Some more...

[swatkat]

And oh! msgenevieve is writing me Sirius/Remus! She is a goddess and you all must worship her. Also, write me stories, or else…

Since I'm spamming your flists anyway, might as well ramble a bit more. This is about female characters, and has something to do with this essay on Girl Power!!1111 in the HP books by mistful.



It's an excellent essay. I've read it twice or thrice, and I simply can't find a fault in mistful's logic. And still… there's something about the essay that I just cannot agree with, namely, the Girl Power bit. Because, because, each of these female characters that have been mentioned have their own set of flaws, their own set of failures, *and* their own set of good qualities which makes them so important to the story. So, had Hermione been a boy, would she all of a sudden become a very interesting character? Her Know-it-Allness would've suddenly become a very positive criterion, and all the issues that she has to deal with would've made her a Fascinating Hero instead of AnnoyinglyPerfect! Girl? (which she is not, BTW. Annoyingly perfect, that is.) Maybe I'm really missing the point here, but this essay (and the subsequent comments) make me very uneasy, because it is, in a way, calling all the girls I like one-dimensional Mary Sues, and yet I can't pick a fault in the logic. Maybe it's just me, with my usual leaning towards the female characters rather than the males (this is not to say I don't love the men. I do. A lot) that has coloured my thinking and is preventing me from seeing the light. After all, I did grow up in the age of Girl Power, so how the hell am I supposed to know? Blame it on the Spice Girls! *g*

Comments

Re: Weeeeeeell.....

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

I think the Girl Power term was poorly chosen, because it implies certain specific things that do *not* apply to many if not most of the characters she was discussing. What she was really arguing was not that they fit *that* archetype, but that for whatever reason, JKR seems to make her female characters better at whatever plot role they perform than *comparable* male characters.

I'm not sure I agree, but as I said, there's so much canon to play with, you could construct virtually any argument and find evidence to "prove" it.

I'm not sure Cho would've fit the description, especially after OotP, where she messes up quite a bit. But you're right, maybe there are some arguments to fit this into the same theory as well.

That's exactly my point. I don't think Cho fits the theory at all, and I think it's telling that the author chose to all but ignore her in the essay. But if pressed, I bet she could construct something to bring Cho into the fold, not because she's necessarily right, but because a determined person will *always* be able to find something in canon to support her argument.

Re: Weeeeeeell.....

[mscyanide.livejournal.com]

I'll just add that JKR has said that the Hermione character is loosely based upon herself.

Has she?!

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear lord. *Holds head*

I can't say this actually surprises me, though.

Well...

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Very loosely, actually. She was asked which character best reminded her of herself, and she said it was probably Hermione, due to the geeky, know-it-all behaviour. Or did she say more?

Swatkat

Re: Well...

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Oh, if that's all it was, it's not quite as awful as I was thinking.

Still, though -- I don't think we're going to see Hermione killed in the end, are we? LOL.

Re: Well...

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Still, though -- I don't think we're going to see Hermione killed in the end, are we? LOL.

Oh god, don't say it! You never know with JKR. I'm pretty darn sure she's going to kill Remus, and if Hermione dies too... *sniff*

Swatkat

JKR quotes...

[mscyanide.livejournal.com]

Q:Are any of your female characters, like Hermione, modeled after your own daughter?

A:No, if Hermione was based on anyone, she was based on me when I was younger. But my daughter is turning out to be a bit like me, so she is a bit like Hermione. :-)


Amazon.co.uk: Are your characters based on people you know?

Rowling: Some of them are, but I have to be extremely careful what I say about this. Mostly, real people inspire a character, but once they are inside your head they start turning into something quite different. Professor Snape and Gilderoy Lockhart both started as exaggerated versions of people I've met, but became rather different once I got them on the page. Hermione is a bit like me when I was 11, though much cleverer.

Q:What were you like as a little girl, Ms. Rowling? I am sure you had a great imagination. Did you believe in fairies and magic?

A:I don't believe in magic in the sense that I write about it, but I do believe that extraordinary things can happen in the world for which we don't yet have an explanation. I was a little bit like Hermione in the book when I was young. I wasn't as clever, and I really hope I wasn't as annoying. I did consciously base her on me when I was about 11.


Don't say I never go to the trouble to look things up for you. *bg*