Comment on The worst pick-up line I've ever gotten
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 2 months agothe black kid is named Shacklebolt
I’m probably missing context but what’s wrong with the name?
Asian girl is named two single syllable last names
But isn’t that extremely common? I personally know like three people like that and I know a pretty limited number of people from East Asia.
IzzyScissor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Shacklebolt = Shackled and bolted down = Enslaved
Not a great name for basically the only black person in the books.
Cho Chang = Both are Chinese or Korean LAST names. ‘Cho’ isn’t a first name in any Asian language, so she’s mixing and matching languages and cultures. She also only describes her as ‘Asian’ in the books, furthering how little effort was put in.
It’s like saying ‘Lombardi Fernandez’ is a European name. Ignorant on multiple accounts.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Oh okay, I didn’t make that connection. I wonder if it was intentional, that’d be lol
I don’t know, does every character need that sort of specific cultural background associated with them? You give the example of “Lombardi Fernandez” and just describing that person as “European” or Latino or something liket that would seem totally fine to me. Actually the name being a mix could serve as a purposeful way of having their background be more vague not to tie it down in a specific country or even culture.
And with the name not being “correct”, doesn’t she use some wacky names for characters anyway? So it’s not like name authenticity otherwise is respected iirc.
IzzyScissor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Sort of, but she gave most people realistic names, it’s only with people further outside the central narrative that gets weird, and it goes further than just the name. I referred to my made-up character as ‘European’ and used common Spanish and Italian last names, which would be weird, but fine by itself. However, imagine if they were the ONLY white character in the entire book, and JK only wrote about how “Lombardi loved pasta and naps” as their main characteristics.
Cho Chang is a popular and smart girl who struggles with always listening to her parents, but suddenly becomes dumb around Harry because “she can’t focus around him”. She’s basically just a ManicPixieDreamGirl for Harry to have emotions about.
So, it’s not just about the name, it’s how the character is treated overall, and the way she’s treated is as a generic Asian romantic interest stereotype with a made-up name.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Ah, okay I get the issue now
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That’s such a fucking stretch you should open a yoga studio