Lucius and Draco

[beccablue42]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., "Wanda Sherratt" <wsherratt3338 at r...> wrote:
> Did anyone notice that, although Lucius had been in the stands 
> watching his son's first Quidditch game, he didn't bother going to 
> see the boy when he was in the infirmary after falling off his 
> broom?  Now, I'm guessing from Madame Pomfrey's quick dismissal of 
> him that he wasn't REALLY hurt that much - I get the impression 
that 
> Draco is a pampered little rich boy who hasn't had to get his hands 
> dirty very often, so he'd make a big fuss over what is a trifling 
> little injury.  But it says something that his father didn't care 
> enough to come and check on him.  If Molly Weasley had been in the 
> stands and Fred or George had gotten hurt, even if they'd been 
> goofing off, I'll bet she'd have gone to see them.  She might have 
> given them a scolding, but she'd have gone.  This movie has done 
> something I wouldn't have really thought possible - it's actually 
> made me start to feel a bit sorry for Draco.
> 
> Wanda

I thought a lot about what Wanda said before responding, and I think 
what struck me about this scene was how thematically appropriate it 
was. Seeing Lucius at the match and then absent from the hospital, I 
was reminded, not of Mrs. Weasley, but of Vernon Dursley. Now, Vernon 
wouldn't be caught dead within 200 feet of wizzards, but were he to 
witness Harry's injuries, he would (as Harry poignantly reminds us at 
the end of COS- the book) be dissapointed that the bludger had come 
so close to Harry's head and yet avoided killing him. A major theme 
in COS in both forms is the "not who you are but what you choose" 
bit, and JKR loves to show us how similar--and yet how different--
Harry and his enemies are. I too feel some sympathy for Draco, and 
can't help but notice that he is as negleted and abused as Harry is--
and by his own parents, no less! Harry has not yet come to a point 
where he can objectively look at Malfoy or Riddle and see the 
frightened, abused children that they are. But we can see from our 
vantage point that the difference between Harry and Riddle and Malfoy 
is that Harry rose above the abuse and neglect and found people who 
cared about him. He flourished because he made different choices. 
Malfoy has so far gone the way of the bully, while Riddle dabbled in 
both perfectionism and all-out mania. This scene then, while not 
cannonical, fits an overal theme of showing the audience that Harry 
is different, not because of any priveledged situation, but because 
of the choices he has made. 

Becca