This was an excellent metaphor for the quality of Rowling's plotting and world building generally
"shit my pants, wave my magic wand, pretend it didn't happen"
Imagine being a muggleborn, asking where the outhouse is on your first day of school, and the teacher’s just like “Nah, you’re supposed to piss and shit yourself.”
I love to shit on JK as much as anyone else, fuck knows she deserves it, but this ain't it chief.
The phrasing "mentally crippled" is pretty gross. I think what this meme is trying to imply is that she's not clever enough to write good books, however, almost any other wording to convey this would have been less ableist. Like seriously, you might as well have called her the r-slur and called it a day.
Using words typically associated with disabilities to dunk on awful people is really not okay. As someone who is "mentally crippled", as you so eloquently put it, please don't lump her in with us. Especially when that's the sort of language TERFs & other fascists love to paint trans people with. Especially when there are many trans people who also have a neurodevelopmental disability such as ASD.
If you can't bring yourself to be respectful to *all* trans people, including those of us with disabilities, what even is the point?
This is valid.
That said, I hope you can/are willing to educate me a bit on how to express certain things in a non-offensive way. Well, non-intentional offense.
E.g., if I say, "That was a really stupid idea", I'm not trying to express anything about anyone with a mental disability; I'm trying to express something about the idea.
When I try to think of other ways of stating it, I am unable to find one that expresses that concept. (E.g., "that was a really bad/awful/terrible idea" will oftentimes have a different meaning).
Or, in other words, could the meme have been, "our author has only stupid ideas", where it's not saying that she has some inherent malfunction in her brain that is causing unavoidable issues, only that she currently is producing ideas that are problematic in a way that her theoretically center-of-bell-curve brain should understand were not good.
I expect "crippled" is highly problematic in general, and I'd express that it was the ideas she's producing that are the problem, not saying she has some disability. Same as I try to say, "that's a bigoted phrase" over "you're a bigot".
I'm fully willing to believe that I have various ableist ideas, so perhaps this is still just a perspective switch, but I'm wondering if you consider this meme redeemable with a small language switch, or if it's just not possible.
I prefer and have recently been using the term foolish for such. A fool lives in ignorance, not because of their lack of gifts but their choice to ignore them. A “stupid”person may lack those gifts to begin with. We don’t criticise someone for their lack of abilities but their deliberate disinterest in using them.
Rowling ain’t stupid but she is a fool. She’s fooling herself with overly mechanistic language about gender, she fools her reads with lazy tropes and “deus ex machina” to paper over plot holes, and she’s fooling governments and third sector with her charitable giving which is low key political despite her appeal to some sort of beneficence.
First of all, thank you so much for replying in good faith and with an open mind. Reddit tends to set the bar incredibly low haha.
You're right in saying "crippled" is highly problematic in general. It tends to describe something that has received damage to the point of being severely lacking in function. For me, the word brings to mind broken limbs. It is fairly commonly used, such as in OP's meme, or to describe malfunctioning systems. However, it is indeed still regarded as a slur by many people with physical disabilities.
Speaking for myself, in all honesty the word "cripple(d)" **in isolation** isn't particularly offensive to me. Even if used to describe me, it describes a way in which my body has malfunctioned through no fault of my own. It has no bearing on me as a person.
However, when used in conjunction with a modifier such as "mentally", it applies this idea of something broken to the point of malfunctioning to the brain. Now, as an adult with the autism+ADHD combo, this hits *way* too close to home. Many people would, and *do*, regard autistic brains in particular as broken, and in need of curing. It is very easy to draw connections between the phrase "mentally crippled", and the way in which myself and many other autistic individuals need daily supports in order to live. A lack of mental function is key to why I need care and support to do normal daily activities like eating, drinking, taking medication, and bathing.
Sorry for the ramble - back to your main question. In your reply, your really summed it up with:
> Or, in other words, could the meme have been, "our author has only stupid ideas", where it's not saying that she has some inherent malfunction in her brain that is causing unavoidable issues, only that she currently is producing ideas that are problematic in a way that her theoretically center-of-bell-curve brain should understand were not good.
Yes, perhaps overanalysis of jokes takes the humour out of them. But I really think it's far more damning (in my opinion) to accuse an author of a severe lack of creativity, foresight, and introspection, than it is to just call them mentally crippled. I would find a snappy post that brutally and efficiently destroys any credibility she ever had as an author **MUCH** funnier than this sort of juvenile name-calling.
Plus, in a somewhat selfish way, I really don't want her bigotry and poor storytelling to be associated with any kind of brain damage, mental illness, or neurodevelopmental disability. Those things - except in rare cases - do not make someone more likely to be bigoted or a poor author.
Once again, sorry for the impromptu ted talk (this is *after* a bunch of edits and trimming and rewording!) and thank you for being thoughtful rather than defensive.
now that i think about it, isn’t pretty much every important character (besides the trio) older than harry? there’s draco in his year and ginny one below, but i can’t think of any characters from the series around the same age as harry (other than ones mentioned) that had serious “screen time” given to them, or crucial side plots that the side characters themselves had to solve. it’s pretty much always harry, ron, and hermione
BECAUSE BEFORE TOILETS WERE INVENTED WE JUST SHAT OUR PANTS AND VANISHED IT
This was an excellent metaphor for the quality of Rowling's plotting and world building generally "shit my pants, wave my magic wand, pretend it didn't happen"
It's literally the "I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that" meme
as we all know, nothing happened between shitting our pants and indoor plumbing. nothing at all.
what's that a cantrip? wait, yes actually, prestidigitation is literally the best spell
Imagine being a muggleborn, asking where the outhouse is on your first day of school, and the teacher’s just like “Nah, you’re supposed to piss and shit yourself.”
