[HPFGU-OTChatter] Vision of Characters (was: Slash andhomosexuality)
Kathryn Cawte
kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk
Wed Jan 15 23:15:28 UTC 2003
I'm beginning to think I'm the only one around here who not only doesn't
have a concrete opinion of the characters that cannot be shattered but in
some cases has multiple opinions of the characters.
For many of the characters I don't feel we have enough evidence to know
exactly hat they're like (and a lot of what we have is biased by the fact
that it's seen through the eyes of Harry Potter).
This is especially true for me for the kids - partly because there is so
much potential there for how they would develop in future. Personally I
adore Ron (anyone who could follow those bloody spiders despite his fear
gets massive points in my book, because I assure you if I had the spiders in
front of me and an army of death eaters planning to kill me slowly behind me
I'd have to stop and think about which scared me more!). Anyway, not my
point, sorry - as I was saying love Ron to bits, can see him being there in
the final battle steadfastly at Harry's side, courageously fighting against
the DEs no matter what the cost personally, but I could also see him turning
to Voldemort and betraying Harry, fuelled by his resentment of being the
youngest (youngest boy obviously but I doubt he feels as much need to
compete against Ginny) and always being measured against his brothers and
now being compared to his best friend (who after all didn't really do
anything to get the acclaim he has) and also because he wants to be someone,
and not a poor someone wearing hand me down clothes. Both those images can
quite happily live in my head at the same time.
Similarly I can see determined, quiet scolarly Remus in a loving
relationship (in the future) with Hermione and also mischievous, clever,
determined and downright sexy Remus taunting his long-time lover and
soulmate Sirius Black.
As a writer I like exploring those different views of the characters - I
write Lucius as just being a normal guy, not one of the bad guys, not one of
the good guys but just doing what he feels he needs to to survive, I also
write him as evil, abusive and total scum, I've read him in stories as
manipulating Severus into joining the Drak Lord and as being manipulated
into joining by Severus, I've read Snape as asexual, homosexual,
heterosexual, bisexual, as a total slut (and Sex God of Slytherin) and as a
virgin. And in all of those stories I've believed it totally because he was
(for me at any rate) totally in character. I've also read him written so ooc
that it just wasn't funny, either because the author is a bad writer or
because he/she just sees the character in a way that I can't wrap my mind
round but in none of those cases has it 'warped' my view of the books, if I
don't like the characterization I just forget about it. I admit some authors
have conjured up images so vivid that I am struck by them (and not always in
a good way) but never in a way that meant I couldn't see the character as I
had before.
So I am totally unable to get what people are talking about hen they refer
to certain images as ruining their view of the potterverse or changing it
fundamentally.
Am I alone in this? Am I totally nuts? Should I worry that I have multiple
versions of the characters dancing around in my brain?
K
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