you read the book. Not sure if you actually did or if you just read the SparkNotes. I'm guessing the latter.)
The people who actively make decisions to escape slavery are the "quadroons" or people who are a quarter Nlack and three quarters white. They're so pale, they pass themselves off as Hispanic. Tom and his family who are pure Black do not attempt to escape, because they are incapable of doing so. Because, and I cannot make this any clearer, the book is racist tripe.
Yeah, Stowe was an abolitionist. She was also white. Funny how white people listened to her stereotyped bullshit instead of, you know, ACTUAL FORMER SLAVES. 12 Years a Slave, Narrative of the Life of a Slave Girl, any book by Frederick Douglass, they're all objectively books. It's just that white people find stereotype more believable than the truth. Just like how you're defending J. K. Rowling instead of reading any book by a Jewish or trans person. There are thousands of better books but you're defending this tripe.
4. The goblins don't want anything to do with wizards--gee, you mean because of the blood libel? Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone to do with antisemites either.
The other characteristics you described are, SHOCKER! also alleged characteristics of Jews. We're frequently depicted with long, unkept nails and sharp teeth, sallow or jaundiced skin, and frequently with inhuman eyes. (Beady eyes is a dog whistle.) We're also depicted with horns and tails. You are proving my point and proving that you genuinely don't know shit about Jewish history or antisemitism.
6. Are the goblins stealing children, money hungry, and generally evil? If yes, yeah, it's still antisemitic. You can write goblins to not be antisemitic, but Rowling didn't try to do that. She leaned into it.
7. No, that's a shofar. You can have horns that aren't shofarim, like:
The Horn of Gondor. A curved, untwisted horn.
Or these replica Viking horns.
But no, Hogwarts Legacy went with this design:
That's a shofar. Point blank. I don't care what your gentile ass thinks, it's a shofar. It's very intentional.
They could have used a unicorn's horn or a dragon horn, or any number of fictional species, but they went with a ram. Again, antisemitism.
8. "I used to work for Sony." Yeah, of course you did.
The guy was antisemitic and that bleeds into the rest of his life. The people creating this game were okay working under him and sharing his views. If I found out the lead developer was a secret Neonazi, I'd leave and not turn back. These people didn't, and therefore Leavitt's influenced stayed.
9. Do you? Do you actually understand blood libel? I don't think you do.
Jews NEVER KIDNAPPED CHILDREN. Never. We weren't eating them. It did not happen.
The goblins are actually doing this. Doesn't matter if it's presented as bad; it's still happening. There's still a caricature doing something that group is frequently accused of doing. How the narrative presents it is irrelevant.
Let's go back to Uncle Tom's Cabin, shall we? Let's compare this to antiblackness, since you don't want to Jews at all. A frequently racist trope of Black men is that they're sexually insatiable and will rape white women. HBS doesn't mention this, thank G_d. You know what does? Birth of a Nation.
Birth of a Nation shows Black men attacking white women. The rapists are portrayed as evil. The narrative is clear that this is a bad thing, and the rapists are stopped. But you know what would have been less racist? Not including it at all! Of course, the entire movie is justifying the existence of the Klan, the same way Hogwarts Legacy justifies brutally stopping a goblin rebellion.
It does not matter if the game says "this is bad." It starts by saying "this is possible." That's the fucking problem.
10. A lot of Harry Potter fans are coming away antisemitic. You certainly are.
How much time did you spend typing this up and the previous post? You spent so much time arguing with Jews about Judaism. You are ignoring Jewish history, even when we're nice enough to provide it. You're going out of your way to harass us and tell us we're wrong and we don't know our own oppression, even though we live it.
If you are told something is antisemitic and harmful and your first thought is to argue or tell Jews we're overreacting, you're antisemitic.
It's a shit game, it's antisemitic, and so are you for defending it. You'd rather talk over Jews and gaslight us than shit down for a second and really consider why people are upset. Try listening to minorities instead of knee jerk defending a shitty franchise.
Almost as condescending as making everything about you when it isn't.
I absolutely care about antisemitism, which is why I know there's very real antisemitism out there that we could be focusing on, but instead you're whining about a fantasy game with fictional races. You probably watch Disney movies and eat Nestlé products, but you're worried about Harry Potter.
1. Saying the goblins are caricatures of Jews is like saying Preston Garvey's name is racist. It's just a reach. It's your opinion that goblins are caricatures of Jews, not a fact. You're also in the minority with that mindset. I have Jewish friends and family and they love Harry Potter. They bought the deluxe version of Hogwarts Legacy. Preordered it. OP even has Jewish roots and clearly she loves the game, too. You keep saying the story is antisemitic, but I'm positive you haven't played it.
2. Yes, he is. He's literally one of the most beloved professors in the books, teaches Harry and the gang multiple charms, and helps them win the final battle. But if you want to make that argument, you can remove most characters from the books (which the movies did) and still have the same story. You call it tokenism, but the whole main plot of Harry Potter is anti-prejudism.
Btw, one of the most important items in the whole series, the Sword of Gryffindor, was made by goblins. Just like in folklore, they're known for their metalworking, which I'm pretty sure isn't a Jewish stereotype.
3. 😱! You mean the racist plantation owner in Uncle Tom's Cabin named his slaves something racist?! I'm shocked.
You act like this was uncommon, and like the book wasn't written in 1852. Are you also mad the N-word's in there? Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a believable story that showed the terrible conditions slaves were forced to endure. First of all, slaver owners usually named their slaves, so "Sambo" probably isn't his birth name. Second of all, Haley is presented as the worst human being imaginable. That said, are you under the impression Stowe had a firm knowledge of African culture? Of course she didn't. Google didn't exist back then and she wasn't exactly well traveled. She did the best she could with the information that was available to her at the time. Her mission was to create a saintly, noble character (which would resonate with white Christians, which made up the bulk of the American population at the time) and turn their views about slavery on its head. And it worked! She made George mixed race because, as is literally stated in the book, it made it easier for him to escape. Though slim, he had an advantage, and again, it was presented as a bad thing. As unfair. The thought that a slave only had a chance of escaping if they were lighter skinned is horrible, but that's exactly what the book wanted to emphasize. Yes, ignorant white Americans in 1852 listened to Stowe... which was literally the point. She even said, "I shouldn't have needed to write a book to change minds." But she did because the 1800's were a messed up time. I guess she could've just as easily done nothing.
Btw, your rant about me reading the spark notes was funny, because I lied to you. Tom wasn't killed because he refused to whip a slave. I actually took part of that from 12 Years a Slave, which I would've thought you'd recognize. He actually died because he knew the location of a bunch of escaped slaves, but he refused to tell his master where they went. Tom wasn't a child, he was a good man who was unable to escape, but gave his life so others could. I knew you never read it. If you had, you would've jumped at the chance to correct me. You just listen to the angry mob instead of reading (or in Hogwarts Legacy's case, playing) the source material.
See, I have a feeling you think everything's racist or prejudice in some way. Unless you personally like it, of course. Like Mistique, for example, created by Chris Claremont, who's been repeatedly caught using racial stereotypes in his work. Mystique, who now comes from a Disney-owned property, which is a soulless, blood-sucking, antisemitic cooperation, founded by a man who literally hated Jews and belonged to the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Oops.
4. The goblins want nothing to do with wizards because they don't have any need for them. But yes, there are also hostilities between both races and Hagrid even says they're both to blame. There are many conflicts in Harry Potter, but the goblins are a fictional race. This is like saying the slave elves in Dragon Age are supposed to be caricatures of black slaves. They're not. It's just conflict for the story.
5. I'm numbering this as five even though you forgot five, but I digress. The beady eye stereotype is about small, black eyes, like rabbits, not cat or demon eyes, which is what the goblins have in the books. I've also never heard of Jews having sharp teeth, green/yellow skin, or long nails, but I'll just take it word for it. I have heard the horn and tail stereotype, but the goblins don't have horns or tails in the books. Are you sure Rowling didn't just make the goblins, you know, the way they're described in 13th century folklore? And again, who do the red caps and hobgoblins represent? Are they all meant to represent Jews, and if so, in what way?
Also, might be an important detail, but the "blood libel" comparison doesn't exist in the books, just the game. Rowling had nothing to do with that. In addition, I think it's important to point out that the goblins did not join Voldemort and remained neural during the war, and that Voldemort even murdered an entire goblin family near Nottingham, which was depicted as WRONG.
