If you were JKR....

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26059

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a... wrote:
> And you'd planned out seven entire books, where terrorism, random 
> attacks, mass murders and violence were - not a subplot, not a 
> theme -an overarching Thing in the background, and then THIS 
> happened - this horrible, unpredictable, but not unimaginable THING 
> happened - would you consider changing any plot points that came 
> too close to what really happened? [snip]

> Or would you consider it more of a reason to remind people to 
> remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice 
> between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to 
> planeloads and offices full of people who were good, and kind, and 
> brave, because they strayed across the path of terrorists? Or would 
> you reiterate that we are only as strong as we are united, as weak 
> as we are divided? Or would you force yourself into things you 
> normally do, because you could do with a few laughs, you know that 
> we could all do with a few laughs, and you have a feeling we're 
> going to need them more than usual before long?

Well, as you know, Heidi, I did write a fic with terrorism and murder 
in it.  I thought of that as I watched the coverage of the rescue 
efforts.  I also saw an interview with Tom Clancy on one of the 
networks (I forget which one).  The interviewer pointed out to Clancy 
that he had written a book about someone deliberately crashing a 
plane into the White House.  Clancy has written many books about 
terrorism and acts of war and the way people respond to high-stress 
situations.  Clancy did not train the terrorists to fly (that 
evidently happened at a flight school in Florida).  It is even 
possible that the terrorists did not get the idea for this from his 
or anyone else's novel.  One could legitimately say, I think, that 
Clancy pointed out that this was a danger, something we should think 
about when working out national defense strategies.  

I do not think such a book would be published right now, and possibly 
not for years to come.  It would hit too close to home and cause too 
much pain.  I think that writers who depict harrowing situations of 
this sort can educate us about ourselves as individuals and 
collectively, as a society.  I personally did not include terrorism 
in what I wrote as "entertainment."  There was a lesson in it.  One 
passage was adapted from a speech I gave on hate crimes being akin to 
terrorism, because those who share the characteristics of the victims 
are made to feel that they could be next; they are effectively 
terrorized.  Women feel terrorized whenever they hear of a rape; 
every burning of a church or synagogue that we have heard of in the 
last ten years has been not just a criminal act against the 
congregation in question but against all people of faith.  Every time 
someone who is gay or a person of color hears about someone being 
targeted because they are gay or a person of color, they may wonder 
if they will be next.

I think that the argument can work in reverse as well.  Terrorism is 
a hate crime.  This happened because of hatred against the United 
States.  It is hate that motivated the perpetrators, and no matter 
how many novels there are depicting different methodologies for 
carrying out terroristic acts, it is hate which is ultimately to 
blame for the acts taking place at all.

I suspect that JKR will find a way to treat future atrocities by her 
villains in such a way that they do not seem sensationalistic and 
opportunistic.  I am also confident that good will triumph in the 
end, although it may be at a cost.  That is only realistic, and 
although she is writing fantasy, it has a very realistic edge to it.  
I do not think she will shy away from realistically depicting the 
cost of such a victory, nor should she.  It could be the most 
valuable education we and our children receive from her books.

--Barb