This is probably just Potter fannishness on my part (or, more precisely, Granger fannishness), but I feel like I have to dispute the image and (un-commented-on) inclusion of SPEW. Yes, the elves "don't want freedom", but it's obviously because they are literally, physically, and mentally incapable of disobeying their owners. They've got something even worse than Stockholm syndrome. (Even for the odd Dobbies, trying to skirt things by being a Literal Genie is still painful.) And it's not clear that, once freed, elves would pose any kind of threat, such as (human-eating) zombies or other monsters conventionally do.
Hermione does not naively think that the elves "really want freedom", but rather that, while enslaved, they don't even have the ability to independently "want" anything. All that aside, yes, she's still definitely a Soapbox Sadie… but Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped.
My captcha for this post was "Wizardry". This means you all have to listen to me. :)
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Well, they do fit the trope.
Despite the name, the trope is pretty general. It isn't strictly about defending exclusively evil creatures who pose a dire threat to humanity as being no different from humans, but about the people who argue against What Measure Is a Non-Human?. Whether it's with merit (elves), or sometimes out of misguided delusions (zombies), varies by the creature and setting.
You know, you're absolutely right — another reading clarified that this is not only about misguided monster-advocacy. I'll just add a less ranty, truncated form of my points to the entry on the subject. Thanks!
What appears to be the TLP for this
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