One reporter reacts to JKR's revelations

[sistermagpie]

> Tiffany:
> 
> I see it in a similar light to Pippin, Harry is only as real 
outside 
> of the books & movies as we let him be.  It's a lot like any other 
> famous other literary, TV, or movie character, how much life 
outside 
> of the canon the person has is up to the people who are in love 
with 
> it.
> 
> I think that JKR is right to give him life outside of the books 
> because it would be a nightmare scenario in terms of therapy bills 
& 
> mental health issues because of how hooked into Potter both in & 
out 
> of the books & movies that folks can get.  It's up to the actual 
> person to decide how real that Harry himself, Hogwarts, the 
> Potterverse, & WW are.  I know of folks who have their homes 
> decorated with Potter stuff like it's a museum.
> 
> I don't really fear a split in the fandom of Potter, but there'll 
> always be some folks who treat it like Star Trek & those who aren't 
> so passionate & obsessive over it.  Potter is my 3rd passionate 
hobby 
> in life after music & card games; both have been around for so long 
> that nothing could knock them off their respective mantles.

Magpie:
But the point isn't whether or not Harry has a life outside of what 
we see. If you think of Harry as "real" even if it's only in your 
imagination (and if anybody would need therapy at being told that a 
fictional character fictional, then they already need therapy) then 
Harry alread has a life outside the page. Even if you don't think of 
him that way he does. That's how fiction works.

The article's author isn't saying JKR should not think of Harry as 
having more to him than what's on the page, he's saying that 
everybody will fill him in for themselves off the page and when she 
just throws out "this is the way to imagine this" when she's talking 
about something off-page it's cutting into the reader's experience. 
Plenty of authors strike a balance between answering questions and 
telling people what to think and what to imagine. Some people, I 
guess, find it makes it "more real" when she throws out random facts 
that are outside of canon. Others of us don't like it at all.

-m