PHYLLIS CHESLER: Pro-Trans, Pro-Palestine: Celebrities Condemn Harry Potter and his Mother.
Comedian Jon Stewart, formerly of The Daily Show, has just accused J.K. Rowling of anti-Semitism. And why? Because her depiction of the “goblins” who run Gringotts, the underground bank where everyone’s gold is stored is, in his opinion, an anti-Jewish stereotype. He wonders why the “goblins” are the underground bankers… Get it?
Apparently, fiction, even fantasy, must conform to rigid speech code rules. But unlike Wagner’s Nibelungen, Albrecht, (a “dwarf” or a descendent of a “race of dwarfs’) who stole and who hoards the gold which can control the world in Wagner’s four part opera The Ring Cycle—Rowling’s “goblins” merely guard it and release it to its rightful owner—just like the Swiss do.
Call me crazy but once I read the comedian Jon Stewart’s allegation, I immediately thought that Stewart, born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, (changed his name, wonder why—nah, I know why) must also favor Palestine i.e. his anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism. Bingo! Even Al-Jazeera mourned his departure and bid him a “fond farewell” as one of the only Americans who told the truth about Israel and Palestine.
Stewart, a genuinely funny guy, is one of those “As a Jew” people who stand tall upon their own ethnicity in order to critique Israel. Well, he’s one of those dangerously crazy-funny guys.
As Jim Treacher writes: Jon Stewart Believes Goblins in Harry Potter Books Are ‘Anti-Semitic’ — And so are you if you think that’s silly.
Okay. Or maybe… they’re just goblins?
I mean, goblins aren’t anything new. They’ve been part of European folklore for a thousand years. They’re magical little creatures who love gold and causing mischief. When Rowling was creating her fantasy world, why wouldn’t she turn goblins into bankers? How is it a secret signal to anti-Semites?
Is the Green Goblin anti-Semitic too? After all, he’s a rich, greedy guy who does bad things.
Were Stan Lee and Steve Ditko anti-Semites as well?
Nah. It’s just fashionable these days to bash J. K. Rowling, ever since she made the mistake of saying women are women and men aren’t. Acknowledging biological reality has made Rowling a pariah among her peers in the entertainment industry, so it’s easy to accuse her of being an anti-Semite too. They’ve already falsely branded her as one kind of bigot, so why not falsely brand her as some other kind of bigot?
This sounds very much like the Grauniad writer who in late 2002 decided to score some cheap points at the height of the Lord of the Rings trilogy’s cinematic popularity by declaring Orcs racist. As Jonah Goldberg wrote at the time:
Sigh. Okay, yes, it’s true. Many of the Orcs (and the super-Orcs) are dark-skinned and have slant-eyes. They are also — how shall I put this? — Orcs! Ya frickin’ idjit!
One is tempted to ask who is the real racist here? On the one hand we have people — like me — who see horrific, flesh-eating, dull-witted creatures with jagged feral teeth, venomous mouths, pointed devilish ears, and reptilian skin, and say, “Cool, Orcs!” On the other hand we have people, like Mr. Yatt, who see the same repugnant creatures and righteously exclaim “black people!” Maybe he should spend less time vetting movies for signs of racism and more time vetting himself if, that is, he free-associates black people with these subhuman monsters.
The intersection of pro-Palestinian and trans activism isn’t confined to Stewart and Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, of course: What would the suffragettes make of Marks & Spencer selling hijabs for 4-year-old girls — and throwing open its female changing rooms to trans women?
UPDATE: And now, the walkback: Jon Stewart Clarifies He Does Not Think ‘Harry Potter’ is Antisemitic.
Clown nose on, clown nose off, as Treacher would say.
MORE: Jon Stewart forgets that he’s Jon Stewart:
(Updated and bumped.)