political sorting hat
Which House? Harry Potter Helps Sort Presidential Field
August 24, 2011|By CYRUS DUFF, The Hartford Courant
When sorting out potential presidential candidates, voters tend to divide the contenders according to their political positions and then - perhaps as or more important - by a gut instinct about their characters and less tangible personal qualities. Call it election magic.
People rarely vote for a presidential candidate who they expect will disappoint them. But sometimes, after an election, presidents reveal qualities voters hadn't seen and don't like. Richard Nixon's blatant corruption, Bill Clinton's sex scandal and George W. Bush's wars all made voters dissatisfied.
The presidents with whom we have been satisfied, though, have shared qualities of inherent goodness, bravery in the face of adversity and some sort of selflessness, such as the ability to put the country before themselves.
There are other traits these satisfying presidents share, but they're largely the kinds of things that are difficult to explain such as mannerisms, speech-giving techniques, just pure vibes. When trying to understand these kinds of wispy micro-traits, it often helps to find some form of generalization, some kind of category that people understand as a conglomeration of so many such vibes, to explain our real feelings more easily.
For me, one of the most apt evaluation methods comes from an unlikely place: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. The presidents we've been pleased with are all Gryffindors.
For those who haven't read the books, the basics: Harry Potter attends a boarding school called Hogwarts whose students are divided into four houses, each with a distinct reputation. Students in Gryffindor are good-hearted and brave; Ravenclaws are smart and often calculating; Slytherins are slimy, calculating and usually evil; and Hufflepuffs are clumsy and loveable.
Using the Hogwarts' sorting method communicates something deeper about the presidents we like, the vibes that can only be understood through the accumulation of descriptions and actions that define what it means to be a Gryffindor.
If you have read the books and are familiar with the houses at Hogwarts, then you might see an interesting connection among the presidents that wasn't possible in words before.
It's interesting to look at the Republican presidential field through a Harry Potter lens. In the much-trumpeted top three of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, there is not a Gryffindor to be found. Bachmann's slippery answers to questions, harsh treatment of reporters and crazy eyes brand her as the quintessential Slytherin. Perry's charming Southern personal affect, which seems at first glance to place him in Gryffindor territory, is shot through with his Christian-extreme policies and the corporate politics he's been playing in Texas, putting him solidly in the Ravenclaw or perhaps Slytherin camp. Even Romney, who looks by far the most classically presidential of the three, has a calculating Ravenclaw side that's caused reporters and voters alike to call him fake.
Of all the Republican candidates, only Ron Paul, whose no-nonsense bluntness in the debates shines through and probably contributed to his second-place finish in the recent Iowa straw poll, can be called a Gryffindor. Sorting others in the GOP race, I would put Rick Santorum in Hufflepuff, Herman Cain and Jon Huntsman in Ravenclaw and Newt Gingrich in Slytherin.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, is a consummate Gryffindor. He comes across in interviews and speeches as someone who's truly kind and angry about the country's woes, though it's clear he doesn't recklessly allow this anger to cloud his decisions. The American people have shown in past elections that these are the qualities they look for in a president. These and many others that are small and difficult to explain can be illuminated by using the Harry Potter sorting method.
It's possible that Americans could turn around in 2012 and elect a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw as president. It's been done before - look at Nixon. But Gryffindor is the dominant trend.
Cyrus Duff, 15, of West Hartford is entering his sophomore year at Watkinson School.
sauce
I think the house descriptions are ridic off-the-mark, tbh. Religious extremism makes you a Ravenclaw? Gryffindors aren't reckless? Also wtf Rick Santorum get the fuck off my lawn outta my house! D: D: D:
So! If you had to sort presidential candidates, world leaders, or historical figures where would you put them? And why?
August 24, 2011|By CYRUS DUFF, The Hartford Courant
When sorting out potential presidential candidates, voters tend to divide the contenders according to their political positions and then - perhaps as or more important - by a gut instinct about their characters and less tangible personal qualities. Call it election magic.
People rarely vote for a presidential candidate who they expect will disappoint them. But sometimes, after an election, presidents reveal qualities voters hadn't seen and don't like. Richard Nixon's blatant corruption, Bill Clinton's sex scandal and George W. Bush's wars all made voters dissatisfied.
The presidents with whom we have been satisfied, though, have shared qualities of inherent goodness, bravery in the face of adversity and some sort of selflessness, such as the ability to put the country before themselves.
There are other traits these satisfying presidents share, but they're largely the kinds of things that are difficult to explain such as mannerisms, speech-giving techniques, just pure vibes. When trying to understand these kinds of wispy micro-traits, it often helps to find some form of generalization, some kind of category that people understand as a conglomeration of so many such vibes, to explain our real feelings more easily.
For me, one of the most apt evaluation methods comes from an unlikely place: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. The presidents we've been pleased with are all Gryffindors.
For those who haven't read the books, the basics: Harry Potter attends a boarding school called Hogwarts whose students are divided into four houses, each with a distinct reputation. Students in Gryffindor are good-hearted and brave; Ravenclaws are smart and often calculating; Slytherins are slimy, calculating and usually evil; and Hufflepuffs are clumsy and loveable.
Using the Hogwarts' sorting method communicates something deeper about the presidents we like, the vibes that can only be understood through the accumulation of descriptions and actions that define what it means to be a Gryffindor.
If you have read the books and are familiar with the houses at Hogwarts, then you might see an interesting connection among the presidents that wasn't possible in words before.
It's interesting to look at the Republican presidential field through a Harry Potter lens. In the much-trumpeted top three of Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, there is not a Gryffindor to be found. Bachmann's slippery answers to questions, harsh treatment of reporters and crazy eyes brand her as the quintessential Slytherin. Perry's charming Southern personal affect, which seems at first glance to place him in Gryffindor territory, is shot through with his Christian-extreme policies and the corporate politics he's been playing in Texas, putting him solidly in the Ravenclaw or perhaps Slytherin camp. Even Romney, who looks by far the most classically presidential of the three, has a calculating Ravenclaw side that's caused reporters and voters alike to call him fake.
Of all the Republican candidates, only Ron Paul, whose no-nonsense bluntness in the debates shines through and probably contributed to his second-place finish in the recent Iowa straw poll, can be called a Gryffindor. Sorting others in the GOP race, I would put Rick Santorum in Hufflepuff, Herman Cain and Jon Huntsman in Ravenclaw and Newt Gingrich in Slytherin.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, is a consummate Gryffindor. He comes across in interviews and speeches as someone who's truly kind and angry about the country's woes, though it's clear he doesn't recklessly allow this anger to cloud his decisions. The American people have shown in past elections that these are the qualities they look for in a president. These and many others that are small and difficult to explain can be illuminated by using the Harry Potter sorting method.
It's possible that Americans could turn around in 2012 and elect a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw as president. It's been done before - look at Nixon. But Gryffindor is the dominant trend.
Cyrus Duff, 15, of West Hartford is entering his sophomore year at Watkinson School.
sauce
I think the house descriptions are ridic off-the-mark, tbh. Religious extremism makes you a Ravenclaw? Gryffindors aren't reckless? Also wtf Rick Santorum get the fuck off my lawn outta my house! D: D: D:
So! If you had to sort presidential candidates, world leaders, or historical figures where would you put them? And why?