Jon Stewart Mocks Gringotts Goblins From Harry Potter

Update: Stewart clarified his comments on Twitter by replying to an article titled, “Jon Stewart Accuses JK Rowling of antisemitism in Harry Potter,” with the response, “No I didn’t.”

Jon Stewart discusses Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling potentially perpetuating antisemitic stereotypes with the goblins that run Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The British writer published the original series of seven books from 1997-2007 and built a mega-franchise in the process, with the best-selling novels spawning an equally lucrative film series that ran from 2001-11. A cast reunion special entitled Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts released on HBO Max on January 1.

While Harry Potter and its larger Wizarding World properties have a tremendous following, the franchise has become increasingly associated with controversy in recent years, much of it concerning Rowling. The author has on multiple occasions since 2019 expressed views on sex and gender that have been criticized as transphobic, causing backlash from fans, various rights organizations, and even major Harry Potter cast members. While some prominent individuals have come out either in support of Rowling or asking for her comments to be read with greater nuance, the larger franchise has been perceived as distancing itself from its creator, most recently evidenced by her limited involvement in the Harry Potter reunion special.

However, while most of these concerns are rooted outside of the Harry Potter narrative itself, Stewart’s recent discussion is based on the novels and films. As reported by Yahoo!, the Jewish comedian and former The Daily Show host voiced his concerns in a Dec. 1 episode of his The Problem with Jon Stewart podcast, with a video segmenting out the comments posted on Dec. 16 just recently going viral in the wake of the reunion’s release. Stewart reports being struck by the depiction of the Gringotts goblins upon first seeing Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, recognizing visual similarities with an image in the early-20th Century antisemitic text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion that reinforced stereotypical associations of Jewishness with wealth and greed:

Talking to people, what I say is, ‘Have you ever seen a Harry Potter movie?’ And people are all like, ‘Ahhh I love the Harry Potter movies!’ ‘You ever see the scenes in Gringotts bank?’ And they’re like, ‘Ahhh I love the scenes in Gringotts bank,’ and like, ‘Do you know what those folks that run the bank are?’ And they’re like, ‘What?’ ‘Jews! … Lemme show you this from, it’s The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, I just want to show you a caricature.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh look at that, that’s from Harry Potter,’ and you’re like, ‘No, that’s a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature.’ J.K. Rowling was like, ‘Can we get these guys to run our bank?’

Stewart goes on to say he expected a reaction from the crowd in his movie theater when the goblin bankers first appeared, but notes that people tended to shrug and accept it. He points out their inclusion amidst a Wizarding World in which anything is possible is not necessary, and uses Harry Potter as an example when illustrating the lack of societal progress made with regards to anti-Semitism. While Rowling herself reportedly has yet to respond to the comments, her agent, Neil Blair, has called them “total and utter bs” and requested that Stewart apologize.

While much of Harry Potter fandom has proven willing to push against Rowling’s views on gender, it will be interesting to see how they respond to criticism that directly implicates the texts and films themselves. Regardless of whether the author herself can be described as antisemitic on the basis of their inclusion, a leap her agent vehemently contests, the claim that the Gringotts goblins perpetuate a harmful stereotype by evoking Jewish caricatures in a financial setting has real merit and should be taken seriously. Such discussion is useful not because it encourages Harry Potter fans to disown that which they love, but as a way to recognize how much progress can still be made when it comes to Jewish representation in mainstream media – a conversation that devotees of the Wizarding World now have the opportunity to spearhead.

Source: The Problem with Jon Stewart (via Yahoo!)

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