Harryphobia, clueless teachers, JRRT+JKR humour, use of 'wog'

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 32986

Erin:
> Perhaps they're not only scared of LV (even though he's "dead" for all purposes),
> but scared of Harry too.

The Dursleys?  Ha!  They're terrified of Harry and his magical, abnormal powers!  I think a lot of their ill-treatment and dislike stems at least as much from fear of Harry as it does from the supposed burden on their time and finances or whatever they claim.

finwitch:
> In DADA, the courage to at least try is more important than 
perfection of a spell. Just watch Ron use the ONLY spell he knows 
along with Harry to defeat a troll, Harry using the only advantage he 
had when fighting Quirrell, his incomplete, but successful enough a 
Patronus etc.<

Intriguing idea.  Now finwitch points it out, we do have numerous examples of it not being so much how much you know, as how resourcefully you apply what you *do* know that saves the day.  Look at how handy Expelliarmus turned out to be!  We also have two examples of wizards who have made a successful living out almost entirely out of acting ability and sneakiness, namely Trelawney and Lockhart.  Hmmm.

Could this be a vindication of Dumbledore's headmastering style?  Do children really learn more by finding ways around dealing with eccentric and even incompetent teachers (thus building their independence and resourcefulness and characters) than they would if all of their teachers knew their stuff and taught it well??

Elizabeth
(who, as a professional instructor, is often frustrated with schools --
especially colleges and universities -- choosing teachers based on their
knowledge of their subject, rather than their ability to teach it)<

Hear hear.  Universities are particularly guilty of this.  At least school teachers (in Australia, anyway) are required by law to have a teaching degree.  Though see above...

Chris:
> Is there an acronym for Quirrell lovers?   We're a small group, but cultish. 

How about:
V.A.N.Q.U.I.S.H.E.D. (Voldemort Aggressively Nullifed Quirrell's Undeniable Intelligence and Skill: He's Erroneously Dismissed)

Amy Z:
> LoTR is terribly sad in the way it portrays the 
> ending of an era (I have a friend who hates The Last Battle for 
this reason)

Yes, I always thought the end of The Last Battle was terribly nasty and depressing, especially the Day of Judgment stuff where all those who do not recognise Aslan turn dumb and perish in the darkness. How awful.  Beginnings are much more cheerful, which is why my favorite Narnia book is The Magician's Nephew!  What a lovely creation scene, and I love the idea of The Wood Between The Worlds.

Eileen:
> Tolkien not funny? /me almost faints.

(Tabouli is unrepentant)  I will grudgingly concede that some of the moments Eileen listed are marginally light, but not to the extent of being funny.  Not to me.  But to each their own, of course.  I have a Ravenclaw sense of humour... I like cleverness: verbal wittiness, and interpersonal situation humour, and JKR is lavish with both of these (the whole Yule Ball situation is priceless, partly because it's just so convincing).  I also like ingenious satire, absurdity and parody and can tolerate much more over the top in this department than a lot of people, hence I love Lockhart and Trelawney and Rita Skeeter ("My secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair care products!").

This is not Tolkien's style; indeed, it wouldn't suit his writing and world at all.  I can see evidence of some sense of humour in LOTR, but I find it a sort of fusty, pipe-smoking, old-fashioned, upper class poking fun at the peasants and bourgeoisie sort of humour.  Not my thing.  Except for Treebeard and Tom Bombadil of course (OT listmembers groan), where Tolkien let himself go a little.  Hooom hom hmmm and ring a ding dillo....

Eileen:
> You don't like Sam? /me looks reproachfully at Tabouli, but decides 
to forgive. Sam is the quintessential hobbit, after all, and that can 
be a hard taste to acquire. ;-) For myself, I find Sam funnier than 
Hagrid any day, perhaps it has something to do with his humour being 
firmly rooted in common sense. <

Well there you have it, different sense of humour.  I can see the sort of relationship Tolkien is representing between Frodo and Sam (didn't some journalist compare it to army officer and his batsman?), but the classism still makes me wince, though oddly enough the Hagrid/Dumbledore relationship doesn't bother me nearly as much, perhaps because it's so obviously tongue in cheek.  Though I was raised in Australia, a society of stridently anti-authority egalitarian values and great cynicism and irreverence, which no doubt has something to do with it.  Of course, Sam does go home and have kids and become mayor and all the rest (Damned good show, by Jove!  Sterling chap, that Sam, even if he *isn't* out of the top drawer), but IIRC he never forgets that the wasted, haunted Frodo is nonetheless of Better Stuff than he.  (Tabouli peeks warily at Eileen through her fingers, conscious that she is being pretty harsh here...)   I admit I find the house-elves annoying, but not for the same reasons.  I see them as a satirical comment on slavery which got a bit out of hand.

Helly:
> I know it was meant to be a joke to illustrate a certain type of 
Englishness but I just wanted to point out that the word wog is very 
offensive. I wouldn't want anyone coming to England and getting into 
trouble by using the word.<

Bit of a poser, wot?  While we're on the subject of the word 'wog' (which I'm told stemmed from Worthy Oriental Gentleman in the UK), I should also point out that 'wog' doesn't refer to 'Asians' in Australia at all... it refers to Southern Europeans, particularly Greek and Italian migrants.  It doesn't seem to be quite as offensive here, either: it's one of those words that have been taken on by the group themselves and gets used with pride.  A bunch of mostly Greek Australians have written several 
plays, TV series and even a couple of films using 'wog' as their motif... "Wogboys", "Wogs out of Work", etc., in which they pack endless jokes about the eccentricities of their own communities.  Of course, it's more offensive if a 'non-wog' uses the word, but it depends on how it's done.

Tabouli (who has received more "wog" racist epithets than "chink" ones in her time, as she looks more Greek than Chinese)



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