systemic change vs. the status quo
the last olympian // the lost hero // the titan’s curse // the blood of olympus // the tower of nero // shaun’s video essay on harry potter
insp.
[begin ID: a series of screenshots from various books written by Rick Riordan (books listed above), interspersed with transcripted quotes from a video essay about Harry Potter, by video essayist, Shaun, on Youtube. Certain passages are highlighted. The screenshots read as follows.
“No more undetermined children,” I said. “I want you to promise to claim your children—all your demigod children—by the time they turn thirteen. They won’t be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive.”
Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. “These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven’t they been claimed already?”
because obviously if your story is about a systemic injustice and you want your heroes to triumph and have a happy ending then that injustice needs a systemic correction. -shaun 💀.
He gripped my sleeve, and I could feel the heat of his skin like a fire. “Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don’t let it … Don’t let it happen again.”
His eyes were angry, but pleading too.
“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”
Luke nodded, and his hand went slack.
Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn’t have been able to do that.
Luke rolled free, gasping. “Thanks,” he managed.
“Help me hold it,” Annabeth groaned.
[begin highlight] Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.
“I knew I could count on you.” He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.
“HELP ME!” she pleaded.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Luke said. “Your help is on the way. It’s all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die.” [end highlight]
The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.
harry potter’s anti-change problem is, by no means, unique. [begin highlight] think of all the hollywood blockbusters in which the good side are those seeking to preserve the status quo and the antagonists are people with legitimate grievances about the world, and the desire to change it, and then they pull a cheap trick and have the antagonists just murder a baby or something, so the audience knows they’re the bad guys. [end highlight] this is art produced by the rich; people who have done very well under capitalism, thank you very much, and therefore see all systemic change as inherently evil, no matter how reasonable it might seem on the surface. -shaun 💀.
“Hey,” Percy said, “if we don’t make it out of this—”
“Shut up, man. We’re going to make it.”
“If we don’t, I want you to know—I feel bad about Calypso. I failed her.”
Leo stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘You know about me and—”
“The Argo II is a small ship.” Percy grimaced. “Word got around. I just … well, when I was in Tartarus, I was reminded that I hadn’t followed through on my promise to Calypso. [begin highlight] I asked the gods to free her and then … I just assumed they would. [end highlight] With me getting amnesia and getting sent to Camp Jupiter and all, I didn’t think about Calypso much after that. I’m not making excuses. I should have made sure the gods kept their promise. Anyway, I’m glad you found her. You promised to find a way back to her, and I just wanted to say, if we do survive all this, I’ll do anything I can to help you. That’s a promise I will keep.”
I suppose I could have raged at him and called him bad names. We were alone. He probably expected it. Given his awkward self-consciousness at the moment, he might have even let me get away with it unpunished.
But it would not have changed him. I would not have made anything different between us.
You cannot change a tyrant by trying to out-ugly him. Meg could never have changed Nero, any more than I could change Zeus. [begin highlight] I could only try to be different than him. Better. More … human. [end highlight] And to limit the time I spent around him as little as possible.
I nodded. “I understand, Father.”
Zeus seemed to understand that what I understood was not perhaps the same thing he understood, but he accepted the gesture, I suppose because he had little choice.
“Very well. So … welcome home.”
I rose from my throne. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me …”
I dissolved into golden light. There were several other places I’d rather be, and I intended to visit them all.
now i’m not saying stories with social problems necessarily have to fully resolve the social problems by the end because they don’t. but if you’re trying to tell a societal story then your society should be a living thing; it should be at least potentially flexible, contain at least the possibility for change. both good and bad. but rowling’s worlds are set in stone; they’re dead. the good in rowling’s stories seeks only to cancel out evil; to undo evil’s changes. [begin highlight] the solution to systemic problems is never to seek systemic change but to be individually nicer. [end highlight] to have nicer bank managers. to have nicer slave owners. -shaun 💀.
end ID]
