polite kids (was: Snape's greasy hair)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 76959

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "erinellii" <erinellii at y...> 
wrote:
>  

Erin:
> Don't forget, Buttercup and June, that many of the Hogwarts kids 
are 
> from all-wizarding families.  The wizarding world is in many ways 
> stuck in the middle ages. Language and technology (Hagrid's 
crossbow) 
> are two examples.  Perhaps this includes manners as well?  
>   And as for the kids who don't come from the WW, well, they start 
> Hogwarts at a very young age, 11, too soon for the teenage 
rebellion 
> thing.  Then they are at school for ten months of every year with 
the 
> polite WW kids, soaking up that atmosphere.  Also, a lot of the 
> things regular teens have to be angry about simply aren't present 
at 
> Hogwarts.  No parents to be angry at, the teachers don't try to 
> interfere in their private lives, and they actually LIKE going to 
> school and learning magic (who wouldn't!)  so not too much 
> complaining that subjects are irrelevant and they're never going to 
> use this stuff in "real life" anyway.  What's to be angry about?
> 
> Erin
> 
> 
> > Buttercup wrote:
> 
> > >  Mind you, the Hogwarts kids are a model of
> > >  politeness compared the 
> > >  real youth of today.
> 
> June wrote: 
> 
>  > Unbelievably polite.  Mind you if JKR had wanted to go for 
gritty 
> > realism, the book would have been so full of **** and $@*#'s! 
that 
> > it would have been pretty nigh incomprehensible and it certainly 
> > wouldn't be sold to children.
> > 
> > I don't count that against the books - if I want gritty realism 
and 
> > lots of profanities I'll go out and read the likes of Irvine 
Welsh. 
> > I certainly wouldn't want my daughter reading something like that 
> > either.

Geoff:
Follow up to that -  what has surprised me about the films is that 
some of the characters (Ron in particular) have been allowed to 
indulge in (mildish) swearing which is not in the book. As someone 
who was brought up in the dim and distant past not to swear, it 
rather grates with me on occasions.