[HPforGrownups] female characters - very long and very opinionated

[Sister Mary Lunatic]

No: HPFGUIDX 3474

Susan, I agree strongly with all your observations.  It would be interesting to go through the book and count lines of dialog, totaling male and female contributions.  Sometimes when I'm reading the books, I think of all the movies I have watched -- the majority of them have predominantly male cast members.  (Think... War movies, Westerns, Heist movies, Science fiction movies, etc.)  If the majority of the starring roles are played by women, it's always referred to as a "women's picture" and the women are usually involved in some kind of plot to wreak revenge on men.

However, I'm not going to let it spoil my enjoyment of Harry Potter.  Yes, it makes me uneasy sometimes as I see the long string of subordinate female characters.  But I rather think that JKR is reproducing the world as it is, and not how it may be idealized by future visions of genuine equality.  The only real sign of female equality seems to be the fact that Quidditch teams are not gender-biased.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Schlobin at aol.com [mailto:Schlobin at aol.com]

...I'd love to see this trend change.

susan (bracing herself for the fury of the list unleashed)