FAT

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 20346

I don't think JKR portrays overweight people unkindly overall.  There are a 
couple of characters who are described as fat in whom it is not in any way 
tied to their character:  Bagman (GF 7), Neville (PS/SS 9).  I don't have 
any problem with these descriptions, and they create an overall sense that 
some characters are thin, some are fat, and nothing is to be imputed to 
characters based on this aspect of their looks.

However.  I really, really dislike JKR's obsession with Dudley's weight.  It 
is not that he's a jerk; Draco's thin and he's a worse jerk--JKR is an 
equal-opportunity insulter.  It has to do with the way she mentions his 
weight so often, like a little child who can't talk about an overweight 
classmate without mentioning his weight in every other sentence.  (Grownups 
do this too, heaven knows.  People who do not feel the need to describe an 
acquaintance as "short" or "redheaded" every time they mention her seem 
unable to stop saying "overweight" or "big" or "heavy."  Is it just the US, 
or are people everywhere unable to see past fat?)

A case in point: CoS chapter one.

"'I know what day it is,' sang Dudley, waddling towards him."

A few lines later:

"Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom."

A few lines after that:

"Dudley stumbled backwards at once, a look of panic on his fat face."

Why his =fat= bottom?  Why his =fat= face?  We don't hear about Ron's 
freckled face or Hermione's bucktoothed smile on a regular basis.

This was my very first experience of HP, and it's a wonder I got through it. 
  I was thinking, geez, I really like this book, but what is this woman's 
problem?  I could give more examples from the other books, but this is the 
worst scene.

One more However:  As Saitaina wrote, we are seeing Dudley through Harry's 
eyes.  I can cut JKR some slack because I can imagine that Harry, who, being 
noble and Practically Perfect, wouldn't judge someone based on his weight, 
is nevertheless so filled with justified loathing for Dudley that he thinks 
about him in insults.  I can almost convince myself that we're getting 
Harry's viewpoint here, not JKR's.  Almost.

Amy Z

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  "Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that
this boy--this boy!--knows nothin' abou'--about ANYTHING?"
  Harry thought this was going a bit far.
                               -HP and the Philosopher's Stone
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