Harry's character. Was: re: Thewlis said what??

[Pernille]

This has almost nothing to do with what you're talking about, but 
reading your post made me think about it.
While I am re-reading the books as well as when I was reading them 
the first time, I couldn't help thinking about this:
I wonder why J.K.Rowlig, as a woman made "Harry" a boy. I have a 
feeling that most authors make their main character the same sex as 
they are, because that's what they know best. 
Because I'm not a boy I cannot say if she has managed to make Harry a 
believable boy. So could I get an answer from some guys here? Do you 
think she has managed it?

>From Pernille who probably thinks too much :)


--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, clshannon at a... wrote:


> Why, thank you ;) I guess I had my own tidal wave of thought when I 
wrote 
> that ;-)
> Actually, to expound on this a bit, I think Rowling has written 
quite a 
> complicated and difficult character in Harry. Often the protagonist 
has things 
> happen to him and suffers in the characterization, whereas the 
people who surround 
> him get all the juicy parts, so to speak.   A good example of this 
is 
> Dickens' own David Copperfield. David is often described as the 
least interesting 
> character in the book, but consider his competition <g>. There are 
so many 
> colorful, now legendary characters surrounding him that he could 
only suffer by 
> comparison.
> However, Harry not only has all the important things happen 'to' 
him in terms 
> of the story, but he also has nuances and shifts to his 
personality. This is 
> partly because he is growing up and maturing, but it is also due to 
the things 
> that 'do' happen to him. He is tossed about so much, 
psychologically, that is 
> is a wonder that he can function ;-)
> It's much harder to play a character with a turbulent inner life 
than it is 
> to   play one who with a simpler inner life. This is not to say 
that Ron and 
> Hermione and everyone else doesn't have more than one facet to 
them; they are 
> fully realized characters and such do have many aspects to their 
personalities. 
> But, they do not have the history that Harry has, which in itself 
is a gold 
> mine for emotional and psychological problems (sorry, Harry, I love 
you dearly, 
> but you really are a messed up boy <g>).
> I can't imagine going from feeling invisible and trying to maintain 
that 
> invisibility so as not to invite harsh treatment...to being the 
most famous person 
> in a whole other world you didn't even know existed. It's mind 
boggling. 
> So, not to ramble too much and get this way off topic...sorry...I 
would like 
> to see a lot of adult actors handle a character with all this 
baggae who was 
> an adult instead of a child growing up like Harry; the coming of 
age stuff adds 
> an extra dimension to it that must be incorporated into the 
character. Not 
> only does Harry have to deal with extraordinary things happening to 
him and 
> accepting that he is unique, but he also has to mature and grow up 
like we all do. 
> It is not an easy part and I think Dan has done a more than 
admirable job of 
> it ;-)
> Cindy
>