Er... Harry having to fill out forms to enter the US isn't really what people are talking about. What people are talking about is something like this:

"It'd would be very odd if all of the world's most powerful wizards happened to be British without any explanation, and thus there should be other powerful wizards around the globe, and it's not unreasonable to say that these powerful wizards would be interested in the state of wizarding Britain."

And I've yet to see any real evidence that people aren't interested in HP politics. If anything it seems to be the opposite - people jizz all over any fic that has Harry with a seat on the Wizengamot, going around smirking and raising his eyebrows to great effect.

 

For a start, that's not politics. The random rubbish that Harry does when when he forms a small coup in the Wizenmagot and publicly outs all of his 'political opponents' as terrorists, or outwits them with the slightest of quips isn't politics.

The thing is, to have politics as something that impacts upon Harry in the slightest, means putting him in a position where he has to interact with politics, which means he has to be a fucking politician, which means he has something to lose, a position of power or respect or political clout and therefore has to convene to the random bullshit laws that his country and other countries have and act in a respectful way to the scum that inhabits the upper echelons of his world.

Why bother handcuffing him to a box of legal documents, customs and laws when you can achieve exactly the same results in a far more interesting, charismatic and ultimately effective way?

Harry Potter is a hero and a wizard, not a politician.

You could have him become a lawyer too and have him sue Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy for damages and by doing so financially cripple them. Then he could outsmart Fudge and Scrimgeour in the same breath, expose them as useless phonies and then have a lunch meeting with the Crown Prosecutors, but it'd be the most boring thing anyone has ever read in their life.

Seriously.

 

I think my definition of politics is different to yours lol.

Politics isn't about laws or titles or positions. It's about power. It's about who has it, who wants it, and what people are willing to do to get it.

Voldemort's coup itself is a political matter. It's a struggle for who is in charge, and that makes it politics.

Harry Potter is a political figure from the moment he survived the Killing Curse. He has political power by virtue of his fame. Even if he doesn't hold political office, he is inevitably involved in politics.

Similarly, Dumbledore in OotP. He's lost all his official political positions. But he's still a political figure.

It is impossible to separate HP from politics. The only question here is whether you should make it international or keep it in Britain.

 

Well that's because I consider Gordon Brown a politician and not say... Bob Geldof.

Geo-politics explicitly refers to:

Nothing about famous people walking around being self righteous.

 

Geo-politics, specifically, has little to do with specific people. But politics in general is the study of power, and how that power is used. One aspect is individual charismatic power.

 

Bolded segments are areas which people like Harry and Voldemort affect, despite not holding political office.

And yes, I would count Bob Geldof a political figure. He affects politics, thus he is a political figure.

 

In canon, Harry is a public figure who must continually deal with politics throughout; Taure raises a valid point in that it's not a big stretch to imagine him dealing with politics beyond that of the British magical world. Aside from the influence of geography (largely unimportant in the magical world, where teleportation makes everything equally nearby), Harry can certainly be a player in your definition of geopolitics, enembee, because he has power and influence. (And, for that matter, instantaneous transportation in the HP-verse should make geopolitics and relations among the various magical communities more important, not less).

It's a challenge to write such a piece because one must do serious world-building, with hosts of actors and cultures and the like, and blow a load of exposition in one's stories to build up such a world. JKR didn't, for the most part, because of her target audience and because she could get away writing a story as she did without. As I'm finding with the D&R sequel, it's a bitch to do in a believable way.

Setting aside the interesting argument of the scope of politics in Harry Potter, one shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the OP is a troll. His modus operandi here and elsewhere is to start a thread with a blanket statement that's easily refutable ("Wah, why aren't there any stories that feature geopolitics..." "What a pity that this wonderful story idea is ignored by all the lazy, talentless HP fanfiction authors (and I speak with authority because I've written precisely nothing that anyone's ever read)"), and then play stick in the mud games ("Why should I listen to you?") while people pose their counterarguments. You'll be happier once he's on your ignore list.

 

Irony, thou art a cruel bitch.

 

As proven in canon, nobody actually gives a flying fuck what Harry or Dumbledore think or say, the Daily Prophet and general suspicion and hostility aimed at them during the fifth book proves this.

It seems pointless to endlessly argue this, but the Geo-Politics that Virail defines has fuck all to do with Harry Potter. Politics as the way you define essentially comes from a character's charisma and fame, not their ability to actually influence policies, laws or the way the government behaves and thus, is a bit redundant to name as 'politics' because it's just sort of characterization, no?

As I said originally, Geo-politics (as the laws and policies that govern a country and the way they interact internationally) has fuck all to do with Harry Potter and using Geo-politics (as anyone internationally that has any interest in magical Britain) just seems like a shit way to introduce more characters that nobody cares about.

Whatever. I've made my feelings pretty clear.