6. Again, Rowling did not write the goblins to be antisemitic. You are reaching.
7. Far be it from me to tell a Jewish person what a shofar is, but I do think it's kind of ironic that you said "curved, untwisted" horns are fine when there are literally curved, untwisted shofars or just twisted ones. They're not ceremonial, sure, but they exist.
Many cultures also use curved, twisted horns. In fact, almost every culture has some type of horn associated with it. That said, the goblin artefact looks far more like a Roordahuizum drinking horn than a shofar. Notice how it isn't completely twisted?
Meanwhile, you're trying to convince me it looks like this.
Sorry, but no. I don't see it. It's not even made from an animal. Shofars have to be made from an animal, which I'm sure you know. The description of the artefact in the game even alludes to it being a drinking horn. The Hog's Head Inn is a pub.
8. Leavitt had no influence on the story whatsoever and his coworkers didn't know about his personal life. Why would they? Do you know every detail about your coworker's personal lives? Hell, aside from two or three, I barely even bother to remember my coworker's names. That's just what happens when you work in a big industry. And again, he wasn't the writer. He—and devs in general—never have anything to do with the story. It's usually already written BEFORE they start programming the game.
9. ...I know Jews weren't kidnapping and eating children. I never said otherwise, that would be ridiculous. As I said, you are comparing real life scenarios to a fantasy game. Stealing power from wizards is a trope throughout the entire series. In fact, so is stealing power from creatures. Remember the unicorn blood? Is that also blood libel? Are wizards Jewish and unicorns Christians? I don't know why you keep pulling other irrelevant titles into this conversation. We're talking about Harry Potter (at least we're supposed to be), but in order to make a single point you keep mentioning other works, most of which involve real races. The goblins are not real, they're not Jews, and they're innocent!
10. No one is harassing you. I've seen you, specifically, in dozens of posts harassing people who just want to play a damn game. You, and people like you, have bullied streamers until they break down in tears. Bullied and shamed players who didn't even know about this controversy. There's a Japanese streamer who was bullied off the platform just for having fun with the game. She didn't know anything about this controversy. She certainly didn't think the goblins were Jews, because what well-adjusted person would? Until I was told, the thought never even cross my mind. Probably because when I look at a goblin I don't think, "Oh yeah, a Jew. I should probably hate Jews now."
I just... there's something wrong. There's something wrong with your thought process if you think people who like Harry Potter are walking away antisemitic. In fact, I would like to see some evidence that that's happened at all. Show me the Harry Potter hate group that went out and massacred an entire synagogue after pledging their allegiance to J.K. Rowling and declaring that they got their ideals from the books and nothing but the books. Please show me that. If you can find it, I'll stand right alongside you and condemn it... as I'm sure Rowling also would.
When I'm told something is antisemitic and harmful, I research it. You're hardly the only Jewish person I've spoken to. As I said, I have Jewish friends and family and they love Harry Potter. They bought the game. OP bought the game. Hell, my friend's dad bought the game and he's a rav! They haven't seen any antisemitism anywhere and they agree that the game isn't magically turning anyone antisemitic. If anything, it's just showing your true colours; by that I don't mean Jews, I mean people who chronically live online. Just look at all the hate the voice actor for the trans character, Sirona, is getting. At first, people thought the devs created a cis male character and hired a cis man to voice him. Disgustingly, they started insulting the character's voice and looks, saying things like "he doesn't look trans" and "he sounds like a man". Well, as it turns out, Sirona is voiced by a trans actress and fashioned after her looks. Did people apologize or backtrack? Nope! They stared sending her death threats and calling her a "traitor". Incredible.
I would rather not have J.K. Rowling think that support of Hogwarts Legacy equals an endorsement of her political views, but if you'd like to give her that kind of power, that's your prerogative. I mean, a bill was just passed in Tennessee that legally bars drag queens from stepping outside, but yeah... Harry Potter. That's where the real war's waging. I mean, it's too difficult to make any genuine change irl, so screaming about a harmless video game online is definitely the best contribution. Especially when that screaming is the reason it sold so well in the first place.
"I do care about antisemitism" No, you don't.
If you gave a shit about us, you wouldn't have spent days arguing with me, an actual Jew, about what is and isn't antisemitism.
If you are not Jewish, you do not get to say what is and isn't antisemitic. Point blank.
Cis people can't define transphobia, men can't define misogyny, white people can't define racism, etc. You can't tell us what is and is not oppressive.
I'm not reading the rest of your post, because it's very clear that you don't care about Jews at all. You would rather spend time defending a videogame, fucking fiction, than listening to the people who are affected by it. You would rather break your spine reaching for how this isn't antisemitic garbage than acknowledge that maybe you, a gentile, don't actually understand antisemitism or why this is so harmful.
As I said before...
For the record, I don't buy Nestle products and haven't in decades. I don't give Disney money either; I yohoho it (and really, that's just Marvel and Star Wars. The rest is just bogus). I have never shopped at Walmart or get gas from Exxon or Shell. I don't eat at Chick-fil-A or buy makeup from Lime Crime, Kat Von D, or Jeffery Star (there are others but that's those are the big ones.) I don't buy medicine from Bayer and I won't buy Volkswagen. I don't even use Amazon. There are a ton of places that I boycott and will continue to do so. Some of us are fully capable of researching companies and not spending money on harmful things. It is genuinely not that hard for you to not a buy videogame, especially when some of us are taking the time and effort to buy from decent organizations. If I can spend time requesting a generic instead of giving money to Bayer, you can go without your precious videogame.
Yes, I do. As I said, I have Jewish friends and family and I love them. Actual antisemitism is a problem, which is why I asked you to prove Harry Potter/Hogwarts Legacy is creating antisemites. Point them out so we can stop them. But again, actual antisemites who are actively hurting Jews, not innocent people who just want to play a video game. If anyone who plays Hogwarts Legacy hates Jews, they already hated them. Obviously that's a bad thing, but it's not because of the game... or Harry Potter. They 100% got that bullshit from somewhere else. In fact, if you bothered to actually play the game, you'd realize the theme is anti-prejudism.
I'm also not cis nor white, so I know full well that sometimes when people say something is racist, they're not always right. Why do you get to decide when something is or isn't antisemitic? What about all the other Jewish people who disagree with you? Are you top Jew and your word is law? I'm part Filipino, part Nigerian, and part Chinese, but that doesn't mean I can just accuse something of being racist whenever I want. When Fallout 4 came out, someone told me Preston Garvey's name was racist and it was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Kind of like the goblins in Harry Potter being caricatures of Jews.
And you hit the nail on the head! It's FICTION! The goblins are FICTIONAL characters. You're all riled up over FICTION. If you're argument is that I'm stupid for defending it, you're equally stupid for feeling offended by it. It's not real.
If you spend all your time researching corporations, why is Mistique still in your profile? You know the man who created her has been caught using racial stereotypes in his work, right? And that Marvel is now owned by Disney, which means Mistique is a Disney character? And surely you know that Mistique was created solely for the male gaze, right? 🤔
Hogwarts Legacy Review - by a mixed-race woman with Jewish roots.
So I've been playing about 12h total I guess, I'm level 13 now and Ravenclaw.
Graphics: I was surprised to find my laptop doesn't do too well if I don't put the graphics at low quality, but that's all right. I didn't buy my laptop for gaming, and actually even in low settings I am so amazed by how astonishing everything looks. Also it looks so artistic, like paintings? It's just so beautiful!
Open world: It's massive. MASSIVE. But the map tools are fantastic, so you really don't get lost and if you did, there are thousand ways to find your way.
Similarity to books/films: So they've taken A LOT of creative freedoms, which is great, because it provides another option, if you catch my drift. There are areas of the castle that look like an absolute palace, compared to the official Potter videogames that were less stunning, and areas wild and green and gorgeous, and some areas of the castle are in a different place than you'd expect, same with Hogsmeade, but like I said, the map tool is just fantastic so it's fine.
Story being anti-semitic? So, careful with the spoiler, but the TRA people spent I don't know how long saying the game was some anti-Semitic horrible thing because Rowling is apparently anti-Semitic (so these jerks say) and the main plot is wizards-vs-goblins-who-apparently-repressent-jews. OK let me debunk this for you. One, the plot is there's an evil allegiance between some wizards and some goblins, and so then there's a good allegiance between the other wizards and the other goblins. You'll find a ton of goblins who need your help and a very scarce minority of bad goblins (and I'm currently stuck on one of these missions btw). But the majority of goblins are villagers and innocent gents like that. And goblins are not Jews. I've read about a good bunch of Jews who are not finding any issues with this videogame, and personally, between me and the Jewish community I'm in, of those of us playing, no one, so far, has felt even slightly offended by anything. And we know Rowling to be allied with several Jewish friends of hers, to have stood for Jews multiple times, and that in Potter, Voldemort repressented Hitler and Hermione and other "mudbloods", the Jews. That's the only repressentation of Jews I care about by this author, and I believe it led millions of children back then to better understanding anti-Semitism and what happened with Nazism.
