[HPforGrownups] Re: Stereotyping

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 86988

>
> > The fact that this is a fictional construct and
> > not to be taken seriously seems to have passed
> > them by.
>
>Uhhhhh...please excuse me while I get up off the floor and try to stop
>chortling.  "Not to be taken seriously"?  In post number 84678 on only
>the *most serious* of many Internet discussion groups devoted to these
>books?  Were you not taking these fictional constructs seriously when
>you started a lengthy thread a few weeks ago speculating about
>relationships between Dobby, the Potters and the Malfoys?
>
I'd just like to interject a comment on this exchange here - which I think 
got unnecessarily heated - because I was thinking about this very sort of 
comment from another list as I was coming in to work this morning:  I don't 
think it's particularly constructive to discuss or try to choose for someone 
else on whether to "take something seriously" or not.  If any kind of remark 
is patronizing, this one is.  I find the filter of "take it seriously or 
not" to be a particularly silly one when applied to any sort of writing - 
the questions are more detailed:  is the style good or not; if fiction, are 
the plot and characters convincing or not; if not fiction, are opinions 
clearly labelled as such and facts supported?  If theories are presented, 
are they identified as such and not as unshakable conclusions?

People take different thing seriously.  They don't deserve to be attacked or 
ridiculed over it.  If you're really concerned that someone has "lost a grip 
on reality" over something, discussing it with them gently (and privately) 
is about 1,000 times more effective if your aim is really to help and not to 
simply feel superior at someone else's expense.

To keep this in canon:  yes, it's a little disturbing to read of children 
expecting to receive letters from Hogwarts.  But no more so than children 
who believe in Santa Claus.  They will find out differently and outgrow it.  
There's no doubt at all that JKR's work is having a serious impact on our 
culture.  Heck, it's having a serious impact on Britain's economy.  It's 
inspiring children to read, and inspiriing discussions of right and wrong.  
It's inspiring other, less positive things like book banning and burning; 
but at least people are *thinking*.

Felinia

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