The State of the List Questionaire - Oct 2007

[Annemehr]

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond, but it's taken me a while to 
get my general feeling about things down into concrete words...

> 1. What has been your general impression of the list since the
> release of DH?
> 

Annemehr:
Well, there *is* a certain level of distress coming through in the 
posts, as people have observed.  Some are airing their disappointment 
with DH itself, and some of the others are upset the fact that the 
people who don't like DH are posting.

In the old days, there *were* people who didn't like the way certain 
things were tending in the story, but as there were more books to 
come, the ones who stuck with the series were busily analysing those 
things that piqued them to see if they could predict that JKR would 
bring them to a satisfying resolution.

Now that canon is closed, there is nothing left to do but discuss 
what is written, for good or ill, and I think it's perfectly healthy 
if those who see negative things write about them.  Their posts are 
just as legitimate as those on the positive side.

What really perplexes me is why some people are so upset to see the 
negative analyses.  It's almost as though they themselves *know* 
there are plenty of flaws in plot and theme and they desperately want 
everyone to shut up about them so they can go on ignoring them as 
best they can.  Okay, I can't say that for a fact, but it really 
seems so if, as they say, such posts are going to "ruin" DH for 
them.  Otherwise, why not refute those posts, or pass them by and 
post something to their own taste?  How could a post panning DH that 
has no truth in it *ruin* the book for them?  It'd be like allowing 
the book-burning, anti-witchcraft loonies ruin the series for you - 
which certainly never happened to any of us before.

In other words, methinks they do protest too much!  Not that I want 
to stop them from protesting, really, but my point is I don't want 
the list censored to make them more comfortable.  And the fact that 
this questionnaire is here at all makes me guess that this issue is 
one of the reasons behind it.



> 
> 2. Have you been posting since the release? Less than, as much as, 
or
> more than you did before the release? If there is a change, what has
> caused you to change? If you haven't been posting at all, or been
> posting rarely, why do you think that is?
> 

Annemehr:
I have posted some since the release.  It's probably at about the 
same rate as I posted between OoP and DH, which was in spurts.  I've 
hit a busy stretch with other things in RL, but I've been enjoying 
reading people's interpretations of the series, and have a few posts 
of my own swirling in my mind...they may see the light of day yet!


> 
> 3. Are you happy with the way the list is handled and/or the way 
> things are going at present? If you feel some action should be 
taken 
> by the elves, what would you suggest? What suggestions would you 
give
> members in general to improve the list? What, if anything, have you
> tried to improve the list?
> 

Annemehr:
Hmmm...I don't have any complaints about how the list is running 
these days.  I'd only like to say that an active list like HPfGU has 
sort of a life of its own, and if you try to hard to steer it in 
certain directions, you'll only kill it.  I've seen it happen 
elsewhere.


> 
> 4. Now that we have all seven books and the speculation is over,
> what do you see as the purpose of this list? What would you
> imagine/want to see happening on the list a year from now?
>

Annemehr:
I *might* eventually agree with the suggestion that the sister lists 
(or at least OT-Chatter) *may* eventually have to be folded back into 
Main (but, see below).  But there is another consideration that may 
be better addressed sooner, and that is the possibility of slightly 
redefining just what IS Off Topic.

Just like any literature, the HP series brings up certain issues.  
JKR herself has said she has done this on purpose -- that the books 
are about death or promote tolerance, etc.  Currently, if a thread on 
Main passes from strictly canon-based analysis to a more general 
discussion of the same themes in society, it is sent to OT-Chatter, 
for the pragmatic reason of keeping list volume manageable.  However, 
since it seems it was JKR's *intent* to use specific images to 
engender universal ideas in her readers' minds, I believe discussion 
of these same universal ideas should be welcomed back into Main.

So, I'm thinking that a conversation about the perception of body 
size in society that is an outgrowth of a discussion of heavy HP 
characters ought someday to have a place in HPfGU, because that's 
part of what literature is *for.*  Meanwhile, knitting patterns for 
Weasley sweaters and lively exchanges about adapting Susan Cooper's 
works to the silver screen retain their place in the sister list.

Finally, back to the idea of folding the sister lists back into Main 
completely -- I'm not sure that is ever going to be a good idea.  In 
the old days before they were ever split off, it was fine, because 
there was NO danger that OT posts would completely swamp the real HP 
discussion.  But things are going to be different now.

In the future, the only reason to fold OT back into Main will be 
because the posting rate at Main has fallen very low.  I'm just 
afraid that in that case, if you meld the two groups, the OT posts 
will badly outnumber the HP ones. Then, people looking for canon 
discussion may not even bother to wade through the other posts to 
find the minority they're interested in, and HP discussion could die 
out altogether at HPfGU.

But, you could play that by ear.

Annemehr