Friendly Fire

[Talisman]

>From 1384: Barry Arrowsmith <arrowsmithbt at b...> Date: Fri Mar 4, 
2005 6:02 am 
Subject: Re: [HPFGU-Catalogue] Re: more...and more

>A slow smile can be discerned slightly to the north of his grizzled
>beard. His red-rimmed eyes (the result of drinking from wet glasses)
>can be seen twinkling behind gold-framed spectacles. He detects
>thrashing in the water. A touch of insecurity perhaps? A need to
>validate personal choices? My, my. Can it be this easy? 

Talisman, smooth of chin and clear of eye, wanders back into the 
Catalogue just in time to deflect a deadly twinkle ray with one 
highly polished fingernail:

Ah. And, here I thought we were playing a delightful little game 
where you'd say something silly and I'd say something naughty back.  
Misled by my own deviancy, again.

::sigh::  

Reminds me of a poem I once penned, which I would gladly perform 
should any of us ever find ourselves, gently intoxicated, in the 
same corner of a darkening evening. 

Back off, Igor, no one's in immediate danger.

Thrashing? Insecurity? What is all this posturing about?

Oh, I see...there, that  raggedy bit of something sticking out of 
your aft pocket.

Isn't that page 3 of that little pamphlet they hand out when your 
testosterone sets in? 

 "When you can't keep up with the banter: a) smile annoyingly; b) 
redefine to win; and d) suggest her inadequacy."

Tsk, tsk. Cribbing from the book.  No points awarded.

>Now you may think I'm odd (quiet at the back, please) but I'm of 
>the opinion (after decades of enjoying the company of women) that 
>there are no beautiful women under >the age of 35; before then they 
>are merely pretty - nought but a child, and hardly yet >formed.

A reversal to disarm! Someone's been kissing the Blarney Stone-- but 
I like it.  Full points, and I sheath my evil tongue. 


>But there's a benefit to my personal circumstances thanks to this 
>youth craze; I don't feel compelled to behave with the gravitas 
>appropriate to my grey hairs. A disreputable old age awaits, may 
>indeed have already arrived. Yippee!

Thank goodness all those years of training weren't in vain.  <g>


>I'll let you into a little secret. Men aren't all that fussy. 
>They're just thankful for finding >somebody who regards them as 
>even faintly interesting. So much so that they'll usually >end up 
>marrying this person with such remarkable insight.

Hmmm. Coming from a Tina Turner/Abba Girls/Bellatrix aficionado, 
this is really rather sweet.  

Power is always an aphrodisiac, and beauty--as per beholder.  I'm 
told pheromones can be dangerous.  But positive feedback should 
never be discounted.  It's been known to work wonders for 
politicians, office managers, parents, etc., heck, even your average 
dog trainer.

There are, it turns out, amazingly few exemplars of the human 
species suffering from a sense of being over appreciated.  So, no 
matter how you attract them, appreciation is a time-honored way to 
get them to their knees.  Rue the day.

The real secret is not to go about saying yes to the herds of 
appreciated people trying to marry you.  It takes a bit more to sort 
out who is actually capable of recognizing how (ahem) truly 
marvelous you are, and who is only there to hear a lilting "good 
boy" whenever he fetches in the paper.

But, back to that wench who started this off:

I'm not bothered by the quality of female characters in HP land, 
let's face it, even among men, only Snape is perfect. <veg>  

But, my raging Electra Complex notwithstanding, I'm fairly sure that 
Rowling enjoys kicking Molly's bum around, herself. 

Even Molly apologists have to admit that one of her salient features 
is her determination to thwart the twin's dream of a joke shop, and 
steer them instead to a nice respectable Ministry job. (E.g. GoF 55)

Molly is, among other things, the personification of the dream-
basher. The worst sort really. Not someone from the other side of 
the ring, whom you'd expect to throw a sucker-punch, but someone who 
should have your back.  Molly is the vehicle for exploring the  
friends, family members, and colleagues who think that what you want 
to do is a joke, and who try to take you down--for your own good, 
naturally.

Rowling frequently relates how she was pressured out of taking the 
degree she wanted, because her parents envisioned a more practical 
career (in government--what a coincidence!). (E.g. Washington Post 
Interview 1999; JKR website Biography)                     
These days she is recommending that kids wise up and tell their 
parents to sod off.  (Washington Post 1999)

She has reiterated stories of people who were disappointed to find 
her spending her free time scribbling her little tales, and how she 
tried to keep her silly writing ambitions a secret. (E.g. 
Independent 1997; Washinton Post 1999 )

It's hard not to see the echoes of her experiences in Weasley family 
dynamics.

