Harry and Cedric (was Envy/Respect)

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 13186

Gwen wrote:
> 
> > I interpreted this [H's comments on Ce.'s appearance] as a
> > hyperbolic commentary meant to communicate Harry's bitterness over
> > the rivalry. 

Jen replied:

> Hyperbolic?  In what sense?  Is there textual evidence elsewhere 
> that
> Ce. is *not* good-looking?  He isn't, to my mind, exaggerating a
> negative characteristic of his rival, as he would be if, say, he had
> thought: "How can she go out with Cedric?  He's the ugliest person 
ever
> -- Swamp Thing's got it all over him!  His hair looks like straw and 
his
> nose is too big and he hulks when he walks!" :) He isn't questioning 
the
> fitness of Cho's choice at first -- he acknowledges openly Cedric's 
good
> (*desirable*) qualities: skill at Quidditch, good looks, popularity. 
 
> The basis on which he does question her choice is Cedric's 
intelligence,
> not his looks: "Now he suddenly realized Cedric was in fact a 
useless
> pretty boy who didn't have enough brains to fill an eggcup" (GoF 
398).  
> The hyperbole is in regard to Cedric's stupidity (though there may
> indeed be a co-extensive inflation of his good looks).  But his 
looks
> are among the givens about Cedric for Harry.

The problem with this analysis is that it ignores the double-edged 
value of good looks.  Being extremely good-looking is not entirely 
positive; it carries the liability of stupidity in and of itself.  
This is particularly true for women, who, if they are "too" 
good-looking, are assumed to be unintelligent.  It is true also, 
though to a lesser extent, for men.  The term "pretty boy" (when the 
emphasis is put on the word pretty rather than on boy) in fact 
connotes "handsome but with nothing upstairs."  It suggests 
shallowness of character also.  (What's the criticism of TV anchors?  
They got their jobs because they have looks, and they don't seem to 
have anything else.  Can't say I disagree...)

Cedric is already seen this way by his Quidditch rivals, as seen in PA 
when Wood announces they'll be playing Hufflepuff.  The girls 
mock-swoon; the twins say he's an idiot.  There's a causal 
relationship there (there is in fact no evidence that Cedric is 
unintelligent): not only are the twins irritated that girls think he's 
so damn attractive, but the very fact that he's good-looking makes 
them judge him stupid.

If you want to insult someone who is good-looking, you could call him 
ugly, but it would ring hollow (especially with someone like Cedric, 
who seems to be universally regarded as very good-looking).  It's much 
more wounding to call him a pretty boy--to use his looks to insult his 
intelligence.

Gwen wrote:

> > Correct again, but bear in mind that Cedric IS an object for the 
whole
> > school, not just Harry. 

Jen wrote:
 
> Again, I'm not sure where in the text this perception is coming 
from.  I
> don't see any evidence that the whole school is treating Cedric as 
an
> object of desire?

Girls follow him around as much as they do Viktor Krum; people wear 
"Support Cedric Diggory" badges (is this treating someone as an object 
of desire?  My lit-crit jargon is rusty); he is the stand-in for all 
Hufflepuffs in their usually-thwarted dreams of glory.  He is their 
champion.

One more point in *support* of the homoerotic interpretation:  we hear 
a few times that Cedric is extremely good-looking, not from others, 
but from our Harry-oriented narrator.  So we are getting that opinion 
from Harry's POV.

Amy Z

----------------------------------------------
Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion
by turning into a large canary.
                  --HP and the Goblet of Fire
----------------------------------------------