Wizard weaknesses, the unjust world, HP & English individualism, stereotypes

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29184

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> wrote:
a  look at HP and American culture. It's fascinating to 
see oneself through other eyes.

Tabouli:
>>One other thing that always strikes me reading HP is the fact 
that only girls cry in public.<< 

   Not quite, though JKR usually euphemizes it:  Hagrid, Fudge 
and Flitwick blow their noses for Peter Pettigrew, Dumbledore 
gets sniffly over James and Lily at the beginning of PS/SS, and 
Draco's eyes are watery after the ferret incident. The characters 
want to cry, but JKR's embarrassed for them.

Tabouli again:
>>Americans, unlike the English, tend to encourage people to 
express their
emotions<<

  I attribute this to our generally kinder climate. When I studied 
film-making, I learned about different ways to depict emotions. 
We were told, "The English scream in whispers". The English 
deal with conflict by  clamming up, probably because the armed 
upper classes were always miserably cooped up together on 
account of the rain. The lower classes were more free to express 
themselves (a punch in the nose being easier to recover from 
than a dagger in the ribs and besides, who cares if some low 
lifes kill each other). Hence outbursts of temper, like Ron's, 
Hagrid's and Snape's, attest to humble origins, and there's a 
comic contrast between the Dursley's pretensions and their 
tantrums.


Tabouli:
   and do not attach the same stigma to taking authority figures,
religion, rules, patriotism, etc. seriously.  

   Remember "We're from the government, we're here to help 
you"? That was  a cynical catch phrase right up till 9/11.
   The thing to keep in mind  is that America has never had an 
established religion. Therefore, all religious organizations are 
counter-cultural to the government and vice-versa.   American 
politicians generally invoke God when they're asking us to 
please, just this once, consider that they might be sincere, not 
because they're claiming God's authority. The depiction of 
religion in HP as a spent force (more on this in an upcoming 
post) is unnerving to some Americans because it suggests a 
world where they're on their own against the government and 
everything else.

Tabouli:
 morewholeheartedly monotheistic Americans to question the 
authority of God.

   Immigrants  to America found they were forced to organize 
religiously in order to survive culturally. Protestant clergy were the 
voice of social justice in  19th century America (there's that 
counter-cultural thing), and institutions were accustomed to 
dealing with them. Catholics, Jews  and others suffering from 
ethnic discrimination and disregard for their customs had to 
develop their own religious leadership to serve as 
spokespeople for their communities, even though this had not 
been their function in the old country. Americans will back  
religion against the government, and just as whole-heartedly call 
on government to back them against religion. 
   
 "But he's our president, so I guess we've got to put our faith in 
him".  Can't see the wizards saying that of Fudge as the 
Voldemort War approaches, somehow...
 The difference is enshrined in our constitution. As I understand 
it,  the British system can force a Prime Minister to hold elections 
at any time. OTOH, trying to force a U.S. president out of office 
between elections is incredibly difficult. It's part of our egalitarian 
myth that any schmo who managed to get elected can manage 
to do the job for four years.

Catherine said:

The Midwest which is still rather a mystery to me.  Good corn-fed 
types who do the right thing

As a Midwesterner by birth, I'll respond.  The Midwest is farm 
country. You can't hurry a field of grain and it's no good losing 
your temper with a large animal. So Midwesterners tend to be 
more patient and less confrontational than East Coast urbanites.  
Likewise, you can't fool Mother Nature, so liars and cheats never 
prosper.  This puts MW's at odds with the Hollywood types, 
and anyone else who tells lies for a living, including fiction 
writers. 
     The agrarian cycle enforces conformity and conservatism; 
though oddballs may be tolerated, even cherished, they are not 
to be emulated. Thus, some of the shriller protests against 
Potter emerging from the heartland.

Pippin