[HPforGrownups] Poshness/Malfoys

Neil Ward neilward at dircon.co.uk
Sun Nov 19 22:51:07 UTC 2000


No: HPFGUIDX 5903

At 20:15 11/19/2000 -0000, Jim Flanagan wrote:

>I guess that as an American, I was unprepared for Ian Hart's comment 
>about the other cast members being "posh."  Perhaps as a result of 
>our civil rights movement, it's somewhat unfashionable over here to 
>make public comments that are class-aware. 

***

I don't think Ian Hart was making a serious comment about class in that
interview; I read it as a jocular reference to the fact that he was joining
the company of mostly classical and plummy-voiced actors.  

Britain did have a rigid class sytem and that still exists to some extent,
but these days terms such as 'middle-class' and 'working-class' (which are
still used as shorthand) are not so much confining as defining.  People have
'working-class pride' and 'middle-class values' in an increasingly classless
society.  

The exception is the so-called upper classes and aristocracy, which remain
fairly insular, IMO.  They still talk of people being 'U' and 'non-U' and it
will be hard to get rid of that elitism until we ditch the monarchy.  I
think JKR - as a good socialist - makes a direct  and negative reference to
this thinking in the 'pure blood' vs 'mudblood' dialogues (cf: blue blood).
Obviously, there is a parallel with ideas on racial purity also, but the
overall effect is to paint a really ugly picture of the Malfoys. 

Neil (not posh)

PS - my dictionary suggests that the Port Out Starboard Home contraction
came later than a slang development of the word 'posh', meaning 'a dandy'
(therefore referring largely to sartorial style).

I know - enough on posh!!!

            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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