progress
http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007…
The goblins in the Harry Potterverse have one purpose – running the Gringotts bank, where all wizards, good and evil, store their treasures. The goblins, especially as depicted in the movies, are universally hooked nosed, short, unattractive… Furthermore, they are considered by the wizard world to be miserly, stingy, greedy and two-faced. Professor Binns soporific History of Magic lectures tell tales of centuries of goblin oppression, segregation, mistrust, bad relations, exclusion and revolts. Sound like any European ethnic minority you know? That’s right, Rowlings’ depiction of goblins reflects the type of stereotypes that are more fitting for Russia in the late 19th century or a second rate Gazan newspaper.
(via)
Well, if one is tired of old stereotypes in a backward-looking low-fantasy, then clearly one should turn to forward-looking science fiction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi
The Ferengi are a fictional extraterrestrial race … They … are characterized by a mercantile obsession with profit and trade and their constant efforts to swindle people into bad deals. They are also known for their business acumen…
Ferengi are somewhat smaller than humans, usually reaching approximately five feet in height…
it is common for Ferengi to pray for financial success…
My point, of course, is too fold:
(a) this sort of crap pops up all over the place,
(b) Star Trek – in every incarnation it exists in – continues to be among the worst “science fiction” ever.
Tangentially, I think that half the crap that has historically landed on Jews hasn’t even been aimed at Jews per se – it’s been crap hurled by populists at capitalists, and the populists – being populists – are too ignorant to even crisply understand what they’re angry about / who they’re angry at.