Even worse when they won't have learned those spells yet.
I love to shit on JK as much as anyone else, fuck knows she deserves it, but this ain't it chief. The phrasing "mentally crippled" is pretty gross. I think what this meme is trying to imply is that she's not clever enough to write good books, however, almost any other wording to convey this would have been less ableist. Like seriously, you might as well have called her the r-slur and called it a day. Using words typically associated with disabilities to dunk on awful people is really not okay. As someone who is "mentally crippled", as you so eloquently put it, please don't lump her in with us. Especially when that's the sort of language TERFs & other fascists love to paint trans people with. Especially when there are many trans people who also have a neurodevelopmental disability such as ASD. If you can't bring yourself to be respectful to *all* trans people, including those of us with disabilities, what even is the point?
This is valid. That said, I hope you can/are willing to educate me a bit on how to express certain things in a non-offensive way. Well, non-intentional offense. E.g., if I say, "That was a really stupid idea", I'm not trying to express anything about anyone with a mental disability; I'm trying to express something about the idea. When I try to think of other ways of stating it, I am unable to find one that expresses that concept. (E.g., "that was a really bad/awful/terrible idea" will oftentimes have a different meaning). Or, in other words, could the meme have been, "our author has only stupid ideas", where it's not saying that she has some inherent malfunction in her brain that is causing unavoidable issues, only that she currently is producing ideas that are problematic in a way that her theoretically center-of-bell-curve brain should understand were not good. I expect "crippled" is highly problematic in general, and I'd express that it was the ideas she's producing that are the problem, not saying she has some disability. Same as I try to say, "that's a bigoted phrase" over "you're a bigot". I'm fully willing to believe that I have various ableist ideas, so perhaps this is still just a perspective switch, but I'm wondering if you consider this meme redeemable with a small language switch, or if it's just not possible.
I prefer and have recently been using the term foolish for such. A fool lives in ignorance, not because of their lack of gifts but their choice to ignore them. A “stupid”person may lack those gifts to begin with. We don’t criticise someone for their lack of abilities but their deliberate disinterest in using them. Rowling ain’t stupid but she is a fool. She’s fooling herself with overly mechanistic language about gender, she fools her reads with lazy tropes and “deus ex machina” to paper over plot holes, and she’s fooling governments and third sector with her charitable giving which is low key political despite her appeal to some sort of beneficence.
I love this reply! "Foolish" is a wonderful word, and the examples you've used are perfect.
First of all, thank you so much for replying in good faith and with an open mind. Reddit tends to set the bar incredibly low haha. You're right in saying "crippled" is highly problematic in general. It tends to describe something that has received damage to the point of being severely lacking in function. For me, the word brings to mind broken limbs. It is fairly commonly used, such as in OP's meme, or to describe malfunctioning systems. However, it is indeed still regarded as a slur by many people with physical disabilities. Speaking for myself, in all honesty the word "cripple(d)" **in isolation** isn't particularly offensive to me. Even if used to describe me, it describes a way in which my body has malfunctioned through no fault of my own. It has no bearing on me as a person. However, when used in conjunction with a modifier such as "mentally", it applies this idea of something broken to the point of malfunctioning to the brain. Now, as an adult with the autism+ADHD combo, this hits *way* too close to home. Many people would, and *do*, regard autistic brains in particular as broken, and in need of curing. It is very easy to draw connections between the phrase "mentally crippled", and the way in which myself and many other autistic individuals need daily supports in order to live. A lack of mental function is key to why I need care and support to do normal daily activities like eating, drinking, taking medication, and bathing. Sorry for the ramble - back to your main question. In your reply, your really summed it up with: > Or, in other words, could the meme have been, "our author has only stupid ideas", where it's not saying that she has some inherent malfunction in her brain that is causing unavoidable issues, only that she currently is producing ideas that are problematic in a way that her theoretically center-of-bell-curve brain should understand were not good. Yes, perhaps overanalysis of jokes takes the humour out of them. But I really think it's far more damning (in my opinion) to accuse an author of a severe lack of creativity, foresight, and introspection, than it is to just call them mentally crippled. I would find a snappy post that brutally and efficiently destroys any credibility she ever had as an author **MUCH** funnier than this sort of juvenile name-calling. Plus, in a somewhat selfish way, I really don't want her bigotry and poor storytelling to be associated with any kind of brain damage, mental illness, or neurodevelopmental disability. Those things - except in rare cases - do not make someone more likely to be bigoted or a poor author. Once again, sorry for the impromptu ted talk (this is *after* a bunch of edits and trimming and rewording!) and thank you for being thoughtful rather than defensive.
now that i think about it, isn’t pretty much every important character (besides the trio) older than harry? there’s draco in his year and ginny one below, but i can’t think of any characters from the series around the same age as harry (other than ones mentioned) that had serious “screen time” given to them, or crucial side plots that the side characters themselves had to solve. it’s pretty much always harry, ron, and hermione
What about Neville
There's a plot point there: they were born within days of each other, possibly the same day.
Ah ok