Some more...
Aug. 22nd, 2004 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swatkatAnd oh! ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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 bymistful.
It's an excellent essay. I've read it twice or thrice, and I simply can't find a fault inmistful'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*
msgenevieve is writing me Sirius/Remus! She is a goddess and you all must worship her. 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* 
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-27 04:23 pm (UTC)I totally agree. Hermione, Dead!Lily, Molly Weasley to a certain extent, and maybe Luna and Tonks are the only female characters who really count.
Which book is your favourite, then? Mine is PoA, although I adore OotP too. *g*
Swatkat