The Hermione thread (was the ron thread)

[drmm at fuuko.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 5000


Ebony wrote:

> 1)  Does Hermione as a character get a bad rap?  Does the fact that
> she is the only female main character (and the most well-developed
> female) adversely affect our critique of her?

Good question.  I'd say both yes and no.  No, because I think what 
irritates me about Hermione now, would irritate me just as much if 
there was another main female character.  Yes, because *if* there were 
another main female character, I would probably focus less on Hermione 
and more on her (especially if I were able to identify with her).

I'm among the group who would be calling for another strong female 
character (note the word another, not a).  This isn't because I see 
Hermione as a weak character but because I want a female character I 
can identify with.  I haven't found any character, male or female, who 
I can identify with yet.  As a result I'm forced to shove together 
certain traits from different characters (Ginny's hyperactivity (or 
what I see as her hyperactivity), Ron's temper and envy of siblings 
(and red hair), Fred & George's mischievousness, a toned down version 
of Snape's poor people skills and general bitterness at the world 
(this is the adult me . . . not the child me) and Dumbledore's quirky 
sense of humor) and end up defending these elements of the characters, 
even though I don't identify with them.

What type of strong female character do I want? Umm . . . myself? <g> 
 Seriously, I think a lot of people's perception of Hermione's 
character as strong has to do with self identification.  Penny (hope 
you don't mind me singling you out . . . but you are the biggest 
Hermione defender) obviously thinks of herself as a strong person; for 
that matter most people think of themselves as being strong.  She 
identifies with Hermione and therefore sees her as a strong character. 
 I on the other hand don't identify with Hermione.  Therefore, while I 
don't see Hermione as a weak character, I don't see her as being as 
strong as the people who identify with her do.  I do think she's a 
strong character in her own way . . . it's just that I want someone I 
can identify with.

Was that coherent?  I hope it doesn't seem like I'm implying Hermione 
doesn't have a strong character . . .

DrMM (wondering why she's using so many parentheses in this e-mail)