The right should not promote shows just because they are implicitly right-wing.
Subtext is wasted on normies, who need explicit instructions.
Take Harry Potter, which draws its seductive power from reactionary undercurrents, but spawned an army of ultra-lib fans.
Why? THREAD:
Subtext is wasted on normies, who need explicit instructions.
Take Harry Potter, which draws its seductive power from reactionary undercurrents, but spawned an army of ultra-lib fans.
Why? THREAD:
First we must clarify an important distinction, using terms that Iâm going to bastardize from the philosophy of language:
Denotation vs. Connotation.
Denotation vs. Connotation.
By denotation, I mean the literal interpretation of the narrative as explicitly told by the author.
By connotation, I mean the subtext: the underlying but unstated emotional foundation that makes the story compelling.
By connotation, I mean the subtext: the underlying but unstated emotional foundation that makes the story compelling.
We implicitly sense the connotation of the story even if we arenât explicitly told it.
Intellectually curious right-wingers (like you) are able to quickly perceive, dissect, and understand the connotation of stories we like.
Intellectually curious right-wingers (like you) are able to quickly perceive, dissect, and understand the connotation of stories we like.
This is because we spend a lot of time considering values, aesthetics, narratives, and history.
We are used to making the implicit explicit.
We are used to making the implicit explicit.
Normies donât do this.
They just get a warm feeling when a connotation agrees with them, but for the most part they understand and remember stories in literal terms.
They just get a warm feeling when a connotation agrees with them, but for the most part they understand and remember stories in literal terms.
The true influence that a story has on them is derived from the denotation, rather than the connotation, because thatâs all they can see.
Which takes us to Harry Potter.
Which takes us to Harry Potter.
The connotation of HP is deeply right-wing.
I won't break the whole thing down here but a few key points:
I won't break the whole thing down here but a few key points:
Harry Potter is fundamentally a tale of yearning for the return of the British class structure, and a rejection of the banalities of modern working class existence.
It is a radical defence of inequality.
It is a radical defence of inequality.
The Dursleys, with their crushing parochialism, their seething resentment of those who have broken free of their lower-middle class existence, desperately attempt to break Harryâs spirit and prevent him from realizing his potential.
But a hidden elite whisk him away to a boarding school (inspired by the institutions, like Charterhouse, that have educated the British elite classes for generations) where it turns out heâs a star athlete.
Before he leaves for the countryside, naturally, it is revealed to him that he is the heir to giant piles of gold in a private bank (run by⊠goblins?).
The message of Hogwarts is clear and quintessentially aristocratic: there must be an elevated class, set apart from the hoi polloi and from middle class drudgery, free to pursue intellectual endeavors, ritual, beauty, and to explore the mysteries of reality and history.
But - you might protest - isnât there a recurring condemnation of attempts to shut âmugglesâ out of the âwizarding worldâ? Isnât there a central criticism of class divides and racism?
It is here that we meet our first denotation / connotation divide.
It is here that we meet our first denotation / connotation divide.
Everything written above is connotation. It is not spelled out in the text.
The text - the denotation - says that we mustnât discriminate, that those that use slurs like âmudbloodâ are bad - okay?
The text - the denotation - says that we mustnât discriminate, that those that use slurs like âmudbloodâ are bad - okay?
Discerning readers can just ignore this denotation, because it makes no sense at all, and is an impediment to the otherwise charming world-building.
The whole âracists against mudbloods are badâ idea is completely contradictory - the entire wizarding world, including Harry and all our heroes, are gladly complicit in keeping their society secret and inaccessible to muggles at all times!
Because this is confusing and tiresome, right-wingers skip over it and continue dreaming about being summoned to Hogwarts.
But the normies remember it.
This âright-wing connotationâ / âleft-wing denotationâ continues as Rowling explores concepts of people, place, and politics.
But the normies remember it.
This âright-wing connotationâ / âleft-wing denotationâ continues as Rowling explores concepts of people, place, and politics.
The journalist is portrayed as an insect. Ethnic minorities are stereotypes. The democratic government is useless.
Everyone significant is English and born into their position. Everyone is straight, gets married, has children. I could go on.
But here's the catch:
Everyone significant is English and born into their position. Everyone is straight, gets married, has children. I could go on.
But here's the catch:
HP demonstrably makes people left-wing, and hate the above.
See 2014 study in Journal of Applied Social Psychology titled 'The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice':
"Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups (immigrants, homosexuals, refugees)"
See 2014 study in Journal of Applied Social Psychology titled 'The greatest magic of Harry Potter: Reducing prejudice':
"Harry Potter improves attitudes toward stigmatized groups (immigrants, homosexuals, refugees)"
Hollywood and the publishers create worlds with right-wing subtexts.
Those on the right lap these up, because they sense and understand the subtext strongly enough that theyâre willing to ignore the woke surface-level details that intermittently appear.
Those on the right lap these up, because they sense and understand the subtext strongly enough that theyâre willing to ignore the woke surface-level details that intermittently appear.
Believing that such implicitly right-wing shows are unlikely to cause any ideological damage, they recommend them to their friends and show them to their kids.
What they donât understand, however, is that if someone is intellectually unprepared to navigate the connotation/denotation inconsistency like they are, they just accept the message as it is presented to them.
This is how right-wing texts turn people left-wing.
This is how right-wing texts turn people left-wing.
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Tagging a couple of people who were right about Yellowstone: @AuronMacintyre @Babygravy9 @JackPosobiec @ploughmansfolly
Tagging a couple of people who were right about Yellowstone: @AuronMacintyre @Babygravy9 @JackPosobiec @ploughmansfolly
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