[HPforGrownups] Re: A Taste of Moody, With A Big Scoop of Krum and Karkar...

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 39289

Cindy:

   But there are two other men who ought to generate Hurt-Comfort 
> feelings, but for some reason, no one ever has anything positive to 
> say about them.
> 
> The first is Victor.  Victor is a Star Athlete who gets a bloody 
> nose at the QWC, taking an iron bludger "full in the face."  He 
> doesn't so much as flinch; it's all in a day's work for Victor.  
> Still, he manages to catch the Snitch, after diving with "flecks of 
> blood" visible in the air.  He dives from his ship into the frigid 
> waters of the Lake.  Krum gets Stunned by Fake Moody.  Later, he 
> gets Stunned again in the maze and "fell forward, and lay 
> motionless, facedown in the grass."  And, of course, Victor is young 
> and a man of few words, the Strong Silent Type, which we all are 
> powerless to resist.
> 
> So tell me.  Why is it that no one crushes on Quiddich Star Victor 
> Krum?  Why is it that the women don't hurl themselves forward to 
> fall at Victor's duck feet, pledging to help him learn to stand up 
> 

The trouble with strong, silent types from the literary point of view is that 
they are er....well....silent. Strong , silent, athletic and good-looking is 
one thing but strong, silent athletic, duck-footed and stooping is perhaps 
another. There's not much of a character to get a handle on, I suppose. He 
doesn't have much interaction with Harry, so we don't see him being developed 
in that personal way that the objects of crushes need. *And*, (crucially, I 
think) he is presented as a crush object, but only to silly adolescent girls 
with whom we don't want to identify. I'm not including Hermione here, I think 
their attraction is more because of a meeting of minds and the fact that he 
*doesn't* perceive her as having a crush (she behaves very differently 
apropos Viktor than she does regarding Lockhart, doesn't she?) Again, I get 
the impression that JKR doesn't want us to regard him as attractive. But 
perhaps he'll turn out to be an ugly duckling (he's got the feet for it!) and 
with further development, he could turn out to be an object of desire. I'm 
sure he'll be back. I just don't think he's developed enough as a character 
as yet. Did anyone crush on Snape in Book One?

> 
> Then we have Karkaroff.  Karkaroff spent time in Azkaban, just like 
> Sirius, and turned traitor to his friends, just like Snape.  
> Karkaroff takes a beating, too.  The Dark Mark burns on his arm, 
> causes him to panic and show far more concern than Snape.  Karkaroff 
> also gets intimidated by Fake Moody, just like Snape.  Then, 
> Karkaroff is slammed into a tree by a giant, his "feet dangling in 
> midair," Hagrid's fist at his throat, finally sliding down the tree 
> trunk to "huddle at its roots."  At the end of GoF, Karkaroff is on 
> the run, fleeing for his very life.  Poor Igor!
> 
> So why don't the women folk around here fall all over each other for 
> the chance to pluck the twigs and leaves from Karkaroff's silver 
> hair?  

Well, for a start there is a feeling in some quarters that his interests lie 
elsewhere;-). And we spend most of the book assuming he's one the other side 
(which I agree isn't necessarily a turn-off) and then he is portrayed as a 
coward by contrast with Snape. He runs; Snape not only stays but apparently 
goes to risk himself further. The betrayal of his former colleagues *is* 
showed, which is a bit of a problem, I think (don't we respect Mrs Lestrange 
more?) as it appears not to be out of contrition but fear for his own skin. 
Panic is not attractive. He doesn't have any redeeming qualities such as 
acerbic wit, either.

> 
> So.  

It's very kind of you to offer, but for the time being, I think I'll decline! 
:-)
I think the hurt-comfort thing only works if there is already some other 
attraction or potential attraction. It doesn't of itself make someone 
attractive.

> 
> Cindy (who may have to start a support group for women who are 
> willing to crush on some of the less obvious crush objects in the 
> 

Eloise, who is always struck by the lack of competition between list members 
who crush on the same characters, but thinks things might be a bit different 
in RL!






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