Ganondox

Finally found this topic again. Have any of the letter videos been done?

Determined

I volunteer.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LmKt_yCg6-oMof11g7_LbLQRhAcquBWJ/view?usp=drivesdk Open Up Your Eyes from pony movie, unfortunately it gets worse as it goes on.

Is Nagini supposed to be Indonesian? If that’s the case than I finally get what she’s trying to get at (a Korean can pass of as an Indonesia much better than they could pass off as an Indian) though Nagini is definitely not an Indonesian name. It’s just the female form of naga, but unlike Sanskrit Indonesian doesn’t have gender. Indonesia has its own naga myths, they just evolved from those India, and evolved so they weren’t regarded as being half-human. The Indonesian variety also takes influence from native gods and Chinese dragons. India and China are huge cultural influences across all of South East Asia.

I haven't looked much into the Hermione being black thing, but from what I've heard it sounds kinda disingenuous for the reason you gave. Still, it's not really important as her race isn't an essential part of her character, unlike Ron where the Weasley's red hair is one of their key traits. So why did they even include Nagini? Sounds like her only role was to build hype/drama. If she said India it would have been much more accurate as to where nagas come from, but she clearly meant Indonesia as she gave a random fact about Indonesia. While that fact is technically correct, it actually undersells just how diverse Indonesia is, and it appears to be pandering to the ethnicities most likely to view her tweet. Indonesian nagas are strictly snakes (to the extent they can even be considered snakes, there is a reason naga is sometimes translated as dragon, main thing is they definitely aren't human), the ones on Borobudur aren't recognizable as being nagas unless you know the Buddhist depictions. The main thing though is that nagas really aren't an important part of Indonesian culture, which is why it's really odd that she credited them as being from Indonesia. The country is mostly Muslim today, so they are just statues of gods people don't believe in. That's the context missing from the article, but beyond that the article can tell you more. You see them in artwork and statues, but it's not like people ever talk about them. Just google image search "Indonesian naga" and "naga" and you'll see a huge difference. Because nagas hold no sacred significant to most Indonesians, they are happy to just claim nagas as theirs even though it's not an accurate claim as it gets them attention which they never get. The only part that's actually offensive is the implication that Asians are interchangeable.

You’re taking things personally as a big HP fan, I’m taking it personally as someone with close ties to Indonesia, either way we’re putting more into this argument than it’s really worth. The point I was making is that the left has just as much of a problem with Rowling as the right, though they don’t advocate for book burning. For me personally, I think Rowling is just a regular person who has extended beyond her expertise. It has not impact on my enjoyment of the series, I just think making Nagini a human was dumb on its own terms, not for the external reasons. Then again, I haven seen that movie so I can’t judge the execution. I’m not going to boycott her works over any of this, though I’m not a big enough fan to go out of my way to see it, I just let the opportunities come.

What karma? You know it’s not a synonym for hypocrisy, right? Of course, misusing ideas from Hinduism is exactly what I would expect from you. It’s not hypocrisy though, as the issue isn’t using wikis itself. Do you seriously think I’m so dumb that I would bring up something just to contradict myself in the very same comment? Note how it’s two different contexts (big difference between understanding a culture in general and looking up a specific fact about a fictional character), not just in terms of the content of the wiki, but to what I was replying to. You’re overlooking some key nuances, and unlike you I was upfront about where my experience was lacking, whereas you set yourself up for being called out. Yes, you were making stuff up. When you go “moreover without thinking too hard about, snake taking a form of a human or vice versa, technically goes back to half and half,” it’s clear you are injecting in your own conclusions rather than going with what was actually stated. I read the same article that you seem to think is the authoritative source on everything about nagas in Indonesia, that’s the only reason I found it to be even worth mentioning Borobudur. One thing you overlooked is that the article only mentioned transformation on the Buddhist context. One thing that you wouldn’t get from the article by itself is that Borobudur is a Buddhist temple, which is why it’s portrayal of nagas is different from the rest of Indonesia where it came directly from Hinduism. The Indonesian specific variety are strictly snakes, nobody thinks of Borobudur when they think of Indonesian nagas. I’m sorry, I’m the arrogant one when you’re trying to lecture me about what naga means in Indonesian despite me living there? For one, naga is NOT the Indonesia word for snake, the Indonesia word for snake is ular. Indonesian is not derived from Sanskrit, it’s an Austronesian, not an Indo-European one. Living in Indonesia wasn’t a “lusciously” (I assume you mean luxury?) it was for work. We aren’t rich, air fare is just cheap in Asia. Fact of the matter is using the internet to cherry pick whatever fits what you’re attempting to prove is no substitute for rounded organic experience. Also, I suggest you reread your own comments, you aren’t anywhere as coherent as you think you are. PS: Here is an Indian source calling J. K Rowling out on this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/jk-rowling-claims-fantastic-beasts-nagini-has-indonesian-roots-amish-schools-her-in-indian-naagins/story-fYIo894hm2e0xI9u6YqUkI_amp.html Turns out the original tweet was even worse than I thought, she’s trying really hard to force in the Indonesian connection and make it looks like she did more research than she actually did.