Exactly my point, I know this from experience, I'm not just making it up.

 

IDK, I want to write a story like that!

 

Another thing to note is that 9/10 (I made up that statistic to include everyone who's tried except Methene) of authors fail horribly when attempted to write any kind of politics, much less international politics (the phrase geo-politics make me thing environmental politics, for some reason).

Why? It's too complicated for most people to write well. Instead, we end up with ridiculous caricatures of politics where Harry's dumb actions shed a ray of light onto the simpletons that are the Wizengamot/ICW/America.

Politics have a LOT to do with history, culture, and everything else in a region - most fanfiction authors have no fucking idea about any of those things for the ACTUAL region they're writing about - how could they possibly think or write about how that history and culture would affect the Wizarding population in the context of what limited information we know about Britain as an example?

It sounds to me like you're asking someone else to write a story about something that interests you, OP. If you have a revolutionary idea for a story that you want to tell, then by all means go ahead. If you fail...well, then you look like a bit of a douche and enembee can say "I told you so!", but that's life.

If you succeed, then you too might be welcomed into the illustrious and profitable group of brave men (and Tinn and Heather) who are worshipped as the Gods of DLP Fanfic Authors...

 

The primary argument I hear from people here is essentially saying that because such a story won't be popular, hence it should not be written. Other than that, what they are trying to do at the same time is labelling an entire genre as a bad idea just because some badly-written stories that falls within that genre can exist.

If this is the case, then fantasy stories should not be written just because some badly written fantasy story can exist.

Additionally, I didn't even say that those authors who didn't choose to write a geo-political story are untalented to begin with. In fact, I do enjoy stories without any geo-politics as well.

You are also ignoring the fact that I am not really asking for an explanation why there are so few HP fanfic that deals with geo-politics, but rather expressing my personal disappointment. In my opinion, having something is better than having nothing.

Is there anything wrong with discussing stories that suits my taste?

Well, Harry did played a significant role in taking down the parts of the wizarding community that has prejudice against muggle-borns.

Essentially we should be limiting ourselves to the pre-existing characters?

 

It doesn't take a physicist to know you're a troll.

Exactly. OCs are anathema to fanfiction readers. For each region you encapsulate into the fic, you need a stock of characters to flesh out a political situation. It is inevitable that they outnumber the canon cast, or at least comprise a significant faction of the character cast in the story.

Writers shouldn't avoid writing something just because it isn't popular of course, but they have to like the idea enough to not care about how many readers they get.

Your incessant arguingin the idea's defense and that popularity doesn't matter makes you the perfect candidate to write a geopolitical fic.

Who bets ray243 has ridiculed DLP for its closemindedness on SpaceBattles.forum or wherever else already?

 

If I wasn't so fucking lazy, I'd go back to that lulzy thread and find the specific posts. Thank god for the ignore function.

 

Do you think the wizards in the Upper Volta cared first that France had taken possession of that territory, and then later gave it independence under randomly drawn borders, later to be named Burkina Faso? Yet we know it has a ministry of magic mentioned in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

 

Why is it necessarily for the canon cast as a whole take the centre stage?

Isn't that what I am saying all along? If a author likes to write such a fanfic and enjoys the process of writing it, what is wrong with it?

I'm not arguing why I am the perfect canididate to write a geopolitical fic.


It's seems many people here are assuming that I am saying that every fanfic author must write a geo-political fanfic in order to be called a good author.

This isn't what I am trying to say. Saying it can be a nice thing to see more geo-political fanfic doesn't mean I am saying authors must write those kind of stories.

---------- Post automerged at 01:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:32 AM ----------

If the authors can enjoy the process of writing the fanfic and enjoys the fact that there are one or two readers can enjoy it as well, what's wrong with it?

 

OP: Write the fucking thing or don't; I don't give a good goddamn.

Either way? Shut the fuck up about it.

All you're accomplishing now is getting yourself added to Ignore lists at an astonishing rate - Congrats if that was your combative self's original intent.

 

Objection, can anyone point me to Harry Potter/Phoenix Wright crossover?!?

 

Here's an idea (though, not an original one by any stretch of the imagination):

What if most of the governments of the world were wizards, not muggles. Even in democracies, most of the people running aren't exactly joe the plumber, but some son of a congressman or equivalent (for example, how many of the USA's former presidents have all been Skull & Bones members?). Maybe that quote in HBP(?) about arranging a meeting with such and such president or whatever wasn't because the wizards could just make it happen, but because such and such president WAS a wizard?

 

meh. I'm not going to get into the argument cuz UFC 101 is about to come on, but I like a story featuring politics, as long as it's done well...which it barely ever is.

I seem to recall Draco66's Apprentice Potter series having some good political action. There were quite a few others I did enjoy, but their titles escape me at the moment.