Where do we stand on Harry Potter?

[Immeril]

How does that account for Goblin Shofars...?

IMHO, haters are grasping at straws and making incorrect connections to real life.
A shofar needs to be made from an animal horn and I admit that I can't make out clearly whether the in-game horn ISN'T made from an animal's.
Aside from that, the description of the goblin 'shofar' mentions that it was used during the goblin rebellion of 1612, which people are linking to the 1612 pogrom in Frankfurt. While the Fettmilch tensions arose in 1612, the resulting plundering of the Judengasse occured on August 22 1614.

 

[Parmandur]

IMHO, haters are grasping at straws and making incorrect connections to real life.
A shofar needs to be made from an animal horn and I admit that I can't make out clearly whether the in-game horn ISN'T made from an animal's.
Aside from that, the description of the goblin 'shofar' mentions that it was used during the goblin rebellion of 1612, which people are linking to the 1612 pogrom in Frankfurt. While the Fettmilch tensions arose in 1612, the resulting plundering of the Judengasse occured on August 22 1614.

I cab assure you that I am not a "hater": I'm quite indifferent to Harry Potter as such, not my jam, but I don't hate it.

The antisemitic tropes, however, are very present and are a concern.

 

[Maxperson]

It strains credibility for me that Rowling didn't have her fingerprints on this stuff in the game, since she is a bit of a control freak about Potter lore: and goblins kidnapping pureblood Wizard children for evil blood magic rituals, explicit links in the game lore between historic Jewish pogroms, and having Shofars (!) as Goblin artifacts in the game...at a certain point, cultural osmosis fails to account for all the smoke in the room, IMO.

It seems weird that she would say okay to having trans character options in the game if she had a hand in it, and then put in blatantly antisemitic portions when she is known to speak out in support of Jews.

 

[Immeril]

I cab assure you that I am not a "hater": I'm quite indifferent to Harry Potter as such, not my jam, but I don't hate it.

The antisemitic tropes, however, are very present and are a concern.

It wasn't my intention to give you this impression. I wasn't referring to you specifically, but to the current discourse on Twitter and the Steam forums.

 

[billd91]

It seems weird that she would say okay to having trans character options in the game if she had a hand in it, and then put in blatantly antisemitic portions when she is known to speak out in support of Jews.

On this subject, I actually agree. As controlling as Rowling was over the movies, I suspect she's not nearly as controlling over some of the other media like the games.

 

[Cergorach]

That's the insidiousness of various tropes. Blood magic may be relatively innocuous (as far as racism goes) in any number of instances, but it's the intersection of different factors that increases the problem. Using blood in rituals, greedy race that controls the banks, etc. This is why publishers need to use sensitivity consultants - people who can stay alert to the way these things factor together.

But at what point do things become ridiculous and laughable? Even IF the intent was to create the Goblins as an evil view on Jewish people, how serious do you think people who read/watch/play Harry Potter will take that. Even IF that intent was there, the parallels are so detail specific, that most people who this was made for will never realize it without specific help. And even if pointed out, most will just shrug, pat you on the head and advise you to wear your tinfoilhat and watch the skies for aliens... ;-)

We can look for parallels in many other stories/properties. Let's look at the Smurfs: Smurfette was create as a Golem like creature by the evil wizard Gargamel... Do I need to draw a map how you can draw connections? O wait, someone already wrote a book about that (Antoine Buéno) as well, over ten years ago! What about D&D, should we just remove Golems altogether under the banner of cultural appropriation?

If you're out looking for 'something', you'll find 'something' to get someone offended. If you try hard enough you could make a spoon the most racist tool ever created. Depending on who does it and how, it will either result in people laughing hard at you or it being the start of some moral crusade...

But why the heck would I equal a fantasy world Goblin with a real world life person? And even going further then that, ascribing motivations to those real life people based on some fantasy fiction? Are there people that do? Sure, but there are also people that belief the world is flat when shown the science to proof it's not. There is no fixing stupid! And polarizing everything will just create more stupid people and more hate.

