Harry Potter Universe is a metaphor for north korea

or other facist states. They lie to their citizens about the outside world (muggles), telling them that their way of life is far superior (for example, they still rely on slow communication by letters decades after muggles have been using phones, seem to have little knowledge of mass production, etc). The culture is very anti-democratic, with rampant racism being the norm instead of the exception.

They limit interaction as much as possible. They prevent trade and exchange of knowledge, despite the fact that cooperation would undoubtedly lead to huge advances in technology (including magical technology). as far as i can tell, the currency is also completely segregated from the muggle markets.

The government is not voted in, but is appointed by those with the most money, inherently lending itself to corruption. there is only one mainstream newspaper and it is directly controlled by the government.

edited 15th Sep '10 6:15:48 PM by willyolio

It makes so much sense...wait does this mean Dumbledore is the equivalent of Kim Jong-Il or Fidel Castro?

nah, that's cornelius fudge. dumbledore would be... i dunno, the Red Cross or something trying to do what they can in the country but still having to play by their rules.

What does that make Voldemort?

A freedom fighter.

Voldemort:the wizarding world::the wizarding world:the outside world

strangely enough, even the most conservative places in the world will still have extremists for the conservative side.

see how most of the western world looks at the U.S. republicans. i'm guessing north korea also has people pushing for more government control.

edited 18th Oct '10 5:01:42 PM by willyolio

How do nukes figure into it? The Mac Guffins from 7?

i don't think north korea had nukes back in the early 90's...

North Korea? What about Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan?

I don't buy that one - Rowling is very anti-fascist, judging from her interviews.

Rowling is very anti-fascist, judging from her interviews

Well-Intentioned Extremist, Jo's plan to defeat Riddle's fascism is to build a more efficient fascist state. I like and trust book!Kingsley. I would vote for him; interview!Kingsley is Minister for Life and abolishes elections.

Where the hell did you get that last bit from?

Kingsley permanent Minister was stated in the second interview after DH came out. 3rd interview stated DD is gay.

Permanent doesn't mean "for Life". It means not just Acting, as he was at the end of the actual novel.

There's nothing about abolishing elections there - IIRC in the real world Britain has no term limits on politicians, which means so long as people remain popular, they can be elected again and again.