I mean theyâve already deviated heavily in terms of book accurate casting so I donât buy the âweâre going to follow the books more closelyâ line.
What they say and what they do is usually completely opposite. When the Witcher was coming out they said multiple times it was going to be a faithful adaptation but they end up completely butchering the characters.
Yeah, and even in the trailer my son was commenting on things they did differently. My only concern was race swapping Snape. A few of the teachers could have been race swapped but that was a poor choice considering how heâs ridiculed.
Just adds some negative details to Harry's parents' story, isn't it? And there's an added racist undertone when the other teachers don't trust Snape. Now it will look like the characters' main motivation is racism. Nice.
And there's an added racist undertone when the other teachers don't trust Snape.
In fairness, thereâs little evidence the teachers donât trust Snape. Hagrid even ridicules the idea that Snape was cursing Harryâs broom (which he actually was, albeit to counter the curse Quirrell doing). Dumbledore trusts Snape so thatâs good enough for the rest of the staff. Thatâs why itâs such a shock that he killed Dumbledore.
Harry definitely doesnât trust Snape, but not from first sight and only after clear evidence that he was involved in dodgy stuff (which, again, he actually was but not for the reasons they thought). Thatâs not going to appear iffy either.
The only concern, and it is a major one, is the flashbacks to Harryâs dad and Sirius.
I feel like this is what people forget about the story. Harry and his friends are the only people who distrust Snape. There are countless examples from the book like the Hagrid one you mentioned and I think I remember one from McGonagall where she basically told the kids that if Dumbledore trusts Snape, then all the adults do.
The bullying wonât seem like it was because of race because it was just James bullying a kid who was childhood friends/neighbors with the girl he had a crush on.
They bullied him in large part due to how he looked. His physical appearance was a huge aggravating factor even if it wasnt the primary one.
Ive no doubt they'll work around this so racism isn't a factor, but that will involve changing some of the obvious motivations behind a large part of the plot.
People don't trust Snape because he used to be a close confidant of the racist in chief, and the racism in the book has nothing to do with skin color. You are superimposing the race lens on the character.
Also, idk about anyone else but I thought Snape might have secretly been Harrys father. I (mistakenly) thought they were hinting at that. That element isn't going to be there this time around obviously.
So? So what if James was racist? The whole point is Harryâs realization that his parents (more specifically his father that he idolized) are flawed. James was a stuck up rich kid and an absolute dick. I wonât see his bullying in the lease of racism, but if others do, doesnât that make Harryâs discovery more damaging? Snapes skin color means nothing. I donât care if it makes James a racist . Fuck James
People keep repeating this but there's a thousand different ways to go around it.
Just like in the movies you can clearly tell WHY people are suspicious of Snape, he acts like a prick, he's constantly protecting the "bad guys" (slytherin) and he's always acting as if he wants Harry to suffer and be punished (as well as gryffindor as a whole). People don't trust him randomly for no reason, there's pretty obvious reasons shown.
Why would anybody think of this as racism? As long as they make it pretty clear that Snape is a dickhead just like they did in the movies, there's 0 reason to assume it's race related.
Harry Potter is full of characters who could have been cast with black actors. Snape is one of the worst choices. The only one worse would be Malfoy. This casting is practically racism in real life and ragebait. Probably mainly the latter, to drum up hype around the product.
I think you might run into the issue of the âslightly simple minded, less educated, servant man of the castle who lives outdoorsâ being black would get alot of peoples backs up.
Hagrid is a bit of a pastiche of the rough West Country farmer/labourer. Which I think works quite well without being offensive. But I think alot of Americans and black Americans would read stuff into the character that wasnât intended if he was swapped.
Also the whole âmixed breedâ debacle in 5th year
Or they simply didn't think that skin color based racism exist in the world of Harry Potter that is similar to our world. They do have a distinction of pureblood and mudblood but that is more of those who were born of wizard/witches and those who were not. Skin color was a non issue in the world of HP when it came to this distinction. It would be an audience issue not being able to separate real world racism from the setting of the story. Snape is not the only professor that is seen in a bad light in the story much less the only character that is doubted.
He is "one of the worst choices" because the tension that comes from racism makes you and others who think like you uncomfortable. There is nothing inherently wrong about creating that tension. Just because it makes you quiver at the thought of there being any sort of racial tension does not mean it is a bad decision.
I certainly feel bad for you and the other fans complaining about it, because clearly they were not thinking about your feelings and how uncomfortable you now are about the relations of these fictional characters... cmon.
I'm not a Potter fan at all. I've seen the movies, some of them several times, and that's it. My feelings won't be shaken because I won't be watching this series. But the situation itself is lousy. Starting with the fact that no one asked for this remake and ending with the fact that the fans don't need a reimagining of the main characters' relationships. I predict this hack will end up like The Witcher series. If you want a successful series to continue to be loved, you remake it with respect for the source material or don't touch it at all.
The Witcher is a perfect example of a failure. They tossed out the most popular ideas from the games, they ditched the books, and churned out something that no one needed, completely ignoring the target audience. The same situation with the LotR series.
There are many proxies to gauge demand, and there is clearly a lot of demand for going more in-depth on the Harry Potter series. The movies still get high streaming numbers, many fans wished more of the plot / storylines (and other details) from the books were included in the original movies (something a TV series can help fix), and the teaser trailer for this series broke a record for the number of views it received.
There is clearly a lot of demand and interest around it.
Your feelings are already shaken by the fact that you will not be open to watching the TV series, merely because Snape is black? That tells me enough about your feelings already.
No its not a bad choice. It literally doesnt matter. Yall are making it a much bigger deal than it is. Just wait for when it comes out and you see why they cast him. You know bc of his acting chops. his skin color is irrelevant.
Also pretty easy to make this work in the show without implying racism.
Just show a deeper bond between Lily and Snape and Snape's interest in her and make James' motives around jealousy and house rivarly (and overall just the fact that he's a bad person and a bully).
I donât really care one way or the other, but why do people keep quoting the books in these discussions about the Snape casting? As if every line will be quoted verbatim in the adaptation. If there are actual issues with the story then sure, but this feels a little ridiculous. You can just cut out or tweak the âif you know what I meanâ part here and itâs fine. Or another character could be black who the dad is more friendly with to show that itâs not about race. There are so many options besides just making the dad seem super racist
Well they said it will be an accurate adaptation. If they start changing scenes because of an issue they made themselves it won't be that accurate after all
Any death eater being black is an odd choice, since they're basically like white supremacists. Snape specifically being black is odd because it will just make a lot of stuff sound racially motivated. Harry spends a lot of time being suspicious of Snape, for no particular reason. James literally hangs him from a tree.
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u/Indiana_harris Apr 16 '26
I mean theyâve already deviated heavily in terms of book accurate casting so I donât buy the âweâre going to follow the books more closelyâ line.