Going down with the SHIP

[Scott Northrup]

No: HPFGUIDX 50335

Please, forgive me for what I'm about to say.  I'm about to do some thinking
aloud, and it isn't based on canon (even in the loosest interpretation).
This will not be followed by any "Ah-ha's", "provens" or QEDs.

Alright, so I was at work yesterday, reading the news on
the-leaky-cauldron.org.  When I first read the following few paragraphs, I
found them somewhat interesting, but nothing particularly special at the
time.

<QUOTE>
Tuesday, January 21, 2003

DVD Details

I just got an email with details on the DVD - more coming, but I just had to
come here and say that some of the interviews on the disks are moderated by
none other than Newsround's Lizo Mzimba - including an interview with JKR
and Steve Kloves. Quotage:
  Lizo Mzimba:Can you explain how you work together to produce the final
script?
  Steve Kloves: Well from the beginning she gave me tremendous elbow room
but when you're in the middle of a series like this it's important that I
talk to Jo along the way and she will tell me if I'm going down the wrong
path.

  J.K. Rowling: I've given him more than I've ever given anyone else, which
I probably shouldn't say on screen or they'll kidnap and torture him, and we
need him.

</QUOTE>

I filed this bit of information [that movie screenwriter Steve Kloves works
closely with JKR while writing the screenplays] away for later use.

So today, while reading the many e-mails regarding SHIPs (always
entertaining, to say the least), my mind wandered over to the two HP movies,
particularly CoS.  I thought to myself (and not for the first time,
actually), "The movies seem to be setting up a Harry/Hermione romance!"
Certainly, some people would argue against this thought, but I'm just
relating my impression to y'all.

Now, here comes my blasphemy.  If JKR is setting up a Ron/Hermione romance
for the future books, why do the movies, which she certainly has a hand in,
seem to be setting up a Harry/Hermione relationship?

I'm sure the R/Hers (and others) will claim the movie does no such thing,
but I'll reiterate, these are simply my impressions.  I'll just mention that
the Hospital Scene where Harry finds the parchment in her hand, and [more
importantly] the final scene where the Trio is reunited (I refer to the
movies, and not the books, in case you decided to start reading my post from
the last sentence ;) are where my impressions were formed.

Once again, I beg forgiveness for what I have written above.   Now for a
more general comment on SHIP.

To be honest, all of the arguing over evidence in canon is pointless.  I'd
hypothesize that for female shippers, they tend to side with whichever male
character they feel more attraction towards (or whichever male character
they prefer, regardless of any attraction), and the male shippers will side
with whichever male character they relate to most (in my case, this is Harry
without a doubt).  While I believe that the Ron/Hermione scuffles are
definite evidence of Ron's attraction to Hermione, R/Hers will try and cite
them as evidence of Hermione's attraction to Ron.  H/Hers will argue that in
the worst case, Hermione is just fed up with Ron because he's being a total
jerk (I like Ron, he reminds me of a more insensitive version of my best
friend, but his behavior in these instances is horrid), and in the best
case, that she definitely likes Harry.  I stand somewhere in the middle.

I like to think that I have a good grasp on 'the big picture.'  Before
reading any interpretations of evidence one way or another, I felt that
Harry and Hermione would end up together in the long run, and that this
would somehow have serious reprecussions with Ron, who tends to see himself
as coming in second to Harry most of the time.  Simply put, Ron and Hermione
ending up together (in the long term) is just too obvious, and contributes
little to the plot.  I have no shame in admitting that I am most likely
biased in favor of H/H just because I can strongly relate to Harry (at least
from when I was in High School), and wish him more luck with girls than I
had (also, I think I would prefer H/H over H/G or H/C because A) Hermione is
the main female protagonist and B) Hermione is the kind of girl I've always
been attracted to *grins*).  So, take my thoughts for what they're worth.

Wow, that ended up being much longer (and covering more ground) than I had
intended.  If you got this far, Sorry, and Thank you.

-Scott
(I'm only 20, and claim no insight into the female psyche)

P.S. Okay, now, wouldn't it be a fascinating  plot twist if Ron and Hermione
started to date at some point, and  then, one night after serving detention
for throwing a frog liver at Draco in potions, Ron enters the common room to
find Harry and Hermione kissing?  Before you ask, I do feel like a traitor
to men everywhere for coming up with a scenario that could have been taken
straight out of All My Children (or some other soap).  *shrugs*  However, I
can only imagine Ron's reaction to this, and where it might take the fight
against Voldemort.  Do the math.