Attractive Characters (WAS McGonagall's house/Gryffindors in Glasses)

[Barb]

No: HPFGUIDX 30604

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., meepmeepziptang at h... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Cindy C." <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
> > Jenny wrote:
> > 
> > > Somehow Percy found a girlfriend and Krum has pursued 
> > > Hermione, who is often referred to as *not* pretty, so yes, 
> > > JKR wants us to all look beyond physical traits for 
> > > attractiveness.

"Somehow" Percy has found a girlfriend?  He is never described as 
being unattractive, merely having glasses.  (He is also described as 
annoyingly self-absorbed, ambitious and ponderous, but those things 
have nothing to do with physical appearance.  Presumably, Penelope 
tolerates these things.)  As for Hermione, once again, she is 
described as having bushy hair and rather large teeth (until she no 
longer does have the large teeth) but there is never a judgmental 
adjective applied to her like "unattractive."  Her personality is 
described as a bit abrasive when she first meets the boys on the 
train, but she is never outright called physically unattractive.  
(This is from Harry's POV, remember.)  Likewise, Ron is described 
with red hair, freckles, a long nose, and as rather tall.  None of 
these are judgmental terms, merely descriptive.

The point I'm trying to make is that we get very loose, brief 
descriptions of people that paint pictures rather than dictate how 
we regard them.  If you think a tall red-haired boy with glasses is 
attractive, you will probably understand perfectly well what 
Penelope sees in Percy.  Likewise, if you like bushy hair on a girl 
and someone who speaks their mind, Hermione seems like quite a 
catch.  If you want a tall bloke with red hair and a long nose, Ron 
Weasley coming up.  If you think those features are unattractive--
then you're free to think so.  JKR never tries to get us to think 
one way or the other about these three people until the moment when 
Harry thinks of Hermione as pretty when he finally realizes that's 
her on Krum's arm at the ball.

> > You might even say that JKR *forces* us to look beyond looks.  
> > There are scores of characters in the wizarding world, but very 
> > few appear to be knock-outs, or even physically attractive.  The 
> > list of the definitely and consistently attractive includes 
> > Fleur, Cedric and Cho.  Sirius seems alone among the adults who 
> > is characterized as attractive.  (Help me if I've missed someone 
> > who is definitely physically attractive based on his/her 
> > description in the books).  The list of the unattractive and 
> > even repulsive, however, seems endless by comparison.  

We don't hear anything about the appearance of the Patil twins until 
the Yule Ball, when they are described as the two best-looking girls 
in the year (by Seamus, IIRC).  This would seem to include all four 
houses.  And frankly, the twins don't come off very well in that 
episode (although they do come off as typical teenage girls who want 
their dates to notice them).  OTOH, the twins are never depicted as 
evil, either.  And it is not Harry who describes them as good-
looking, but another character, so it is possible that he is immune 
to their charms.  (Or just too fixated on Cho.)

--Barb

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