Maybe the fact you’ve demonstrated no knowledge of Indonesian culture beyond what you’ve read off the Wikipedia article on nagas? While I’m not a native I did live in Indonesia for an extended period time, and it’s extremely obvious that you are not as familiar with the culture as I am, and are just trying to defend J. K Rowling’s claims. You’re making up nonsense (eg. that Indonesian nagas are somehow an interpolation between humans and snakes) rather than basing your arguments on the facts (different places have different artistic depictions). Treating your conjecture as if it is of equal value to an understanding based on knowledge is exceedingly frustrating. I don’t know why J. K. Rowling claimed nagas are from Indonesian myth, but her depiction is clearly based on the general concept, which is Indian, and not the variety specific to Indonesia. You can make up all the excuses you want, but this is hardly the first time that J. K. Rowling had this problem, this is just the case we took personally. The only reason you don’t hear more Indonesians complaining is because they are happy to get a shoutout at all, even if it’s inaccurate, and it’s fairly harmless mistake. Not all of her mistakes were harmless though. I’m going to link to an article one of her more serious errors. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/09/jk-rowling-under-fire-for-appropriating-navajo-tradition-history-of-magic-in-north-america-pottermore Quit it with your condescending crap about creativity. You know, I also write fiction too. You’re going off on a strawman while ignoring my actual issue. I’ll say it again: my issue is not with her creative choices, but her justifications for them. No, I haven’t seen the movie, but I read the page on the Harry Potter wiki. Maybe it’s drawing from sources outside of the movie, maybe it includes inferences, but either way it implies that she was a human who became trapped in the form of a snake because her curse prevented her from turning back.

“Having an imagination” is not an excuse for not doing your research. My issue is less with her creative decisions and more with her asinine justifications for them. For example, you’re perpetuating a myth about Indonesian culture because you’re parroting her explanation rather than bothering to learn anything about Indonesian culture. You do realize that the Crimes of Grindelwald established a specific backstory for Nagini? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say with half your comment.

Jailed for murdering children.

The claws

That's talking about nagas in general, not the Indonesia variety. Remember, it's really an Indian thing, not a Indonesian one, there is just heavily Indian influence in Java and Bali. They mention a human form on Borobudur, but those aren't half-human, they're just human. I've been to Borobudur, I do not recall seeing any half-human half-snakes there, and I'm not seeing any come up on google. I do recall seeing some such statues in Cambodia. Different places take different aspects of the myths. People complaining about Nagini being Asian are dumb, but it's also kinda racist to just lump all Asians together. South Asians and East Asians are not related at all, not culturally or genetically. The casting decision does not need to be justified, especially because Rowling just digs her hole deeper with her attempts to justify her decision. I think it was dumb that they made her a human at all, she already had a backstory about being a particular sort of viper. if they really wanted to cast an Asian they should have invented it a new character, there was plenty of Asians in America at the time so no explanation would be needed for her race. I have no actually seen that movie though, so I can't judge how they actually pulled it off.

It actually doesn't, my brother is fluent in Indonesian and he complained a lot about that. He complained about J. K. Rowling's cultural appropriation from half-baked research in general, but he had a particular issue with that as he's personally involved with Indonesian culture. Nagas in Indonesia are just an important from India, and are generally portrayed as winged snakes, not as being half-human. The other area he really took issue with was with the depiction of America, both for the offensive mischaracterization of skinwalkers and the bizarre portrayal of America in the first Fantastic Beasts movies that showed no understanding of American Pragmatism.

Jailed for being an evil demon, you know what you did.