Everyone has compared the Death Eaters with almost every single totalitarian group in existence. In graduate school, I juxtaposed the Goblet of Fire’s Death Eaters (the novel’s Death Eaters) with the KKK based on the following campfire scene: “[There were] cold flashes of light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them … their heads were hooded and their faces masked. High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes” (119). The Leaky Cauldron compared the Death Eaters with Nazi Germany.
However, while watching the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 I saw something different. I didn’t see wizard supremacy. Instead, I saw a minority group of power hungry people, willing to latch onto a charismatic leader who spoke to their ideals. And, hopefully, you’ve read the books/seen the final movie at this point. If not, why the hell are you reading this?
It didn’t occur to me until the final scene when the Death Eaters returned to Hogwarts. Watching them laughingly, and inexplicably, lording their power over children made me wonder why such a small group of people oppressed a larger group. And, then I thought, “Well, they probably want to hold onto their money and power.” And, then, DING DING DING, the bell went off in my head with a Tea Party connection. I saw it even moreso when they disapparated at the first sign of trouble. Like the Tea Partiers, their beliefs don’t surface until a loud, egotistical person unifies and voices their deepest desires. And they disappear, or go underground, when their beliefs become unfavorable.
Did anyone else notice the connection in the final film?
Clacked by An Nicholson 
on Jul 21, 2011 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I think you’re stretching it a bit.