Now, from the other side. I have to ask why someone Jewish would feel a resemblance to those same fantasy Goblins? Do all Scottish and/or 'large' people suddenly feel a resemblance to Shrek? I really hope not! Are there such people, of course, but see my previous answer...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would agree with this, but now let's talk about where the rubber meets the road. What steps can we take to minimize that issue for those who visit these boards?

Quoting myself from a couple posts later:

Speaking for myself, I think most ENWorlders do a decent job of policing themselves about intentionally posting things they know are potentially deeply divisive or hurtful without warning. They’ll either use spoiler tags (with a warning) as a default or will do so if asked.

The ones who refuse to do either? Well…that’s one reason moderators exist. If a pattern of such behavior persists, moderation escalates.

So I’m not certain a formal policy change is needed, TBH.

 

[Gradine]

I do wish people wouldn't throw the word 'phobia' about so easily.

It's pretty fitting here

 

[Blue Orange]

I get the sense this was a request for comment, so I'll bite.

I'm not trans, so I won't comment on that aspect of it. I get the feeling the community here's pretty solidly against her anyways.

But I am nominally Jewish, so...
I associate goblins more with the D&D version, where they didn't have a particularly Jewish portrayal (not particularly wealthy or clever). There's a newer Pathfinder one where they're good at alchemy (i.e.) chemistry and can be good as well as evil and are a major PC type. Fair enough.
As for the Harry Potter version...they're short and have long noses and run all the banks. That much dates back to Harry Potter. I...guess my eyebrows raise a little, but from what I can tell from reading the wikis this seems to have been part of Rowling's anti-prejudice aesops, and positively viewed characters like Hermione Granger see the wizards' views of goblins as inferior as an unjust prejudice. (She had a few of these, being more-or-less liberal before the TERF business came out.) I can only speak for myself so...fine, maybe they're Jewish. They don't all seem to be evil in the books, so I can't get too annoyed. From what little I can tell Rowling, whatever her other prejudices, does not herself appear to be antisemitic.
Mr. Leavitt appears to have held right-wing views (he's in favor of cultural appropriation and against at least certain prominent feminist Youtubers), but I can't find anything specifically antisemitic on him. (I'm a little sensitive to this whole 'you hold ONE incorrect view, so you must also hold ALL THE OTHER incorrect views' bit that has taken hold lately.) So I'm not sure that link holds though, you know, it might. FWIW I browsed his Twitter for a while and it seems more 'vaguely rightish' than 'occult Nazi' (I can't see a Nazi quoting a non-Aryan like Bill Maher), and I've seen a few of the second, but who knows for sure. (There's always the possibility the blood bit is a dig at QAnon rather than any historical conspiracy.)

Would I play the game? Probably not, not having ever been a Harry Potter fan (too old), but I have no objection to someone else enjoying it or talking about it.

DISCLAIMER: I am probably one of the more conservative people on this site, though still on the left of the USA political spectrum. Also, this si my view alone and represents nobody else.

 

[Dire Bare]

Harry Potter, and the views of it's author, are problematic. D&D is also problematic.

I'm not fan of the idea that we should limit folks discussing their fandom of either D&D or Harry Potter on these boards. I certainly don't feel that doing so is a microaggression.

We can talk about what we love about Harry Potter, and what we don't love. Discussing the anti-trans views of Rowling, the anti-Semitic tropes of the books, or other issues is fair game . . . as is what we love about these stories.

D&D has some serious legacy issues about race and culture, and we've had some good discussions here on ENWorld regarding that. It's helped me decide how I want to interact with D&D going forward, and what kind of products I want to buy, and what kind of games I want to run.

Pick a fandom . . . Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones . . . anything . . . and you will find some similar problematic elements. It doesn't mean you can't still love and discuss your fandom of these properties, and discussing the issues can help us move forward in our fandom, and as a society.