LGBT-friendliness: It's as friendly as it could possibly be. You get trans characters, I've already found a lesbian marriage as well, and when you create your character you can choose which loos they use (which I find a bit absurd because you don't have a need to go to the loo at all), and you can wear any hairstyle regardless of your sex. Facial hair, for what I've seen, is not available (you're supposed to be 15, so it makes sense) and clothes, because it's 19th century, are quite different sometimes depending on sex. But you've got a massive variety of clothes, so you can probably find something that suits you either way. Personally, I've loved all of the clothing options I've found.
Canon: So far I've only recognised some surnames from the books. Everything else is not from the books and their own invention. Quite imaginative!
Difficulty levels: So you can choose between, if I remember correctly, Very easy, easy, normal, and difficult (or something like that). I'll probably end up lowering my difficulty level because I'm so rusty with videogames!
Quidditch: It's been cancelled by the headmaster, but you can still fly broomsticks around the massive open world and other animals.
Animal interaction: you'll love it.
Character mobility: You can swim, jump, walk, dodge, run, swim faster, dive, climb up things... Pretty much everything you'd normally do.
Castle secrets: So, so many. I'm making a massive use of Revelio left and right, quite entertaining!
Spells and combat: So you get many duelling opportunities, and duelling has never (and I've played every Potter videogame to date) been so realistic and fun. It's incredibly wild, savage, you really have to improve your coordination and make sure to get familiar with your console or keyboard. You get many spells, keep unlocking more as you go, and the visual effects are jaw-dropping.
Glitches: To everyone complaining about glitches, you just really need a decent place to game in. I'm doing it in PC and it's not a gaming PC, but also it's not your average PC, and it does quite well with graphics left as recommended by my graphics card. I had a couple minor glitches that disappeared shortly after on their own.
What you missed from the films: WE HAVE PEEVES!!! And keep your eye out because he's a little devil. You also have access to classes, your own place to brew potions in your spare time, same for planting things, and so on.
Relationships and interaction: There's no romance, but there's so much interaction. There's friendship, you can choose to have people duelling in your side with you, and as you walk around you'll constantly hear voices of people around you, and there will always be stuff going on. I went to the Quidditch pitch and found a group of players from my house complaining about the headmaster, then losing a quaffle, and then going to fetch it. And it wasn't on loop, it was very natural. Then around the castle the ghosts will say things, students... Lots going on! lots of life!
Accesibility: All voices are both on subtitles and in your ears, you can change language as well, and brightness and things like that. They do warn people who might suffer seizures from epilepsia.
Shopping: So you'll find money all over, and then you can buy clothes, haircuts, lots of things. And when you buy clothes it has this super cool option where you can choose one item because it gives you more defence or attack points, but give it the appearance of any other you got that you might like more. Magic!
Multi-racial representation / sexism: So far very good. My house partner is Asian I think, but I've quite befriended Gryffindor's girl, who's from Tanzania I think? Well, she went to the African school and mentions a fictitious town she lived in with her Mum. The only white character is the Slytherin boy I believe (can't remember who was in Hufflepuff). And as for random students / teachers, you really get massive diversity. It's like walking around London for me. Also, about as many important males as females, which is great.
About that trans character! So Sirona is named after the Celtic goddess of healing and I find the name quite fitting. She manages the Three Broomsticks (can't remember if they give it another name in the videogame though), and is this heroic warrior who helps you massively through a tricky moment and basically saves your arse.
Anyway, if there's any specific question about the game you've got, I'm here!
Imagine "having Jewish roots" and not understanding the history of antisemitic caricatures and stereotypes.
Good job being a disgusting shande fur die goyim.
Sounds like she understands perfectly. She's simply smart enough to know that all the rumors surrounding this awesome game are bullshit. The goblins are not caricatures of Jewish people, they're just goblins from pegan folklore. In the books, they're considered one of the smartest beings in the Wizarding World, and Professor Flitwick, who's half goblin, is one of the nicest teachers in the school. He's also a competitive duelist and he survives the final battle. Pretty odd for an author to do if her work is meant to be antisemitic. There's also different types of goblins in Harry Potter, such as hobgoblins and red caps. Are they supposed to represent Jewish people too? If you actually think people are walking away from Harry Potter with antisemitic beliefs... I don't even know what to tell you.
I can't believe there are still people defending this shit, but since I have some time to kill, lemme break it down for you.
1. Pagan folklore is, surprise! often antisemitic! There are centuries of caricatures to back this up. Jews aren't new to Europe. In fact, we've been there longer than Christianity.
Something being folklore doesn't mean it's exempt from being problematic. Little people get harassed and called leprechauns and dwarves. Those are both fictional creatures based on a real condition that continue to cause real harm.
2. I've read the books. Nowhere is Flitwick described as half goblin. There's lot of attention to Hagrid being half giant, but none to Flitwick. Now, this might have been mentioned in one of the side books is Rowling's Twitter, but whatever. No evidence in the text. Frankly, I don't really remember Flitwick being a major character, let alone someone worth noting as a decent duelist.
3. Go Google the term "court Jew". Go look up "model minority." Having a character be "one of the good ones" doesn't magically mean it's not incredibly antisemitic.
Uncle Tom, of the famous Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a kind and caring man... who was still presented as basically being a child, unable to make his own decisions, and unable to understand what was happening to him. That book is racist as hell even if the protagonist is Black.
4. Jews being intelligent is one of the most constant stereotypes about us. We're crafty, which is why we—allegedly—control the world. We're tricking people. If anything, goblins being intelligent backs up goblins being Jews.
4a. Hey if goblins are supposed to be so intelligent, why are they treated like second class citizens? Why aren't goblins allowed in Hogwarts? Why isn't Diagon Alley (stupidest name for a street) filled with goblin shops? Right, it's because Rowling's world is incredibly racist.
5. There are multiple kinds of Jews. I should not have to say this in 2023, but here we fucking are! You want some examples? Here's a well-known Reform Ashkenazi Jew. I'm sure you're familiar with him:
Of course, you might be familiar with traditional garb, like this:
There's also Sephardi Jews, Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula during the Inquisition:
A lot of Sephardi fled to the Middle East where their culture mixed with Mizrahim. (Hence it's hard to find pictures specifically of Sephardi Jews.) Speaking of...
We also have Mizrahi Jews, who never left the Middle East!
Let's not forget Kaifeng Jews, who live in China! Their community was very isolated but they've preserved their culture diligently.
We got Beta Israel, Jews from Ethiopia!
We also have Ugandan Jews, seen here with their Torah scrolls.
We have so many types of Jews and ignorant comments like this are so common that we have groups specifically for Jews of color!
They even have shirts! The lady in the middle is modeling a shirt from Jews in All Hues.
See how ignorant it is to argue that goblins can't be Jews because there are multiple types of goblins?
6. Let's talk about how a shofar, a Jewish holy object, is a collectible in this game, shall we?
7. The lead designer was a gamer gate schmuck who rubbed shoulders with Neonazis. He got removed when there was outcry, but only toward the end of the project. That means that everyone on board was okay working for an alt-right troll.
8. Do you know what blood libel is? Of course you don't, so here it is:
Blood libel is the false accusation that Jews are kidnapping Christian children, killing them, and eating them and/or drinking their blood. (Pretty weird coming from a religion with Communion.) The blood supposedly made people more powerful, whether that was physical strength, casting spells, or holding a position in the community. The Jews who allegedly consumed Christian blood were drawn as monsters. This got people murdered. Jews wouldn't be seen with gentiles because if that gentile died or went missing, we got killed for it. This belief was used to justify ghettoes, curfews, pogroms, lynchings, etc.
That's really similar to goblins being falsely accused of a curse and stealing wizard magic to become more powerful and turning into a dragon. Wow, almost... Exactly... The same.
There's a reason Jews are calling this Harry Potter and the Blood Libel.
