Friday, November 19, 2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



In all honesty, are you even surprised?
I just got home from the midnight premiere of this movie, and could not resist writing about all the blatant demonstrations of imperialism in it.

Let's set the scene. Like most movies, there are two sides: good and evil. Good being the infamous trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but also all their surrounding friends and family. However, it is not just them, but the "good" also entails all other wizards who support mixed marriages and are against Voldemort, including the Ministry of Magic. Which of course, brings us to the "bad." Voldemort, obviously, is the baddest of the bad. Even further, his large group of followers- The Death Eaters- make up the rest of this evil half.

Not more than thirty minutes into the movie, the "good" side, (all congregated at a wedding,) receive an ominious message:

"The ministry has fallen. They are coming. They are coming. They are coming."

Seconds later, Dementors and Death Eaters swoop in and the crowd takes off for hiding. Already, imperialism starts to show through. At this point in time, the "bad" side has won. Voldemort and the Death Eaters overthrew the Ministry of Magic- the backbone of the entire wizarding community. The good side is, essentially, screwed.

But wait, the examples don't end there. This movie goes as far as to show just what the dark side does with it's power. Voldemort has always been a supporter of "Pure Bloods," as in, wizards marrying and starting families with other wizards. He is completely disgusted with "Half Bloods," (the result of a wizard and muggle having a child,) or, even worse, "Mudbloods," (the result of two muggle parents birthing a wizard.) In the scene in the movie when Harry, Ron, and Hermione bear disguises and attempt to infiltrate the Ministry, we get a glimpse of the changes that have been done since the overthrow. Brochures are being created which read sayings like "The Pride of Purebloods," or "Filthy Mudbloods," or any number of expressions to show their clear hatred for any race other than their own. The Ministry also made an announcement that all workers would have to go through an "inspection," which really meant that if they found out you were anything but pureblood, you were out. In addition, their is a scene in the movie with all of the darker side's group gathered around a table, with a woman hanging above them suffering greatly until her eventually death. Voldemort makes it clear that her reason for being their was "being an advocate of muggle/wizard marriage." This power of purebloods on the dark side, they were their own race, their own community, living by their own rules. And they proceeded to rise to power despite the "good" side's relentless arguments.

As far as Part 1 has shown, Voldemort and his Death Eaters have overthrew the Wizarding World for good. Furthermore, they completely surpressed the other side, not only killing rampantly and controlling everything , but also sending the goodside entirely into hiding. They live in constant fear due to the higher power over them. Voldemort is that higher power, surpressing the other wizards. This is imperialism.

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