[HPforGrownups] Re: The Ginny Weasley Quotient (some SHIP)

[Moonstruck]

No: HPFGUIDX 45009

The Lizard Queen said:
<<< Imagine if you were 13 and your favourite movie
star was at your school, and needed a date, and you
were one of his last chances but you were already
taken? I think anybody (let alone a thirteen year old)
would be pretty gutted, to say the least, at this
situation.>>>

Me:
That, indeed, is the problem. Harry doesn't *want* to
be anybody's movie star. When you're "in love" with a
movie star you have absolutely no conception of who or
what that person really is. It's a very superficial
kind of affection. And that's one of the problems
that's plagued Harry since coming to the WW. He wants
real, meaty relationships he's been denied all his
life, not fans. I think that's why he's been somewhat
distant around Ginny in the past. He's not comfortable
having that kind of adoration heaped on him based
almost exclusively because of his fame (and perhaps
Ron's input). I'm not supposing that Ginny can't
change, but that, at this point, she's not yet aware
that there's a difference between Harry *The Boy Who
Lived* and Harry *awkward, insecure 14 year old*.

Also, I don't think it's indicated anywhere in the
text that Harry himself considers Ginny a last chance
option. Ron suggests it, but we have no indication
either way regarding Harry's feelings about that. And
even before that, just the mention that Harry asked
Cho and got rejected seems to upset her. Still, Harry
doesn't walk into the common room after that, see
Ginny, and think, "Geez, I need to find a date for the
Yule Ball -- I'll ask Ginny, she'll go with me!" Nor
does he think that throughout his conversation with
her and Ron.

The Lizard Queen:
<<< she actually showed a suprising degree of
integrity by not just saying "Ok, I'll go dump
Neville, then I'll go with Harry!" She could very well
have done that, and I'm sure it would have been
incredibly tempting! >>>

<<< I also interpreted that some of Ginny's distress
is due to the fact that Ron and Harry have just been
saying "who would go to the dance with Neville?". >>> 

Me:
Agreed on both counts. Ron has a tendency toward
sweeping generalizations and off the cuff remarks that
only push his foot farther in his mouth. And Harry's
less perceptive qualities don't help either. I'll give
it to her that she does show what I hope is an
indication of her future mettle by commenting to
Hermione immediately after the Neville jab:

"'Because -- oh shut up laughing, you two --because
they've both been turned down by girls they asked to
the ball!' said Ginny.

That shut Harry and Ron up.

'Thanks a bunch, Ginny,' Ron said sourly." (399-400)

Her refusal to tell the boys who Hermione is going to
the Ball with also heartens me. BTW, I notice both of
these instances of gumption are somehow associated
with Hermione. I'm hoping this reflects Hermione's
influence on Ginny and that that influence will
increase as the series progresses.

The Lizard Queen:
<<< I don't think Ginny's behaviour around Harry is
any worse than Harry's behaviour around Cho Chang.
What does Harry really know about Cho? >>>

Me:
Also agreed, but that's also why I don't think Harry's
feelings for Cho are any more than a superficial
attraction and will prove to be far less enduring than
he seems to think -- not that he's really spent any
time really analyzing his crush. 

All right, I was a little hard on Ginny but I get so
frustrated by her passivity. I want to shake her, tell
her to get up and create her own circumstances instead
of letting/waiting for things to happen to her. I want
her to tell Ron and Harry off. I want her to refuse to
be marginalized, disrespected, and ignored. I want her
to show us all how she's more than Ron's little sister
and Harry's fan -- because I suspect she is. 

Perhaps, Hermione has spoiled me on strong-willed,
(mostly) self-assured, (mostly) unintimidated girls in
the HP world. And perhaps it's not fair for me to want
Ginny to completely or mostly adopt the same
personality traits, but I just want to see her take
control of her life and start kicking some butt.

-Jessica, who is very much like Hermione now, but
wishes she had been more so when she was younger, too
:-) 

 

=====
"Oh, I'll settle down with some old story/About a boy who's just like me/Thought there was love in everything and everyone/You're so naive!/After a while they always get it/They always reach a sorry end/Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then/With a winning smile, the boy/With naivety succeeds/At the final moment, I cried/I always cry at endings"
- "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying," Belle and Sebastian