If you're reading or playing Hogwarts Legacy and you don't see antisemitism, I'm going to assume that 1, you're an alien brand new to earth; 2, that you don't want to see it so you ignore it; 3, you're too stupid to see it; or 4, an amalgam of the above.
This game is antisemitic. You can tell this because the people justifying it like @wizardworldftw are always incredibly misinformed about antisemitism, if not outrightly malicious.
1. As I already explained, goblins are not caricatures of Jews. No more than fairies, mermaids, red caps, dragons, or any fay creatures are caricatures of Jews. Goblins date back as early as the 13th century and they're associated with pegan mysticism, mostly used to scare children into obedience or explain missing items.
Yes, sometimes people are assholes and call little people leprechauns or dwarves, but be mad at the assholes, not the fictional beings with hundreds of years of folklore behind it. Are you saying that since little people exist, we can no longer have leprechauns or dwarves in fiction?
2. I don't really know what to say here besides... you missed stuff. In the books, it's mentioned that Flitwick is a former dueling champion several times. He's also loved by his students and he survived the final battle by using his dueling spells to help turn the tides. It's also mentioned that, much to Umbridge's chagrin, he passed her vile little exam despite her desire to sack him for being part goblin. She went after Hagrid too, because he's half giant. She was racist and called any non-wizard "half breeds", but Flitwick was just far too much of a powerful and well-respected charms master.
3. I'm going to assume you haven't read Uncle Tom, as is the case with most people who bring up that book in any capacity. Well, I have. People who claim Uncle Tom was "childish", especially to the point of being stupid and naive, have no idea what they're talking about. SPOILERS, Uncle Tom dies. How? He disobeys his master. Many times, in fact. He disobeys and disobeys and disobeys until his drunk, pathetic master thinks he has him cornered. He tells Uncle Tom to whip a slave woman as punishment, and tells him that if he doesn't comply, he'll get Quimbo and Sambo, two other slaves who've aligned themselves with their master, to whip him to death. To his master's surprise and ire, Tom refuses. He won't hurt another slave. He'd rather die than taint his soul and hurt an innocent. So, as promised, Quimbo and Sambo do as they're told and whip Tom to death. In his final moments, as he lay dying, the two slaves that beat him feel shame and remorse and realize that following their master's orders was wrong. They'd been brainwashed for years, but Tom broke through it with his resilience. Also, while Tom's story unfolds, we follow an escaped slave (George Harris) and his family. The novel jumps back and forth between the two characters, but only the Harris family makes it out of America. While Tom's disobedience is more passive—and what else can he do, he's trapped on a plantation—George's is more active. He even shoots and kills the slavers that track him down. His wife escapes with her child by pushing a raft across an icy cold river (which is the most famous scene in the book) and risking both their lives rather than turning back. Every action the slaves take is presented as righteous and brave, not submissive.
Whatever your personal feelings towards the book and its, in some cases, admittedly dated concepts, it was written by an abolitionist and meant to rally the moral sentiments of whites against the horrors of slavery, and it succeeded. Harriet Beecher Stowe was horrified by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill in 1850, which required northerners who were protecting black people to return them to the South and back into slavery, and she decided to write a book to combat that influence.
So maybe, just maybe, you're wrong about this.
4. What about all the aspects and physical features that don't match Jewish stereotypes? Goblins in folklore are greedy, devious, and have hooked noses (which do indeed match Jewish stereotypes, which were mostly popularized around WWII), but they also have sharp teeth, green or dark or peach skin, cat/demon eyes, long fingers and nails, big feet, and pointy ears. That's also exactly how they're portrayed in Harry Potter. It's far more likely that Rowling based them on the original folklore, not Jewish people...
As for your question about Diagon Alley not being full of goblin shops... it's literally explained in the books. The goblins want nothing to do with wizards. In fact, most magical beings want nothing to do with wizards. It's not exclusive to goblins. Centaurs, elves, vampires (yes, there are vampires in Harry Potter), trolls, mermaids, etc. all have their own worlds. The only business goblins wish to conduct with wizards is banking. They don't need wizards, but wizards need them.
5. ...I didn't ask for different types of Jewish people. I know there are loads of different types. I asked if red caps and hobgoblins are also caricatures of Jews. If so, which ones? Which Jewish group does this goblin represent?
How about this one?
These?
Just like the goblins in Harry Potter, these are all goblins from folklore and many of them are also in Rowling's works. So are they all caricatures of Jewish people? Do you really think Rowling based her goblins on Jews... or just typical English folklore?
6. I keep seeing people freaking out about this, but they have it wrong. The horn used by the goblins in Harry Potter is not a shofar. It's not even a ram's horn. It's made of brass or wood. And I hate to break it to you, but goblins and horns have gone together since their inception. Same with elves, orcs, and dwarves, dating all the way back to the 13th century. Horns are crucial to all of these races, in every fable, myth, or legend. Goblins and horns exist in virtually every medium, including the Japanese anime, manga, and video game series Overlord. There's literally a magical item called "The Horn of the Goblin", which summons an army of goblins when blown. Even the Japanese know horns are essential to goblin culture. They even exist in Tolkien's novels, where goblins used them to annoy their enemies, and Tolkein (who literally trolled a n*zi and told his German publishing house to f*ck off) was anything but antisemitic. Rowling did not invent goblins and horns, she's just copying English, Irish, and Scottish folklore.
7. Leavitt got fired two years before the game went into end production. Also, I don't know if you know this, but game developers are not writers. Developers deal with the technical aspect that makes the game playable. Nothing more. The story is not and has never been his. In addition, I used to work for Sony and I'm telling you right now, there's no way his coworkers knew about his secret little YouTube channel or alt-right beliefs. Devs are way too busy designing games, they don't have time to talk about their personal lives. For that matter, SPOILERS, the goblins in the game are completely innocent. If he had anything to do with the story, it certainly doesn't show.
8. I know what blood libel is. And hey, I agree... Christianity is weird. Still don't know what any of that has to do with Hogwarts Legacy, though. If you know the plot, then surely you must know that the goblins being accused is presented as WRONG, right? The game doesn't justify it, it condemns it. You're applying far too many real life sentiments to a fun fantasy game, and one in which the people that you think represent Jews are portrayed as innocent and victims. As OP said, far more good than bad.
I reiterate, no one is walking away from Hogwarts Legacy with antisemitic ideals. Not unless they already had them, but in that case it had nothing to do with the game. Just stupidity.
Well that was a condescending load of bullshit.
You remain incorrect. You aren't Jewish and you don't know what antisemitism is, clearly. I'm not actually sure you care. (Correction: I know you don't care.) But for any followers who are on the fence about this:
1. Yeah, goblins are caricatures of Jews. Point blank. Numerous Jews and even several gentiles have explained this in detail. You can make them sympathetic and remove those similarities, but Rowling didn't.
2. He's not relevant to the story. You can rewrite the entire books without Flitwick. And again, tokenism.
3. I actually have read Uncle Tom's Cabin, you condescending fool. I know the plot. Again, nothing that you said is contradicting me. Seriously, you typed up a whole paragraph about how great Tom is while ignoring that the story itself is so racist, it's painful to read. You mentioned yourself that there's a character called Sambo, ffs. It's racist depiction of Black people. Tom being one of the good ones doesn't mean he's not written as a child. He is. It's super duper racist. The protagonist being Black doesn't absolve the book of its colorism and racism. (Which you might know if you read the book. Not sure if you actually did or if you just read the SparkNotes. I'm guessing the latter.)
The people who actively make decisions to escape slavery are the "quadroons" or people who are a quarter Nlack and three quarters white. They're so pale, they pass themselves off as Hispanic. Tom and his family who are pure Black do not attempt to escape, because they are incapable of doing so. Because, and I cannot make this any clearer, the book is racist tripe.
Yeah, Stowe was an abolitionist. She was also white. Funny how white people listened to her stereotyped bullshit instead of, you know, ACTUAL FORMER SLAVES. 12 Years a Slave, Narrative of the Life of a Slave Girl, any book by Frederick Douglass, they're all objectively books. It's just that white people find stereotype more believable than the truth. Just like how you're defending J. K. Rowling instead of reading any book by a Jewish or trans person. There are thousands of better books but you're defending this tripe.
4. The goblins don't want anything to do with wizards--gee, you mean because of the blood libel? Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone to do with antisemites either.
The other characteristics you described are, SHOCKER! also alleged characteristics of Jews. We're frequently depicted with long, unkept nails and sharp teeth, sallow or jaundiced skin, and frequently with inhuman eyes. (Beady eyes is a dog whistle.) We're also depicted with horns and tails. You are proving my point and proving that you genuinely don't know shit about Jewish history or antisemitism.
