{"id":166220,"date":"2022-01-04T14:58:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T19:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/?p=166220"},"modified":"2022-01-04T14:58:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T19:58:28","slug":"jon-stewart-says-the-harry-potter-goblin-characters-are-antisemitic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishexponent.com\/jon-stewart-says-the-harry-potter-goblin-characters-are-antisemitic\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Stewart Says the \u2018Harry Potter\u2019 Goblin Characters are Antisemitic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jon Stewart speaks backstage a “Stand Up for Heroes” benefit show in New York City on Nov. 4, 2019. (Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for The Bob Woodruff Foundation via JTA.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Shira Hanau<\/p>\n

In recent years, some \u201cHarry Potter\u201d fans have reconsidered their love for the series in light of the controversy surrounding its author J.K. Rowling, who has been criticized for comments about the transgender community<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But after the release of an HBO special last week that celebrates the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d movies\u2019 20th anniversary, some are critiquing the series for a different reason:\u00a0the inclusion of goblin characters that run the wizarding world\u2019s bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d world, Gringott\u2019s Bank, the bank that serves wizards and where treasures are stored in a mysterious network of underground tunnels and chambers, is run by goblins, who are depicted as ill-tempered, short-statured creatures with long noses and ears with a love of gold.<\/p>\n

Jon Stewart, the comedian and former host of \u201cThe Daily Show,\u201d called the characters antisemitic caricatures on a recent episode of his new show, \u201cThe Problem with Jon Stewart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of those things where I saw it on the screen and I was expecting the crowd to be like \u2018holy shit, she did not in a wizarding world just throw Jews in there to run the fucking underground bank.\u2019 And everyone was like, \u2018Wizards,’\u201d Stewart said with a shrug.<\/p>\n

He went on to compare the goblins to the portrayal of Jews in the infamous antisemitic tract\u00a0\u201cThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c[People think] \u2018Oh that\u2019s a character from Harry Potter,\u2019 [and] you\u2019re like, \u2018No that\u2019s a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature.\u2019 J.K. Rowling was like, \u2018Can we get these guys to run our bank?’\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n

The comparison is not new. Rafael Shimunov, a progressive activist, pointed in a Twitter thread to examples of others who have noted the similarities between the goblins and antisemitic stereotypes.<\/p>\n

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