Internet Fury Hath No Bounds As JK Rowling Casts A Korean Actor To Play A Snake (Yep, A Snake) That Comes From Indian Mythology
If you’re bored/want to become angry, go through this endless tweet stream of responses to this Nagini casting choice. It is internet outrage at its finest. The whole thing is actually quite confusing, but I was able to piece it together because my brain is strong. Here’s the deal:
1) JK Rowling chose a Korean woman to play Nagini, Voldermort’s snake that takes human form in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts movie.
2) She thought her snake, that she invented, was based on Indonesian folklore.
3) It is actually based on Indian folklore.
4) Indian people are furious on twitter.
They’re mad, folks. Steaming mad. How dare this filthy white woman invent a magical snake and then attribute its inspiration to the wrong culture? What an ignorant white woman indeed, @lalisa_you. Just think of all the children out there who will grow up, misattributing Nagini as a snake with Indonesian heritage. Picture those millions of kids who certainly know where Indonesia is, and who certainly research the ethnic backgrounds of JK Rowling’s characters. Just imagine how horrified, how betrayed they’ll feel when they see a KOREAN face hissing out English dialogue in parseltongue as opposed to an Indian one? Was all of Bollywood on strike, JOANNE?
Well, as it turns out, it was an honest mistake. She just thought the Naga were from Indonesia. She skipped the first chapter of the snake mythology history book. And for that, she deserves to be raked over the coals, drawn and quartered, and shackled to a crossbow target where ANYONE who buys a ticket to this GODDAMN movie can take a turn sighting down the feathery tails of their justice arrows.
But make sure they know that the crossbow was first developed by the Chinese.