Subject: Well, technically speaking, Mr. Popo is a deity...
Author:
Posted on: 2015-08-05 11:51:00 UTC
Assistant-deity, but it still counts!
Also, I don't think this was meant to be racist. I doubt Japanese publishers in 1988 (the original year of this chapter and episode release) would ever thought that DBZ would become a hit overseas.
But, honestly, I prefer that they portray him like that, rather than doing what 4Kids did, and make him a bloody overgrown Smurf!
So, a certain project occupies my mind for a while now... I want to create a well-researched, balanced and entertaining goodfic about the Next Generation (ya know, nineteen years later...) with the main focus being James Potter II and his Hogwarts career. A tribute of sort to the magnificent series which got me into reading books in first place.
Here's where you come in, brothers and sisters. I consider myself pretty good when in comes to Potter knowledge but, naturally, there are things I am bound to overlook or miss. The question I have is: Is anyone willing to be my occasional source of knowledge-slash-opinion about plot, characters, etc. I realize most of the things discussed would be fanon/headcanon, speculations and theories, but I believe it is possible to do it. I will be keeping as much canon as possible: we're talking dates, locations, events, characters - EVERYTHING!
If anyone's willing (and Ixi, I'm not asking you because, although you are probably the biggest Potter nerd here *cough*afterme*cough*, you are a busy woman and we're all waiting for LMM to hit us!) to share their knowledge, feel free to compose a mail - my adress is mattcipher94 and the gmail tag.
Although, I will leave you with something to discuss: wizard schools.
I remember posting my theory before but now, since I'm going to actually find a use for it, I'll do it again.
From Her Majesty Rowling, we know there are 11 official schools educating witches and wizards of the world. Not Europe but the entire planet. So, with most of them already known, here is my list of them and the regions they operate in (note: light grey colour indicates unconfrimed locations, and my own speculations)
I would really welcome your opinions on that matter. This project is the first big writing thing I'm trying and I promise to find a way of compensation for all the effort put in its production! :)
I would like to take the opportunity that I will be releasing the mission on August 18th at midnight, Eastern Standard Time. So, in exactly two weeks. It's already finished and polished and is basically just waiting for the release day.
I swear to Glot, I will do something XD
Personally, I wonder which schools accept nonhuman students? I mean, in my personal headcanon, Magical Britain's isolationist views make it seem very backwards to the rest of the wizarding world, and that magical-being-views are much more progressive in, say, Beauxbatons (which might be why they accept veela-descent students, for example!) than in Hogwarts.
Do we count veelas like Fleur, vampires, werewolves, goblins... should they be fully sentient, or not? Also, I really don't think elves and dwarves exist in this universe. All depends on the definition.
Personally, I think Eastern schools (Durmstrang, Koldovstoretz, etc.) are more open to all things Dark and, therefore, more open to students with non-human lineage.
Her maternal grandmother was a full-blooded veela.
Veela, vampires, werewolves, and goblins are all fully sentient, but only werewolves and possibly veela are allowed to carry wands. We know that veela's descendants are allowed to carry wands, but that's because they're also part human and have witch or wizard-like magical ability. It's not so much a question a species' sentience as it is which species are allowed to do and are capable of doing 'traditional' magic.
I meant guys like that, and you know it!
So let's assume a half-vampire is born (which I still think could be possible, considering Locan d'Eath being featured on Rowling's site at one point), therefore they would be allowed to carry a wand, I'm thinking correctly?
The thing is - we don't know enough non-humans/part-humans to think about their enrolment. So far we know veelas, giants and goblins are able to... mate, for the lack of better word, with humans. We have people like the Delacours, Hagrid or professor Flitwick, as proof. For example, I can't imagine there being half-centaurs, or satyrs, or half-mermen without some particulary nasty images coming to my mind.
Since when is Flitwick part goblin? O.o
~Neshomeh
P.S. I was a big Potter expert back in the day, but I'm kinda rusty now that I don't have my RP to keep things fresh in my mind. I resort to looking things up these days, which you might just as well do yourself, so yeah.
It was initially revealed on JKR’s playful old website, which sadly doesn’t exist anymore because she’s a serious mystery writer now. JKR responded to fans speculating about Flitwick’s ancestry after seeing him in the movie. She said that the fans believing that Flitwick must have some goblin blood got it right, and that she was surprised that the film makers got it right just from the description in the books, because she hadn’t told anybody that this was the back story she had in mind for him.
HG
I think the information might have been revealed via Pottermore.
"Filius Flitwick was born into a wizarding family with the distant descent of a goblin."
And dishonor on your whole family!
I'll let my friend speak for me. Mr. Popo?
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Hahahaha.... Hahahahahaha.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!
Thank you, Mr. Popo.
But WOW. That... that is some waaaaay racist character design. I mean, wow. Did blackface just, like, never stop being socially acceptable in Japan?
Assistant-deity, but it still counts!
Also, I don't think this was meant to be racist. I doubt Japanese publishers in 1988 (the original year of this chapter and episode release) would ever thought that DBZ would become a hit overseas.
But, honestly, I prefer that they portray him like that, rather than doing what 4Kids did, and make him a bloody overgrown Smurf!
That design is clearly based on stereotypical images of black people, with a genie motif thrown in for some reason. It might not be intentionally racist, in the same way some old people can be, but that doesn't make it acceptable.
People had the same issue with the Pokemon Jynx, who was originally presented like this
And I think it's MatPat from Game Theorists, who did it best when he did some explanation on Jynx. I think, to some point, THIS can also be applied to Mr. Popo. Just changing him from a "she-demon" to a "male genie" would sound more appropriate to the manga readers.
The Dragonball Wiki mentions it in their trivia section. They also note the responses - the Smurf version, and digital lip removal in an American edition.
Personally I find it really interesting that a combination of two traits - 'black skin' and 'big lips' - makes for such an instant racist caricature. That's some serious iconographic success from the old racist types. If only they'd applied themselves to something more worthwhile...
(Well, okay, fair enough, they did - if you go back far enough, everything from 'ball on stick = tree' to 'stickman = person'. But it'd be nice if racism hadn't achieved the same thing.)
hS