6. Are the goblins stealing children, money hungry, and generally evil? If yes, yeah, it's still antisemitic. You can write goblins to not be antisemitic, but Rowling didn't try to do that. She leaned into it.
7. No, that's a shofar. You can have horns that aren't shofarim, like:
The Horn of Gondor. A curved, untwisted horn.
Or these replica Viking horns.
But no, Hogwarts Legacy went with this design:
That's a shofar. Point blank. I don't care what your gentile ass thinks, it's a shofar. It's very intentional.
They could have used a unicorn's horn or a dragon horn, or any number of fictional species, but they went with a ram. Again, antisemitism.
8. "I used to work for Sony." Yeah, of course you did.
The guy was antisemitic and that bleeds into the rest of his life. The people creating this game were okay working under him and sharing his views. If I found out the lead developer was a secret Neonazi, I'd leave and not turn back. These people didn't, and therefore Leavitt's influenced stayed.
9. Do you? Do you actually understand blood libel? I don't think you do.
Jews NEVER KIDNAPPED CHILDREN. Never. We weren't eating them. It did not happen.
The goblins are actually doing this. Doesn't matter if it's presented as bad; it's still happening. There's still a caricature doing something that group is frequently accused of doing. How the narrative presents it is irrelevant.
Let's go back to Uncle Tom's Cabin, shall we? Let's compare this to antiblackness, since you don't want to Jews at all. A frequently racist trope of Black men is that they're sexually insatiable and will rape white women. HBS doesn't mention this, thank G_d. You know what does? Birth of a Nation.
Birth of a Nation shows Black men attacking white women. The rapists are portrayed as evil. The narrative is clear that this is a bad thing, and the rapists are stopped. But you know what would have been less racist? Not including it at all! Of course, the entire movie is justifying the existence of the Klan, the same way Hogwarts Legacy justifies brutally stopping a goblin rebellion.
It does not matter if the game says "this is bad." It starts by saying "this is possible." That's the fucking problem.
10. A lot of Harry Potter fans are coming away antisemitic. You certainly are.
How much time did you spend typing this up and the previous post? You spent so much time arguing with Jews about Judaism. You are ignoring Jewish history, even when we're nice enough to provide it. You're going out of your way to harass us and tell us we're wrong and we don't know our own oppression, even though we live it.
If you are told something is antisemitic and harmful and your first thought is to argue or tell Jews we're overreacting, you're antisemitic.
It's a shit game, it's antisemitic, and so are you for defending it. You'd rather talk over Jews and gaslight us than shit down for a second and really consider why people are upset. Try listening to minorities instead of knee jerk defending a shitty franchise.
Almost as condescending as making everything about you when it isn't.
I absolutely care about antisemitism, which is why I know there's very real antisemitism out there that we could be focusing on, but instead you're whining about a fantasy game with fictional races. You probably watch Disney movies and eat Nestlé products, but you're worried about Harry Potter.
1. Saying the goblins are caricatures of Jews is like saying Preston Garvey's name is racist. It's just a reach. It's your opinion that goblins are caricatures of Jews, not a fact. You're also in the minority with that mindset. I have Jewish friends and family and they love Harry Potter. They bought the deluxe version of Hogwarts Legacy. Preordered it. OP even has Jewish roots and clearly she loves the game, too. You keep saying the story is antisemitic, but I'm positive you haven't played it.
2. Yes, he is. He's literally one of the most beloved professors in the books, teaches Harry and the gang multiple charms, and helps them win the final battle. But if you want to make that argument, you can remove most characters from the books (which the movies did) and still have the same story. You call it tokenism, but the whole main plot of Harry Potter is anti-prejudism.
Btw, one of the most important items in the whole series, the Sword of Gryffindor, was made by goblins. Just like in folklore, they're known for their metalworking, which I'm pretty sure isn't a Jewish stereotype.
3. 😱! You mean the racist plantation owner in Uncle Tom's Cabin named his slaves something racist?! I'm shocked.
You act like this was uncommon, and like the book wasn't written in 1852. Are you also mad the N-word's in there? Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a believable story that showed the terrible conditions slaves were forced to endure. First of all, slaver owners usually named their slaves, so "Sambo" probably isn't his birth name. Second of all, Haley is presented as the worst human being imaginable. That said, are you under the impression Stowe had a firm knowledge of African culture? Of course she didn't. Google didn't exist back then and she wasn't exactly well traveled. She did the best she could with the information that was available to her at the time. Her mission was to create a saintly, noble character (which would resonate with white Christians, which made up the bulk of the American population at the time) and turn their views about slavery on its head. And it worked! She made George mixed race because, as is literally stated in the book, it made it easier for him to escape. Though slim, he had an advantage, and again, it was presented as a bad thing. As unfair. The thought that a slave only had a chance of escaping if they were lighter skinned is horrible, but that's exactly what the book wanted to emphasize. Yes, ignorant white Americans in 1852 listened to Stowe... which was literally the point. She even said, "I shouldn't have needed to write a book to change minds." But she did because the 1800's were a messed up time. I guess she could've just as easily done nothing.
Btw, your rant about me reading the spark notes was funny, because I lied to you. Tom wasn't killed because he refused to whip a slave. I actually took part of that from 12 Years a Slave, which I would've thought you'd recognize. He actually died because he knew the location of a bunch of escaped slaves, but he refused to tell his master where they went. Tom wasn't a child, he was a good man who was unable to escape, but gave his life so others could. I knew you never read it. If you had, you would've jumped at the chance to correct me. You just listen to the angry mob instead of reading (or in Hogwarts Legacy's case, playing) the source material.
See, I have a feeling you think everything's racist or prejudice in some way. Unless you personally like it, of course. Like Mistique, for example, created by Chris Claremont, who's been repeatedly caught using racial stereotypes in his work. Mystique, who now comes from a Disney-owned property, which is a soulless, blood-sucking, antisemitic cooperation, founded by a man who literally hated Jews and belonged to the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. Oops.
4. The goblins want nothing to do with wizards because they don't have any need for them. But yes, there are also hostilities between both races and Hagrid even says they're both to blame. There are many conflicts in Harry Potter, but the goblins are a fictional race. This is like saying the slave elves in Dragon Age are supposed to be caricatures of black slaves. They're not. It's just conflict for the story.
5. I'm numbering this as five even though you forgot five, but I digress. The beady eye stereotype is about small, black eyes, like rabbits, not cat or demon eyes, which is what the goblins have in the books. I've also never heard of Jews having sharp teeth, green/yellow skin, or long nails, but I'll just take it word for it. I have heard the horn and tail stereotype, but the goblins don't have horns or tails in the books. Are you sure Rowling didn't just make the goblins, you know, the way they're described in 13th century folklore? And again, who do the red caps and hobgoblins represent? Are they all meant to represent Jews, and if so, in what way?
Also, might be an important detail, but the "blood libel" comparison doesn't exist in the books, just the game. Rowling had nothing to do with that. In addition, I think it's important to point out that the goblins did not join Voldemort and remained neural during the war, and that Voldemort even murdered an entire goblin family near Nottingham, which was depicted as WRONG.
6. Again, Rowling did not write the goblins to be antisemitic. You are reaching.
7. Far be it from me to tell a Jewish person what a shofar is, but I do think it's kind of ironic that you said "curved, untwisted" horns are fine when there are literally curved, untwisted shofars or just twisted ones. They're not ceremonial, sure, but they exist.
Many cultures also use curved, twisted horns. In fact, almost every culture has some type of horn associated with it. That said, the goblin artefact looks far more like a Roordahuizum drinking horn than a shofar. Notice how it isn't completely twisted?
Meanwhile, you're trying to convince me it looks like this.
Sorry, but no. I don't see it. It's not even made from an animal. Shofars have to be made from an animal, which I'm sure you know. The description of the artefact in the game even alludes to it being a drinking horn. The Hog's Head Inn is a pub.
8. Leavitt had no influence on the story whatsoever and his coworkers didn't know about his personal life. Why would they? Do you know every detail about your coworker's personal lives? Hell, aside from two or three, I barely even bother to remember my coworker's names. That's just what happens when you work in a big industry. And again, he wasn't the writer. He—and devs in general—never have anything to do with the story. It's usually already written BEFORE they start programming the game.
