[HPforGrownups] Re: Gender balance

[ender_w]

No: HPFGUIDX 14816


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Scott 
  To: HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 11:16 PM
  Subject: [HPforGrownups] Re: Gender balance


  Ender posed the question:
  Do you think that the Harry Potter series would 
  have become as popular as it is if Harry had been a girl? (with a 
  different name of course)."

  --I don't know. I think that I would have still read the books 
  despite the gender of the protagonist. As I'd guess most of us would 
  have, but little kids? I doubt it. I can't see most little boys 
  reading a book about Harrieta Potter.

  Jo's been asked this question before and I believe she said 
  (paraphrase) "By the time I stopped to think why Harry wasn't a girl 
  I realised that he was already too real to me and if I'd changed him 
  he'd always have been in drag." 

  (That was a REALLY rough paraphrase...)

  Scott


  As an author, I can relate to that, my characters genders are usually the result of how they appear in my head, and relate to other characters and not the result of me saying "I want this many girls, and this many boys."  I do agree that, unfortunately, books and movies with female protagonists tend not to be as popular as those with male protagonists (I heard a rumor once that when they were going to remake Miracle on 34th Street, there were those who wanted the main character changed from a little girl to a little boy to make it more popular).
  However, Rowling has such a gift of wit, and such a gift of writing, that I wonder if she might have had the ability to make a female "Harry" just as engaging as the male one.

  ender


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