Role models and tokenism: the ogling Igor

[Tabouli]

Oo, finally a response to my theory that Karkarov is gay and lusting after Krum!  (K/K?)  A disagreeing one, but you can't have everything.  Like it or no, I maintain that as canon evidence of homosexuality goes, Karkarov is the best candidate I've seen to date, for the reasons Rita mentions...

> what bad PR it would be for the ONLY person depicted by the 
author as attracted to a person of the same sex to be an evil, weak, 
smarmy person who forces unwanted advances on his subordinate. Yuck. 
Canon makes it clear that the advances were unwanted.<

Ahhhh, the ol' role models vs realism problem again (now, before I launch into this, let me hastily add that this is a general rant, not a Rant at Rita, who has already admitted she knows this is a weakish reason!).  Sure, socio-politically I can see good justifications for providing ignorant homophobes and despairing closet-dwellers with a strong, positive, kindly gay character, especially if there's only one in the whole series.  No need to promote further nasty stereotypes when there are so many already.  From my perspective as anti-prejudice fighter who is stridently in favour of gay rights and law reform, I quite see this.  However...

...my inner Artiste not only baulks, she is painting her banners for a noisy protest march down the streets at the very idea of such motivations dictating the nature of an author's fictional characters.  If I was writing a story where the only gay character was a nasty, manipulative piece of work for important artistic reasons, I would absolutely refuse to give him/her a radical personality makeover to appease baying factions and role-model hunters, for the same reasons that I would refuse to turn a character into a sexy blonde cheerleader to attract the straight male market.  I will not be forced into turning my art into a propaganda vehicle for other people's political messages, even if I agree with them.  There are other avenues for promoting such messages which I am already exercising.

Reminds me of some article I read by the man who draws Dilbert.  He'd been lampooning white "computer geeks" for months, and then he introduced two new characters - one Indian and one woman.  True to form, he lampooned them as well, but suddenly his desk erupted in an avalanche of howlers.  How dare you have an Ethnic character or a Woman doing anything bad or ridiculous?  You racist, sexist, abominable man!  You're sending out the message that all Indians are boring computer geeks who do stupid things/ that all women are uptight airheads!  Sigh.

I suppose this shows the perils of tokenism, doesn't it?  If you only have one representative from a group, you are being "prejudiced" unless that representative is above reproach in every word and deed.  Hence this sudden, implausible influx of impossibly impeccable "oppressed group representatives" who defy all stereotypes with the greatest of ease, jump tall bigots in a single bound, and behave like a cross between Einstein, Mother Teresa and Buddha.  In its way I find this not only silly and unrealistic, but rather patronising.  Even misleading, as it promotes the well-meaning but dangerously flawed view that we're all the same underneath, regardless of sex, culture, age and so on.  Promote the "we are all of equal value" line, sure, but we are *not* all the same underneath in terms of behavioural standards, values, and so on.  If we were, there would be no such thing as culture shock and no-one would have bought "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus".

> And my second is that my dislike of Karkaroff is such that I would 
rather ascribe foul motives to him<

>It doesn't seem to me that there is anything about Viktor which would 
be particularly romantically/erotically attractive to Igor. Viktor 
isn't pretty and, if he has a noble character, Igor is not the type 
to be attracted by nobility. The school girls chased Viktor because 
he's a celebrity, but it seems to me that celebrities lose their 
special allure to people who actually know them in real life.<

I like your theory, though to fit into my above rant, there's no reason why Karkaroff couldn't be both sexually interested in Krum *and* have foul motives.  Maybe the HP narrator (be it Harry, JKR or Hermione) doesn't find Krum attractive, but who knows what rings Igor's bell?  I agree that nobility's not the sort of thing to get him chiming, but maybe he likes 'em dark and brooding with bulging broomstick muscles, or is turned on by his earnest, youthful awkwardness.  Maybe he started out as mentor, but became increasingly attracted and posessive as Viktor grew in talent and fame.  It wouldn't be the first time that a coach tried to abuse his position of power.  And as you say, Karkaroff does seem a rather cowardly character, and he might well be tempted into this sort of thing.  Ogling, at least, if not more serious advances.  Plus, as you point out, Krum makes it clear that he does not like Igor and feels very uncomfortable with him...

Tabouli.


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