9. ...I know Jews weren't kidnapping and eating children. I never said otherwise, that would be ridiculous. As I said, you are comparing real life scenarios to a fantasy game. Stealing power from wizards is a trope throughout the entire series. In fact, so is stealing power from creatures. Remember the unicorn blood? Is that also blood libel? Are wizards Jewish and unicorns Christians? I don't know why you keep pulling other irrelevant titles into this conversation. We're talking about Harry Potter (at least we're supposed to be), but in order to make a single point you keep mentioning other works, most of which involve real races. The goblins are not real, they're not Jews, and they're innocent!
10. No one is harassing you. I've seen you, specifically, in dozens of posts harassing people who just want to play a damn game. You, and people like you, have bullied streamers until they break down in tears. Bullied and shamed players who didn't even know about this controversy. There's a Japanese streamer who was bullied off the platform just for having fun with the game. She didn't know anything about this controversy. She certainly didn't think the goblins were Jews, because what well-adjusted person would? Until I was told, the thought never even cross my mind. Probably because when I look at a goblin I don't think, "Oh yeah, a Jew. I should probably hate Jews now."
I just... there's something wrong. There's something wrong with your thought process if you think people who like Harry Potter are walking away antisemitic. In fact, I would like to see some evidence that that's happened at all. Show me the Harry Potter hate group that went out and massacred an entire synagogue after pledging their allegiance to J.K. Rowling and declaring that they got their ideals from the books and nothing but the books. Please show me that. If you can find it, I'll stand right alongside you and condemn it... as I'm sure Rowling also would.
When I'm told something is antisemitic and harmful, I research it. You're hardly the only Jewish person I've spoken to. As I said, I have Jewish friends and family and they love Harry Potter. They bought the game. OP bought the game. Hell, my friend's dad bought the game and he's a rav! They haven't seen any antisemitism anywhere and they agree that the game isn't magically turning anyone antisemitic. If anything, it's just showing your true colours; by that I don't mean Jews, I mean people who chronically live online. Just look at all the hate the voice actor for the trans character, Sirona, is getting. At first, people thought the devs created a cis male character and hired a cis man to voice him. Disgustingly, they started insulting the character's voice and looks, saying things like "he doesn't look trans" and "he sounds like a man". Well, as it turns out, Sirona is voiced by a trans actress and fashioned after her looks. Did people apologize or backtrack? Nope! They stared sending her death threats and calling her a "traitor". Incredible.
I would rather not have J.K. Rowling think that support of Hogwarts Legacy equals an endorsement of her political views, but if you'd like to give her that kind of power, that's your prerogative. I mean, a bill was just passed in Tennessee that legally bars drag queens from stepping outside, but yeah... Harry Potter. That's where the real war's waging. I mean, it's too difficult to make any genuine change irl, so screaming about a harmless video game online is definitely the best contribution. Especially when that screaming is the reason it sold so well in the first place.
Hogwarts Legacy Review - by a mixed-race woman with Jewish roots.
So I've been playing about 12h total I guess, I'm level 13 now and Ravenclaw.
Graphics: I was surprised to find my laptop doesn't do too well if I don't put the graphics at low quality, but that's all right. I didn't buy my laptop for gaming, and actually even in low settings I am so amazed by how astonishing everything looks. Also it looks so artistic, like paintings? It's just so beautiful!
Open world: It's massive. MASSIVE. But the map tools are fantastic, so you really don't get lost and if you did, there are thousand ways to find your way.
Similarity to books/films: So they've taken A LOT of creative freedoms, which is great, because it provides another option, if you catch my drift. There are areas of the castle that look like an absolute palace, compared to the official Potter videogames that were less stunning, and areas wild and green and gorgeous, and some areas of the castle are in a different place than you'd expect, same with Hogsmeade, but like I said, the map tool is just fantastic so it's fine.
Story being anti-semitic? So, careful with the spoiler, but the TRA people spent I don't know how long saying the game was some anti-Semitic horrible thing because Rowling is apparently anti-Semitic (so these jerks say) and the main plot is wizards-vs-goblins-who-apparently-repressent-jews. OK let me debunk this for you. One, the plot is there's an evil allegiance between some wizards and some goblins, and so then there's a good allegiance between the other wizards and the other goblins. You'll find a ton of goblins who need your help and a very scarce minority of bad goblins (and I'm currently stuck on one of these missions btw). But the majority of goblins are villagers and innocent gents like that. And goblins are not Jews. I've read about a good bunch of Jews who are not finding any issues with this videogame, and personally, between me and the Jewish community I'm in, of those of us playing, no one, so far, has felt even slightly offended by anything. And we know Rowling to be allied with several Jewish friends of hers, to have stood for Jews multiple times, and that in Potter, Voldemort repressented Hitler and Hermione and other "mudbloods", the Jews. That's the only repressentation of Jews I care about by this author, and I believe it led millions of children back then to better understanding anti-Semitism and what happened with Nazism.
LGBT-friendliness: It's as friendly as it could possibly be. You get trans characters, I've already found a lesbian marriage as well, and when you create your character you can choose which loos they use (which I find a bit absurd because you don't have a need to go to the loo at all), and you can wear any hairstyle regardless of your sex. Facial hair, for what I've seen, is not available (you're supposed to be 15, so it makes sense) and clothes, because it's 19th century, are quite different sometimes depending on sex. But you've got a massive variety of clothes, so you can probably find something that suits you either way. Personally, I've loved all of the clothing options I've found.
Canon: So far I've only recognised some surnames from the books. Everything else is not from the books and their own invention. Quite imaginative!
Difficulty levels: So you can choose between, if I remember correctly, Very easy, easy, normal, and difficult (or something like that). I'll probably end up lowering my difficulty level because I'm so rusty with videogames!
Quidditch: It's been cancelled by the headmaster, but you can still fly broomsticks around the massive open world and other animals.
Animal interaction: you'll love it.
Character mobility: You can swim, jump, walk, dodge, run, swim faster, dive, climb up things... Pretty much everything you'd normally do.
Castle secrets: So, so many. I'm making a massive use of Revelio left and right, quite entertaining!
Spells and combat: So you get many duelling opportunities, and duelling has never (and I've played every Potter videogame to date) been so realistic and fun. It's incredibly wild, savage, you really have to improve your coordination and make sure to get familiar with your console or keyboard. You get many spells, keep unlocking more as you go, and the visual effects are jaw-dropping.
Glitches: To everyone complaining about glitches, you just really need a decent place to game in. I'm doing it in PC and it's not a gaming PC, but also it's not your average PC, and it does quite well with graphics left as recommended by my graphics card. I had a couple minor glitches that disappeared shortly after on their own.
What you missed from the films: WE HAVE PEEVES!!! And keep your eye out because he's a little devil. You also have access to classes, your own place to brew potions in your spare time, same for planting things, and so on.
Relationships and interaction: There's no romance, but there's so much interaction. There's friendship, you can choose to have people duelling in your side with you, and as you walk around you'll constantly hear voices of people around you, and there will always be stuff going on. I went to the Quidditch pitch and found a group of players from my house complaining about the headmaster, then losing a quaffle, and then going to fetch it. And it wasn't on loop, it was very natural. Then around the castle the ghosts will say things, students... Lots going on! lots of life!
Accesibility: All voices are both on subtitles and in your ears, you can change language as well, and brightness and things like that. They do warn people who might suffer seizures from epilepsia.
Shopping: So you'll find money all over, and then you can buy clothes, haircuts, lots of things. And when you buy clothes it has this super cool option where you can choose one item because it gives you more defence or attack points, but give it the appearance of any other you got that you might like more. Magic!
Multi-racial representation / sexism: So far very good. My house partner is Asian I think, but I've quite befriended Gryffindor's girl, who's from Tanzania I think? Well, she went to the African school and mentions a fictitious town she lived in with her Mum. The only white character is the Slytherin boy I believe (can't remember who was in Hufflepuff). And as for random students / teachers, you really get massive diversity. It's like walking around London for me. Also, about as many important males as females, which is great.
About that trans character! So Sirona is named after the Celtic goddess of healing and I find the name quite fitting. She manages the Three Broomsticks (can't remember if they give it another name in the videogame though), and is this heroic warrior who helps you massively through a tricky moment and basically saves your arse.
Anyway, if there's any specific question about the game you've got, I'm here!
Imagine "having Jewish roots" and not understanding the history of antisemitic caricatures and stereotypes.
Good job being a disgusting shande fur die goyim.
