Of cliches and characterisation

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 20454

I haven't read right back to the beginning of the "Fat" thread (just
resubscribed), but in the ones I've read no-one mentioned that JKR herself
describes herself as "almost circular" when she was about Dudley's age.  I'd
guess that some of her own gloom and humiliation at being overweight as a
child is coming out in her portrayal of Dudley.  Self-rejection, projection,
projection.

To be honest, I don't mind her portrayal of the Dursleys.  They're a bit
cartoonish, but hey, the villains in a child's life are easier to deal with
if s/he can caricature them into a box and push them aside.  The world is by
no means empty of snobbish, short-sighted, indulgent parents who favour one
child over another.  Moreover, in a lot of ways they're there to provide a
contrasting frame for the stories, highlighting the contrast between the
muggle and magical worlds.

Crabbe and Goyle bother me a lot more.  Compared with them, the Dursleys are
positively multidimensional.  Whenever Malfoy pops up, the smart, nasty
villain flanked by two stupid but brawny henchmen, I wince.  Did JKR cut
them out of a cereal packet or something?  It's not as if she isn't capable
of inventing interesting villains... Snape, now, there's a man with a bit of
intrigue.  But I don't buy this vampire theory: I agree with whoever said
there's more than enough mystery about Snape already.  He'd be one
animagus/creature too many, and I think that his behaviour to date
definitely suggests a tragic past with more personal overtones...

Returning to JKR's political incorrectness, I have to say that I've long
thought she was going out of her way to Shatter Stereotypes and not *quite*
pulling it off.  Deliberately making a lot of the bad/stupid characters
blond.  Lavishly scattering non Anglo characters to and fro to be culturally
inclusive but then either running screaming from making them actually do
anything significant (because of course if an Ethnic Character did anything
even faintly "bad" that would be Racist!).  Pointedly making the swotty
nerdy character par excellence NOT wear glasses.  Trumpeting Hermione as her
Strong Female Character but then having her go to pieces in crises, and
having males as the main players in the action throughout.

Still, it's a treacherous path for authors negotiating between stereotyping,
portraying the world as it "actually is" (?), and books as vehicle for
hopelessly implausible politically correct preaching.  One of the things I
like about JKR is that the moral lessons in her books are reasonably subtle
and built in, rather than flashing in lurid neon on every page and chasing
the children away...