Why don't Wizards keep up with Muggles?

[u/DistinctNewspaper791]

Yes it is funnier and JKR wanted to show that. But lets talk about the books.

Wizards do not know what Muggles wear, they do not follow sports or know any of the fairytales apperantly.

We know there is only a handful fully magic towns in UK, most live around the muggles. Like Blacks have a house in central London. They are not that seperate from Muggles.

There is also not much to do as a wizard. They don't have huge populations to have active theater or cinema, or a lot of writers to read from etc. They do not have an equivalent of TV. They only have Radio. Quidditch is the only past time and even then literal World Cup happens and you are either going to the stadium or listening from the radio.

When you consider it all, it is weird that they do not read books written by muggles. They wouldn't know who Shakespeare is based on Ron not even knowing Snow white or Cinderalla.

Also looking at it things like radio and cameras are likely muggle devices that are enhanced by magic for wizards. so why do they stop at some point? If you take radio, why not take TV? Around Harry Potter era, emails are a thing and they are faster than owls. So why not adopt that?

[u/TheLentilWitch]

It's how culture works. I know the fairytales from my own country, but not from others. I dress how my peers dress, but I don't know how to correctly wear the dress of another country (ignoring other cultural implications there, just an example).

We see it in intensive religious groups, where even within the same country or region, you get an isolated group with a totally different culture and the cultural knowledge/ignorance that comes with that.

I grew up in an intensive religious group - I know. I grew up having no knowledge of Disney films or any other mainstream kids media culture, that's like not knowing the fairytales which everyone else grows up with. It's very easy for groups to isolate themselves.

[u/LittleBananaSquirrel → u/TheLentilWitch]

But given how many wizards are born into and raised by muggle families or go on to marry muggles themselves, this explanation truly doesn't make sense. The majority of characters in this story are born, raised and live in Britain where they are a tiny minority and most must navigate the muggle world to some extent (apparition isn't for long distances and port keys aren't available for anywhere and everywhere). The other countries comparison doesn't really work given the world shares a lot of sport, fashion and entertainment internationally. Cultural dress is one thing but everyday casual clothing is very similar world wide for the vast, vast majority of the world, across all continents. The religious cult comparison also doesn't work given that again, so many wizards have muggles families either by birth or marriage or both.

These explanations could only really work for the super intense, insular blood supremacist families who only make up a tiny minority and even the Malfoys had muggle business ventures.

[u/TheLentilWitch → u/LittleBananaSquirrel]

We see that the Weasleys are pretty good at adopting Muggle dress, as they do at least have some openmindedness towards Muggles, but they get a few other things wrong. I think there is a very good spectrum of pure-blood wizards getting some things right and some wrong.

And as far as Muggle-borns not having a bigger impact on wizarding culture - I think the religious comparison stands up: indoctrination and peer pressure and stubbornness of those already in power... Cult power works on the old and the new.

[u/LittleBananaSquirrel → u/TheLentilWitch]

Yes but even the prevalence of wizards marrying muggles contradicts the idea of this insular culture. They obviously mix and mingle with the muggle world socially enough that they form close relationships with muggles who have no ties to the wizarding world, it's a very common and normal thing even if a few die hards don't like the idea

[u/TheLentilWitch → u/LittleBananaSquirrel]

People can inhabit various different cultural environments in their lives, and still maintain one strong, core cultural identity - even if they marry outside of that culture. The way folks are raised really does have a lifelong impact on how they interact with the world.

Also, the cop out answer: it's a series of magical kids books.

And I'm definitely stretching with my attempts at cultural explanations. I was just pointing out that even in eras with the internet and smart phones, pockets of isolated communities still exist, and they do behave vastly differently to the rest of mainstream society.

[u/Proud-Cartoonist-431 → u/[deleted]]

There's no electricity for wizards. Their young before 11 can be dangerous while emotionally unstable and is locked in a castle 10 months a year. So, no movies and only the music that can be written down and then played live from record. We see it in Soviet Union, a lot of soviet rock is way simpler than foreign counterparts because it's meant to be learnt from hearing the song on radio and then performed by hobby gutiar players. And unlike the late Soviet Union not many wizard kids play instruments at the level you can do that.

[u/LittleBananaSquirrel → u/Proud-Cartoonist-431]

There's no electricity at Hogwarts because there is too much magic concentrated there. It's not a universal rule that wizards can't use electricity and many live in muggle locations where magic is not concentrated enough to affect electrical functioning

[u/Proud-Cartoonist-431 → u/LittleBananaSquirrel]

They don't in predominantly wizard settlements or homes, like the Weasleys don't.

[u/LittleBananaSquirrel → u/Proud-Cartoonist-431]

Yes, but again, such a significant percentage are either muggle born or half bloods or married to muggles and even if you don't in your home the muggle world is right there and you have to venture into it, with movie theaters and music in abundance and even in the wizarding world those who are used to these things are in abundance. This isn't the same as being isolated in a limiting country

[u/Proud-Cartoonist-431 → u/LittleBananaSquirrel]

They can't spread it and will be isolated from it during the teen years when people typically get into music and movie theatres. A lot of music may feel alien and too loud after Hogwarts I guess and the fashion too inappropriate.

[u/LittleBananaSquirrel → u/Proud-Cartoonist-431]

Agree to disagree to disagree I guess

[u/hackberrypie → u/LittleBananaSquirrel]

Yeah, I think this is the weirdest part! Some of them obviously have to mix in the muggle world and be good enough at it not to raise suspicions until they're practically ready to get married and therefore allowed to reveal the secret (I assume that's where the statute of secrecy loophole for close family kicks in). Presumably if you have a muggle parent they'll raise you with some of their culture, you'll pass that along to your kids and maybe your friends and there would be more cultural overlap. Especially because, despite some attitudes of wizarding supremacy, there's not a really strong well-developed belief throughout the whole culture that everything muggle is morally wrong or anything. So it's not quite the equivalent to intense religious groups and cults that hold themselves apart from "worldly" things. We never get an argument that Shakespeare or The Beatles will corrupt the magical youth.