Sounds like she understands perfectly. She's simply smart enough to know that all the rumors surrounding this awesome game are bullshit. The goblins are not caricatures of Jewish people, they're just goblins from pegan folklore. In the books, they're considered one of the smartest beings in the Wizarding World, and Professor Flitwick, who's half goblin, is one of the nicest teachers in the school. He's also a competitive duelist and he survives the final battle. Pretty odd for an author to do if her work is meant to be antisemitic. There's also different types of goblins in Harry Potter, such as hobgoblins and red caps. Are they supposed to represent Jewish people too? If you actually think people are walking away from Harry Potter with antisemitic beliefs... I don't even know what to tell you.
I can't believe there are still people defending this shit, but since I have some time to kill, lemme break it down for you.
1. Pagan folklore is, surprise! often antisemitic! There are centuries of caricatures to back this up. Jews aren't new to Europe. In fact, we've been there longer than Christianity.
Something being folklore doesn't mean it's exempt from being problematic. Little people get harassed and called leprechauns and dwarves. Those are both fictional creatures based on a real condition that continue to cause real harm.
2. I've read the books. Nowhere is Flitwick described as half goblin. There's lot of attention to Hagrid being half giant, but none to Flitwick. Now, this might have been mentioned in one of the side books is Rowling's Twitter, but whatever. No evidence in the text. Frankly, I don't really remember Flitwick being a major character, let alone someone worth noting as a decent duelist.
3. Go Google the term "court Jew". Go look up "model minority." Having a character be "one of the good ones" doesn't magically mean it's not incredibly antisemitic.
Uncle Tom, of the famous Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a kind and caring man... who was still presented as basically being a child, unable to make his own decisions, and unable to understand what was happening to him. That book is racist as hell even if the protagonist is Black.
4. Jews being intelligent is one of the most constant stereotypes about us. We're crafty, which is why we—allegedly—control the world. We're tricking people. If anything, goblins being intelligent backs up goblins being Jews.
4a. Hey if goblins are supposed to be so intelligent, why are they treated like second class citizens? Why aren't goblins allowed in Hogwarts? Why isn't Diagon Alley (stupidest name for a street) filled with goblin shops? Right, it's because Rowling's world is incredibly racist.
5. There are multiple kinds of Jews. I should not have to say this in 2023, but here we fucking are! You want some examples? Here's a well-known Reform Ashkenazi Jew. I'm sure you're familiar with him:
Of course, you might be familiar with traditional garb, like this:
There's also Sephardi Jews, Jews expelled from the Iberian peninsula during the Inquisition:
A lot of Sephardi fled to the Middle East where their culture mixed with Mizrahim. (Hence it's hard to find pictures specifically of Sephardi Jews.) Speaking of...
We also have Mizrahi Jews, who never left the Middle East!
Let's not forget Kaifeng Jews, who live in China! Their community was very isolated but they've preserved their culture diligently.
We got Beta Israel, Jews from Ethiopia!
We also have Ugandan Jews, seen here with their Torah scrolls.
We have so many types of Jews and ignorant comments like this are so common that we have groups specifically for Jews of color!
They even have shirts! The lady in the middle is modeling a shirt from Jews in All Hues.
See how ignorant it is to argue that goblins can't be Jews because there are multiple types of goblins?
6. Let's talk about how a shofar, a Jewish holy object, is a collectible in this game, shall we?
7. The lead designer was a gamer gate schmuck who rubbed shoulders with Neonazis. He got removed when there was outcry, but only toward the end of the project. That means that everyone on board was okay working for an alt-right troll.
8. Do you know what blood libel is? Of course you don't, so here it is:
Blood libel is the false accusation that Jews are kidnapping Christian children, killing them, and eating them and/or drinking their blood. (Pretty weird coming from a religion with Communion.) The blood supposedly made people more powerful, whether that was physical strength, casting spells, or holding a position in the community. The Jews who allegedly consumed Christian blood were drawn as monsters. This got people murdered. Jews wouldn't be seen with gentiles because if that gentile died or went missing, we got killed for it. This belief was used to justify ghettoes, curfews, pogroms, lynchings, etc.
That's really similar to goblins being falsely accused of a curse and stealing wizard magic to become more powerful and turning into a dragon. Wow, almost... Exactly... The same.
There's a reason Jews are calling this Harry Potter and the Blood Libel.
If you're reading or playing Hogwarts Legacy and you don't see antisemitism, I'm going to assume that 1, you're an alien brand new to earth; 2, that you don't want to see it so you ignore it; 3, you're too stupid to see it; or 4, an amalgam of the above.
This game is antisemitic. You can tell this because the people justifying it like @wizardworldftw are always incredibly misinformed about antisemitism, if not outrightly malicious.
1. As I already explained, goblins are not caricatures of Jews. No more than fairies, mermaids, red caps, dragons, or any fay creatures are caricatures of Jews. Goblins date back as early as the 13th century and they're associated with pegan mysticism, mostly used to scare children into obedience or explain missing items.
Yes, sometimes people are assholes and call little people leprechauns or dwarves, but be mad at the assholes, not the fictional beings with hundreds of years of folklore behind it. Are you saying that since little people exist, we can no longer have leprechauns or dwarves in fiction?
2. I don't really know what to say here besides... you missed stuff. In the books, it's mentioned that Flitwick is a former dueling champion several times. He's also loved by his students and he survived the final battle by using his dueling spells to help turn the tides. It's also mentioned that, much to Umbridge's chagrin, he passed her vile little exam despite her desire to sack him for being part goblin. She went after Hagrid too, because he's half giant. She was racist and called any non-wizard "half breeds", but Flitwick was just far too much of a powerful and well-respected charms master.
3. I'm going to assume you haven't read Uncle Tom, as is the case with most people who bring up that book in any capacity. Well, I have. People who claim Uncle Tom was "childish", especially to the point of being stupid and naive, have no idea what they're talking about. SPOILERS, Uncle Tom dies. How? He disobeys his master. Many times, in fact. He disobeys and disobeys and disobeys until his drunk, pathetic master thinks he has him cornered. He tells Uncle Tom to whip a slave woman as punishment, and tells him that if he doesn't comply, he'll get Quimbo and Sambo, two other slaves who've aligned themselves with their master, to whip him to death. To his master's surprise and ire, Tom refuses. He won't hurt another slave. He'd rather die than taint his soul and hurt an innocent. So, as promised, Quimbo and Sambo do as they're told and whip Tom to death. In his final moments, as he lay dying, the two slaves that beat him feel shame and remorse and realize that following their master's orders was wrong. They'd been brainwashed for years, but Tom broke through it with his resilience. Also, while Tom's story unfolds, we follow an escaped slave (George Harris) and his family. The novel jumps back and forth between the two characters, but only the Harris family makes it out of America. While Tom's disobedience is more passive—and what else can he do, he's trapped on a plantation—George's is more active. He even shoots and kills the slavers that track him down. His wife escapes with her child by pushing a raft across an icy cold river (which is the most famous scene in the book) and risking both their lives rather than turning back. Every action the slaves take is presented as righteous and brave, not submissive.
Whatever your personal feelings towards the book and its, in some cases, admittedly dated concepts, it was written by an abolitionist and meant to rally the moral sentiments of whites against the horrors of slavery, and it succeeded. Harriet Beecher Stowe was horrified by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill in 1850, which required northerners who were protecting black people to return them to the South and back into slavery, and she decided to write a book to combat that influence.
So maybe, just maybe, you're wrong about this.
4. What about all the aspects and physical features that don't match Jewish stereotypes? Goblins in folklore are greedy, devious, and have hooked noses (which do indeed match Jewish stereotypes, which were mostly popularized around WWII), but they also have sharp teeth, green or dark or peach skin, cat/demon eyes, long fingers and nails, big feet, and pointy ears. That's also exactly how they're portrayed in Harry Potter. It's far more likely that Rowling based them on the original folklore, not Jewish people...
As for your question about Diagon Alley not being full of goblin shops... it's literally explained in the books. The goblins want nothing to do with wizards. In fact, most magical beings want nothing to do with wizards. It's not exclusive to goblins. Centaurs, elves, vampires (yes, there are vampires in Harry Potter), trolls, mermaids, etc. all have their own worlds. The only business goblins wish to conduct with wizards is banking. They don't need wizards, but wizards need them.
5. ...I didn't ask for different types of Jewish people. I know there are loads of different types. I asked if red caps and hobgoblins are also caricatures of Jews. If so, which ones? Which Jewish group does this goblin represent?
