[HPFGU-Movie] Harry's character. Was: re: Thewlis said what??

[Sherry Garfio]

--- Pernille <bolle17 at frisurf.no> wrote:
> 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?

Hello, just joined this group (although I've been a member of the main list and
OTChatter for a long time).  I'm not a boy either, but I have always had mostly
male friends and now I have a son.  I and most people I've spoken with feel
that JKR has done a wonderful job of portraying an adolescent boy in Harry (and
Ron as well, and the relationship between the two).  A couple of my adult
friends changed that opinion after reading OotP, saying that he was way too
emotional for a 15-year-old boy, but I had a friend at that age who was going
through some tough times and he reacted very similarly.  The girly reaction
would have been crying, not lashing out at friends as Harry did.  To give a
more concrete example, I'll mention my very favorite scene in the whole series
so far: in PS/SS when Harry gives Neville his last Chocolate Frog to comfort
him after Malfoy put the Leg Locker curse on him.  Is that or is that not the
very epitome of boyish empathy?

OTOH, there was a paper given at Nimbus 2003 whose thesis is that Harry and
Hermione are gender-swapped, and therefore Harry is a feminine hero.  I have
not read this paper, if anybody has any information on how to get it, I would
be most interested.  The abstract I read states that Harry has traditionally
feminine qualities (soft-spoken, polite, insecure) while Hermione has
traditionally masculine qualities (bossy, logical, assertive).  The abstract
can be found at http://www.hp2003.org/nimbuspgmtrack.html#gender - click on the
abstract for "Emeric Switch on Gender: Harry and Hermione's Transgendered
Heroism".

I'm not sure I agree with your assertion that most authors make their main
characters the same sex as they are.  One of my favorite authors when I was a
teenager was S.E. Hinton (a woman) whose books had almost exclusively male main
characters, and in fact were written in the first person from a boy's point of
view (The Outsiders; That Was Then, This Is Now; Rumble Fish; Tex).  She, like
JKR, published with her initials because she didn't want to make it too obvious
that she was a woman, and her books mostly appeal to boys.  There are probably
a lot more women who write about male main characters than men who write about
female main characters.  I don't have any data to back that up, it's just the
impression I get from what I've read.  As for why JKR made her hero a boy, she
has said in interviews that he popped into her head fully formed, and he was
always a boy.

Sherry


=====
"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."
    -- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire





		
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