Prejudice in Harry Potter

So I was sitting at my table with my laptop, wondering what the heck I was going to blog about, when I heard the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow's score coming from my family room. I was humming along to Polyjuice Potion (because I know all of them, don't judge) as I typed random words into a post, trying to find some inspiration.

I heard the lines from HPDHP1, the part where Tonks is trying to tell Harry that she and Remus are having a baby but gets cuts off by another character, and got insanely angry. It's not just because Tonks is my fourth favourite character (honest!!), and it's not because Remus is the sole living member of the Marauders, my favourite group in Harry Potter. Siriusly (see what I did there? hehe).

I got angry because of what Remus and Tonks represent in not only the Wizarding World, but our modern world. For those who have never read, seen, or heard of Remus, or for those who may have forgotten, Remus is a werewolf. He was bitten by Frenrir Greyback as a young child because his father did not repay a debt, and consequently grew up with the prejudices that accompanied the bite of a werewolf. Although the Ministry would not care to admit it, werewolves (even though they were deadly only once a month) were denied opportunities that were available to even the most dangerous of men. Because Remus was bitten before he turned eleven, it was a real possibility to his family that he would never be accepted into a school. Dumbledore (if you don't know who Albus Dumbledore is, then shame on you) was the only administrator of a magic school willing to allow Remus to learn there. So Remus was admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, met the Marauders (James Potter [he is actually the perfect man], Sirius Black [why are all sexually promiscuous men attractive], and Peter Pettigrew [he's a rat. literally.]), and was finally welcomed for who he was (even though only the professors and the Marauders knew of his "furry little problem").

Growing up, Remus never imagined that he would find someone who would love him for who he was. Remus believed that he was a monster, and who could ever learn to love a Beast [@2.15]? That's the beauty of the relationship between Remus and Tonks. They were both so different, so excluded from society, and a war brought them together. They are literally the perfect match for each other, in every way, shape, and form.

People believe that Harry Potter is a children's series. Yes, it may be written in simple sentences and have plot lines easy for children to understand, but the issues addressed in the series are so utterly NOT childlike. Once you look underneath the sentence structures and "cute" moments, you'll see a huge array of contemporary conflicts such as racism, ethnic cleansing (hello...the whole Muggleborn Nazi-like extermination? How is that a children's issue?), anti-terrorism, capitalism, and so much more. As J.K. Rowling said, "People like to think themselves superior and that, if they can pride themselves in nothing else, they can pride themselves on perceived purity."

That quote is SUCH an accurate statement for both how people today feel and how people in the Wizarding World feel. Their arrogance, conceit, and selfish disdain for the feelings of others lead me to feel you were the last man in the world whom I could ever marry mirrors the racial prejudices of today.

I got so emotional over the cutting of Tonks' announcement of her pregnancy because they represent a minority, a group of people are not socially acceptable. If the writers of HPDHP1 had kept the line of her pregnancy in the movie, even though it obviously wouldn't have fixed everything, maybe more people would be aware of the racism in our society today.

Maybe it's also because of how much I love Tonks and Remus.

Maybe.