How about this one?
These?
Just like the goblins in Harry Potter, these are all goblins from folklore and many of them are also in Rowling's works. So are they all caricatures of Jewish people? Do you really think Rowling based her goblins on Jews... or just typical English folklore?
6. I keep seeing people freaking out about this, but they have it wrong. The horn used by the goblins in Harry Potter is not a shofar. It's not even a ram's horn. It's made of brass or wood. And I hate to break it to you, but goblins and horns have gone together since their inception. Same with elves, orcs, and dwarves, dating all the way back to the 13th century. Horns are crucial to all of these races, in every fable, myth, or legend. Goblins and horns exist in virtually every medium, including the Japanese anime, manga, and video game series Overlord. There's literally a magical item called "The Horn of the Goblin", which summons an army of goblins when blown. Even the Japanese know horns are essential to goblin culture. They even exist in Tolkien's novels, where goblins used them to annoy their enemies, and Tolkein (who literally trolled a n*zi and told his German publishing house to f*ck off) was anything but antisemitic. Rowling did not invent goblins and horns, she's just copying English, Irish, and Scottish folklore.
7. Leavitt got fired two years before the game went into end production. Also, I don't know if you know this, but game developers are not writers. Developers deal with the technical aspect that makes the game playable. Nothing more. The story is not and has never been his. In addition, I used to work for Sony and I'm telling you right now, there's no way his coworkers knew about his secret little YouTube channel or alt-right beliefs. Devs are way too busy designing games, they don't have time to talk about their personal lives. For that matter, SPOILERS, the goblins in the game are completely innocent. If he had anything to do with the story, it certainly doesn't show.
8. I know what blood libel is. And hey, I agree... Christianity is weird. Still don't know what any of that has to do with Hogwarts Legacy, though. If you know the plot, then surely you must know that the goblins being accused is presented as WRONG, right? The game doesn't justify it, it condemns it. You're applying far too many real life sentiments to a fun fantasy game, and one in which the people that you think represent Jews are portrayed as innocent and victims. As OP said, far more good than bad.
I reiterate, no one is walking away from Hogwarts Legacy with antisemitic ideals. Not unless they already had them, but in that case it had nothing to do with the game. Just stupidity.
Hogwarts Legacy Review - by a mixed-race woman with Jewish roots.
So I've been playing about 12h total I guess, I'm level 13 now and Ravenclaw.
Graphics: I was surprised to find my laptop doesn't do too well if I don't put the graphics at low quality, but that's all right. I didn't buy my laptop for gaming, and actually even in low settings I am so amazed by how astonishing everything looks. Also it looks so artistic, like paintings? It's just so beautiful!
Open world: It's massive. MASSIVE. But the map tools are fantastic, so you really don't get lost and if you did, there are thousand ways to find your way.
Similarity to books/films: So they've taken A LOT of creative freedoms, which is great, because it provides another option, if you catch my drift. There are areas of the castle that look like an absolute palace, compared to the official Potter videogames that were less stunning, and areas wild and green and gorgeous, and some areas of the castle are in a different place than you'd expect, same with Hogsmeade, but like I said, the map tool is just fantastic so it's fine.
Story being anti-semitic? So, careful with the spoiler, but the TRA people spent I don't know how long saying the game was some anti-Semitic horrible thing because Rowling is apparently anti-Semitic (so these jerks say) and the main plot is wizards-vs-goblins-who-apparently-repressent-jews. OK let me debunk this for you. One, the plot is there's an evil allegiance between some wizards and some goblins, and so then there's a good allegiance between the other wizards and the other goblins. You'll find a ton of goblins who need your help and a very scarce minority of bad goblins (and I'm currently stuck on one of these missions btw). But the majority of goblins are villagers and innocent gents like that. And goblins are not Jews. I've read about a good bunch of Jews who are not finding any issues with this videogame, and personally, between me and the Jewish community I'm in, of those of us playing, no one, so far, has felt even slightly offended by anything. And we know Rowling to be allied with several Jewish friends of hers, to have stood for Jews multiple times, and that in Potter, Voldemort repressented Hitler and Hermione and other "mudbloods", the Jews. That's the only repressentation of Jews I care about by this author, and I believe it led millions of children back then to better understanding anti-Semitism and what happened with Nazism.
LGBT-friendliness: It's as friendly as it could possibly be. You get trans characters, I've already found a lesbian marriage as well, and when you create your character you can choose which loos they use (which I find a bit absurd because you don't have a need to go to the loo at all), and you can wear any hairstyle regardless of your sex. Facial hair, for what I've seen, is not available (you're supposed to be 15, so it makes sense) and clothes, because it's 19th century, are quite different sometimes depending on sex. But you've got a massive variety of clothes, so you can probably find something that suits you either way. Personally, I've loved all of the clothing options I've found.
Canon: So far I've only recognised some surnames from the books. Everything else is not from the books and their own invention. Quite imaginative!
Difficulty levels: So you can choose between, if I remember correctly, Very easy, easy, normal, and difficult (or something like that). I'll probably end up lowering my difficulty level because I'm so rusty with videogames!
Quidditch: It's been cancelled by the headmaster, but you can still fly broomsticks around the massive open world and other animals.
Animal interaction: you'll love it.
Character mobility: You can swim, jump, walk, dodge, run, swim faster, dive, climb up things... Pretty much everything you'd normally do.
Castle secrets: So, so many. I'm making a massive use of Revelio left and right, quite entertaining!
Spells and combat: So you get many duelling opportunities, and duelling has never (and I've played every Potter videogame to date) been so realistic and fun. It's incredibly wild, savage, you really have to improve your coordination and make sure to get familiar with your console or keyboard. You get many spells, keep unlocking more as you go, and the visual effects are jaw-dropping.
Glitches: To everyone complaining about glitches, you just really need a decent place to game in. I'm doing it in PC and it's not a gaming PC, but also it's not your average PC, and it does quite well with graphics left as recommended by my graphics card. I had a couple minor glitches that disappeared shortly after on their own.
What you missed from the films: WE HAVE PEEVES!!! And keep your eye out because he's a little devil. You also have access to classes, your own place to brew potions in your spare time, same for planting things, and so on.
Relationships and interaction: There's no romance, but there's so much interaction. There's friendship, you can choose to have people duelling in your side with you, and as you walk around you'll constantly hear voices of people around you, and there will always be stuff going on. I went to the Quidditch pitch and found a group of players from my house complaining about the headmaster, then losing a quaffle, and then going to fetch it. And it wasn't on loop, it was very natural. Then around the castle the ghosts will say things, students... Lots going on! lots of life!
Accesibility: All voices are both on subtitles and in your ears, you can change language as well, and brightness and things like that. They do warn people who might suffer seizures from epilepsia.
Shopping: So you'll find money all over, and then you can buy clothes, haircuts, lots of things. And when you buy clothes it has this super cool option where you can choose one item because it gives you more defence or attack points, but give it the appearance of any other you got that you might like more. Magic!
Multi-racial representation / sexism: So far very good. My house partner is Asian I think, but I've quite befriended Gryffindor's girl, who's from Tanzania I think? Well, she went to the African school and mentions a fictitious town she lived in with her Mum. The only white character is the Slytherin boy I believe (can't remember who was in Hufflepuff). And as for random students / teachers, you really get massive diversity. It's like walking around London for me. Also, about as many important males as females, which is great.
About that trans character! So Sirona is named after the Celtic goddess of healing and I find the name quite fitting. She manages the Three Broomsticks (can't remember if they give it another name in the videogame though), and is this heroic warrior who helps you massively through a tricky moment and basically saves your arse.
Anyway, if there's any specific question about the game you've got, I'm here!
Imagine "having Jewish roots" and not understanding the history of antisemitic caricatures and stereotypes.
Good job being a disgusting shande fur die goyim.
Sounds like she understands perfectly. She's simply smart enough to know that all the rumors surrounding this awesome game are bullshit. The goblins are not caricatures of Jewish people, they're just goblins from pegan folklore. In the books, they're considered one of the smartest beings in the Wizarding World, and Professor Flitwick, who's half goblin, is one of the nicest teachers in the school. He's also a competitive duelist and he survives the final battle. Pretty odd for an author to do if her work is meant to be antisemitic. There's also different types of goblins in Harry Potter, such as hobgoblins and red caps. Are they supposed to represent Jewish people too? If you actually think people are walking away from Harry Potter with antisemitic beliefs... I don't even know what to tell you.