It takes a lot of heart to persevere against the odds. I have no 
question that Rowling  resented her nay-sayers, and that she is 
enjoying some well-earned retribution whenever Molly gets the shaft.

By the end of OoP, between Percy and the twins, the old girl is in 
the process of getting it both ways. I say in the process, because 
Percy hasn't hit bottom, and the twins will see greater glory yet.  
Yes, Molly dear, grit your teeth, there is more to come.

I understand how readers can like Molly.  Rowling plays her with a 
comic touch.  The twins are in their room blowing things up, while 
Molly scurries around burning order forms and confiscating toffees.  
It's ingenious, really.  She is played as a member of the "good 
team" just exactly so that she can dish out the sort of "friendly 
fire" that Rowling reveals to be as undesirable as mutant toad women.

(Until the end of OoP, Harry hasn't been a particularly good lens 
for empathy. I think if you read closer, you'll the Weasley her 
children are suffering a bit more than you might think at first 
glance.) 

More than just the object of Rowling's satisfaction, Molly is set up 
as a particular kind of "foe" that Harry successfully "conquers" by 
the end of GoF.   All of Rowling's baddies represent characteristics 
she dislikes in real people she has known. (Albert Hall interview 
2003)  Molly certainly fits the bill.

She is not just a dream-buster, she also is the closest thing to a 
mother Harry has ever known.  He clearly has a profound need for 
motherly affection, as dramatized at the end of GoF: 

 "Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent 
down, and put her arms around Harry.  He had no memory of ever being 
hugged like this, as though by a mother
<snip more good stuff> 
he 
was screwing up his face against the howl of misery fighting to get 
out of him." (714)

"So what," you say?

Well, about here it would be good to recall Dumbledore's nattering, 
à la Neville,  about how it takes a great deal of bravery to stand 
up to our friends. (SS/PS 306)  Clearly this issue matters to 
Rowling; she reinforces it by having Lupin suffer from the "failing" 
of needing approval so much that he can't stand up to his buddies. 
(Albert Hall 2003, OoP 170

Harry could easily succumb to Lupin's weakness, and conform his 
actions to insure that he stays in the warm glow of motherly 
approval. But, we see that he does not.

For the twins have come to grief.  In spite of their spunky 
ingenuity, Bagman has cheated them out of their entrepreneurial seed 
money.  There is no hope of parental assistance.  Dad will only hide 
under the sofa, and any appeal to Mum will net them a swift kick in 
the ass, plus a satisfied cackle.  

This isn't Harry's problem--except for his saving-people thing--and, 
there is no doubt that he understands the potential 
repercussions. "Just don`t tell your mum where you got it..." (GoF 
733).  

Reread OoP 679-680 for a demonstration of how much anxiety the trio 
experiences anticipating Molly's reaction.  When Harry finally 
reveals that he bankrolled the shop, the "shocked silence" is broken 
by Hermione's burst of disapproval and Ron's great relief that it's 
Harry who'll catch the hell.

Yep, there stands ol' Molly, love in one hand, thunder in the other, 
and the twins' dreams in the balance.  But, even though he fears her 
displeasure, Harry performs the perfect end-run and empowers the 
twins to do exactly what Molly wants least: drop out of school and 
set up shop. Harry has both escaped Lupin's failing, and thwarted 
the dream-buster.  Rowling approves.

So, yeah.  I think Molly is set up the way she is expressly so that 
Rowling can teach her a few good lessons.

The reason I don't like Molly is simple enough: I wouldn't have put 
up with her when I was a kid, and I don't see any reason to start 
now. 

>Talisman: When I was a Girl Scout.. .blah, blah, blah

>Snow: Lucky you, all we did was sing Kumbaya and memorize the 
>handbook.

Talisman: Luck had nothing to do with it.  It was a coup d'état. 
Every summer.

Sure, there were girls skipping off to the craft lodge to exchange 
friendship sticks, but our noble cadre was belly-crawling up the 
embankment, with a precious roll of plastic wrap (nicked at great 
peril from the dining hall) just right for stretching over those 
dimly lit latrine holes.

Ah, Camp Ledgewood, a little bit of heaven.
   
Talisman, pausing for the salute: Viva le revolución!