Weight watching (was Dancing Dudley?)

Thu Feb 20 12:17:03 UTC 2003

No: HPFGUIDX 52583

David wrote:

> I think Dumbledore is in part implying 'fat 
> can be sexy'.  Hence Dudley; many readers are uncomfortable with 
> the way his fatness is continually emphasised as something 
> unpleasant, and I see the germ of an alternative view.

And Amy Z wrote:

> I like!  And Maxime is described as "handsome" on at least two 
> occasions, and not at all in a "despite her size" way but in a way 
> that suggests, if anything, that her hugeness (code for "fat"?) is 
> an asset.

Then Amy Z pointed out:

> Neville is also coded as fat, btw--"round-faced."  I have trouble 
> with JKR's attitude toward fat as seen in the way she writes 
> Dudley, but she is definitely capable of creating an overweight 
> character who is meant to be viewed with affection and respect.

And I (Morgan D.) humbly introduce myself to everyone and comment:

In the discussion concerning how overweighed characters are portrayed 
in HP books, Neville Longbottom and Olympia Maxime have been 
mentioned as examples of a non-biased view -- nice people who just 
happen to be overweighed, meaning (arguably) that not all fat people 
in HP are "bad".

Well, first let me point out that my view on this might be a bit 
distorted because I watched the PS movie before reading the HP books -
- so when I first read the name Neville, the image of Matthew Lewis 
came to my mind instantly. Therefore, my first impression of his 
character was "fat clumsy boy equals comical relief". Neville is not 
bad (or so I think). He's a sweet young boy, forgetful, prone to 
accidents, kind-hearted, and yes, brave. Someone who could probably 
be a good friend -- we don't know for sure because Harry never showed 
much interest in him, and we're somewhat stuck to Harry's perspective 
of the world. We don't even know if Neville is a loner, or if he has 
friends of his own (Dean? Seamus? The Gryffindor girls? Someone 
else?). 

Only in GoF we're allowed a deeper look in Neville's personality. 
Only then we learn that there might be a reason, a tragic reason, for 
Neville to be the way he is. I'm not saying that pre-GoF Neville was 
incapable of attracting sympathies. Anyone who lived through the 
experience of feeling stupid and inadequate during school years -- 
and who didn't, at least once? -- is likely to feel some 
identification with Neville's struggles. But I feel that before GoF 
his portrait was somewhat shallow, bidimensional, favoring the "fat 
boy as comic relief" old concept. I remember reading "The Pensieve" 
chapter (#30, GoF) and saying, "Wow! There's something about this kid 
after all!"

Of course, JKR might have done this on purpose. Make a simple, 
harmless, easy to relate to, comical relief character, and then, 
BOOM!, surprise, there was so much more to him than it seemed at 
first. And maybe Neville's round face was deliberately added to the 
cauldron as a key ingredient for that effect. Maybe Neville is there 
to redeem all the overweighed comical characters of the fictional 
world, who knows? It's possible. 

What I *can* tell you is that *my* first impressions of all the 
characters with large physique I can remember now had pretty negative 
facets. 

Vernon Dursley - fat and mean and not particularly bright.

Aunt Marge - fat and VERY mean.

Dudley Dursley - yes, his fatness seems to be there to emphasize his 
parents' over-indulgence towards him, in contrast with the way Harry 
is almost starved. It doesn't change the fact that he is both fat AND 
mean AND not particularly bright.

Hagrid - huge (if not exactly fat), kind, but not particularly bright 
either.

Crabbe - "thickset" (PS chapter 6), mean, not particularly bright. 

Goyle - ditto

Molly Weasley - plump, extremely kind, and I don't feel up to judging 
her intelligence at this point, but I can't help pointing out that 
she's the model of the stay-home mother, with more kids she can 
afford. Nowadays, in many cultural environments, this would 
automatically be catalogued as a negative portrait -- no profession, 
no ambition, and "didn't anyone ever tell her about birth control?" 
These are criticisms she's likely to hear in a post Sexual Revolution 
society. What were JKR's intentions when she developed this character 
this way? I wouldn't know. 

Cornelius Fudge - "portly" (CoS chapter 14 and PoA chaoter 30) -- as 
in corpulent or dignified? --, either evil or a coward, and until 
*that* is sorted out I won't discuss his intelligence either. 

Peter Pettygrew - "fat little boy" (PoA chapter 10) and "plump man 
who had lost a lot of weight in a short time" (PoA chapter 19), 
cowardly, opportunist traitor, described by many as untalented. 

Olympia Maxime - the one corpulent female who is a love interest to 
someone in the HP universe. Two remarks though. 
One, she's a half-giantess, and the one who fancies her is a half-
giant too. It seems like the classical anti-interracial suggestion 
that "only one of your kind can love your kind". Did Hagrid fancy her 
because she was one of his kind? Or because he could only find beauty 
in one of his kind?
Two, she's described not as pretty or beautiful, but as having 
a "handsome face" (GoF chapter 15) and a "handsome head" (GoF chapter 
17). I'm not a native speaker, so I fail to grasp all the 
connotations of using "handsome" instead of "beautiful" or some 
another adjective more commonly used for women.  *looks around, 
hopeful*  Anyone in the mood to explain it to me?

I won't comment on Fridwulfa, Hagrid's mother, because we know 
nothing about her. But curiously, the giants don't seem to have the 
best of reputations, do they? (On the other hand, that's the 
wizarding community's opinion, and average wizards are described as 
terribly prejudiced at times.) 

Anyway, it's just how I've perceived things. The protagonist, his 
friends, his parents, his parents' true friends, and lovely-bastard 
Snape, those are all slim, and their possible love interests are 
slim. I couldn't find anything suggesting that fat could be 
attractive, except for Olympia being described as a graceful dancer. 
And even then, "she moved very gracefully FOR A WOMAN SO LARGE", 
Harry points out. (GoF, chapter 23, emphasis is mine) I feel fatness 
and corpulence is as much an issue in HP as it is in real world. 

Of course, we should remember this is supposedly a teenager's view, 
and teenagers can be prejudiced as hell when it comes to physical 
attributes. If that's the case, it would be nice to see Harry 
outgrowing these biased portraits at some point. 

Delurking newbie, signing off,

Morgan D. 
Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br