It has come to my attention that I have misled you, dear reader. In the last College Voice issue, I wrote a piece rejecting the arguments of Welbith Mota on the subject of the latest Harry Potter movie. This piece was written as the ‘Devil’s Advocate,’ and it was full of fallacies and off-the-cuff remarks. Let’s explore briefly.
First, the critique that minorities are being oversensitive is a strange one to make if I simply don’t examine their reason for sensitivity (which I didn’t). It’s very easy to sit in a privileged position and make that criticism without contemplation – it’s not so easy when one delves deeper into the social facts of the matter.
Second, the idea that J.K. Rowling’s work cannot be sexist because she is a woman is simply mistaken, because a member of a minority can easily still produce something offensive to their own minority, especially if we are dealing with the unintentional.
Third, in response to the question: can those who engage in this cultural critique not enjoy a film (or other medium) for what it is? The answer is yes in fact they can, but they can still see faults and don’t have to overlook them. I find the Iliad to be an inspiring masterpiece, but it is also full of patriarchy, which I can take issue with while still appreciating the story.
Fourth, things as ‘mundane’ as movies actually can cause harm, though they may seem to be less important than the things that ‘actually affect people.’
Here’s the problem, then. If you found yourself agreeing with my article for the arguments in my article (and not because you just didn’t like the other article), then some analysis is needed, for those arguments were knee-jerk responses and not valid arguments. The only argument close to reasonable in that article was the one about the dysfunctional nature of interracial relationships in the film.
Yet still, if the only interracial relationship is portrayed as dysfunctional and this is portrayed as the usual for that type of relationship, then there is a problem. But if it is just dysfunctional as a teen relationship, then there isn’t as much of a problem, because that is the norm.
Uh oh though – whose norm? The fact is that there are some issues in the Harry Potter film, no matter how unintentional or normal they are, that should not be excused for their normalcy in culture nor their seemingly mundane nature.
So… what? Personally, the issue is what we do with these films and books when we discover these things. We can’t exactly ask Homer for an apology for his epics and the patriarchy involved in them, even if we would want to. We can, however, ask the directors of Harry Potter for an apology – but should we? Would it really solve anything for the people at the end of the line of causation and culture, portraying things as they deem appropriate and as they have been acculturated to, to apologize? Perhaps, perhaps not. But by pointing them out, we can always bring these issues to the attention of society.
For the excuse that something is a ‘product of the times’ is more of an explanation than an excuse, and products of the times can be appreciated without destroying the product but still trying to change the times.
