FF: Speculation - a matter of perspective

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 38793

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., heidit at n... <heidit at n...> wrote:
<Snipage of Heidi asking if the fact that her Draco/Hermione romance 
speculation appeared in posts prior her fanfic would give it more 
credibility>
> 
I replied:
> > I don't know.  It's an interesting question, but my problem with 
> > using fanfic in this way is that we are no longer dealing 
> > exclusively with Rowlings characters. <snip>
> > I think that any time people use fanfic examples to support 
their 
> > opinions of canon, they are mixing apples and oranges.  They are 
> > taking characters that share the same names as JKR's, making 
them do 
> > and say things that JKR has never had them do, and then 
> > extrapolating arguments from this new, artificial construct.


Heidi then writes: 
> I'm not sure what you mean bby "using fanfic in this way".  I did 
not use any
> fanfic in my original post when I suggested that in a manner that 
parallels
> Pride & Prejudice, Draco might find it in him to overcome the 
elements of his
> attitude and behaviour that would preclude a relationship with 
Hermione (see
> various Draco Redemption threads).


No, you didn't use your fanfic to support the Draco redemption/Pride 
& Predjudice parallel.  I was thinking that it was certainly 
unlikely that many readers (of canon), would consider this a 
plausable possibility, without having been influenced by any of a 
number of fanfics where both Draco and Hermione have had their 
personalities altered in a way that would make this possible.  Of 
course, IMO, readers of said fanfics would have to have replaced 
canon Draco and Hermione with fanon characters bearing the same 
names, to be able to buy into the notion.  However, you apparently 
found a very original way to somehow see this yourself in books 1 
through 4.  I just don't see how you were able to do this without 
ignoring 4 volumes of careful character development by JKR.  I guess 
I'm just too literal-minded a reader to manage this leap.


Heidi continued: 
> 
> Canon itself plays with perspective in a fascinating way - on your 
first read
> of Goblet of Fire, for example, the reader likely sees Moody as a 
good guy
> almost all the way through the book - but on a second read, 
knowing that Moody
> is really Barty Crouch, faithful servant of Voldemort, things he 
does which at
> first seemed delightful or at least benign take on a sinister 
glow -<snip>
 But that doesn't really explain it all, to me - it seemed
> clear to me that he had a vendetta against Draco as the wealthy, 
at least
> superficially pampered child whose father was a Death Eater who 
walked free,
> and who kept his stature when even Crouch's own father lost face 
because of
> his familial relationship to a "convicted" Death Eater. 


I can certainly agree with this one, although I also thought that 
realMoody would also bear some ill feelings toward L. Malfoy's son, 
for different reasons of his own.  This would be particularly true 
when he witnessed Draco behaving in a typically slimy, Dad-like way, 
in attempting to curse Harry while his back was turned.



Heidi continued: 
> I do admit to being troubled when people garble things from canon 
and fanfic -
> I've seen people wonder whether Orla Quirke or Aiden Lynch were 
fanfic
> characters (they're not, they're both in GoF) or be sure that JKR 
has said in
> the english-language versions of the book that Blaise is a girl or 
a boy, or
> state that Ron and Hermione kissed in GoF. It does bother me when 
people mix
> up their fictional "facts".
  
This *really* drives me nuts, too.  I've seen it happen on a number 
of occasions, and it often goes uncorrected (I can't be the canon 
police ALL the time <g>).

Heidi again: 
> However, it never bothers me when fanfic causes someone to think 
about a
> character a little differently, or to view a scene from a different
> perspective. JKR makes it SO EASY for us to do so, it's almost as 
if she wants
> us to examine certain things from the book from multiple 
perspectives! 


Well, I can certainly agree with you there.  However, I really hope 
she never reads some of the creepy things many writers do with her 
characters.  My limited fanfic experience leads me to believe that 
the writers are going way, way beyond plausible different 
perspectives on canon.  It's more like they want to wrest the series 
from Rowlings grasp because they believe that *their* version is 
better!

Heidi: 

<snip Heidi's example of a novel based on Jane Eyre with an 
alternate perspective>
> To give a less "highbrow" example, look at Anne Rice's Interview 
With a
> Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. The former is entirely from Louis'
> perspective, the latter from Lestat's - and the cover, to some 
extent, the
> same scenes and acts. We learn when reading Lestat that many 
things that Louis
> assumed about him - his background, his motives - were incorrect, 
and it's
> fascinating to go back and reread the first book, knowing the 
other point of
> view as you do once you've read the second one. 


As long as Anne Rice is the one interpreting her characters, 
anything she reveals about them is canon.  If JKR actually changes 
anyone's personality and can make it believable, then I'll not be 
able to argue with it.
 

Heidi:
> Lastly, I fear we keep running this conversation around in 
circles, Jo. You
> are convinced that I am arguing things based on what I've read in 
fanfic, or
> what I've written into fanfic. I can assure that nothing could be 
further from
> the truth, and were I doing so, I would be off topic for this 
list. Just
> because you personally don't see an argument as canon-based 
doesn't mean that
> it isn't actually just that. We're all reading the same books; 
none of us is
> reading them exactly like anyone else.

Yes, we're probably boring the pants off most of the list with 
this.  However, there are certainly degrees of separation from 
canon, aren't there?  I've enjoyed a lot of the TBAY posts that have 
the merest shreds of canon support, but I assume that they are 
simply ways of amusing the list during the long, long, wait for the 
*real* stuff.  Correct me if I'm wrong (again <g>), but I assumed 
you meant the redeemable Draco/Hermione romance seriously.


 
> What is wrong with speculating, anyway?

Nothing at all.  I don't expect anyone else to stop writing or 
reading fanfic just because I don't find it satisfying or useful.  
I've just read a few too many posts from people who seem to prefer 
it to the real thing (which I thought was what this list was for).
I really enjoy a lot of the wild theories, specs, and ships on the 
list as long as tongues are planted firmly in cheek ;--)

I'll stop now.

Jo S., getting very sleepy


> 
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