SHIP: Romantic Comedy & Author Intent; Ginny

[pippin_999 <foxmoth@qnet.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51005

I said:

<<<<<<Book One opens with a murder, and we, as readers, 
expect that any saga that opens with a murder will concern  the 
quest to see justice done.  In the same way, if a girl happens 
across a boy's path while searching for a toad (instead of a 
handsome prince <g>), it's reasonable to expect some 
comic/romantic involvement later.>>>>>>>>>

Penny:
>>But, this is all with hindsight.  When you first read PS/SS, you 
had no idea that the Weasleys would be important until later in 
the story.  You definitely didn't know but what Hermione would be 
a very minor character, never to appear much again.  Where's 
Piers Polkiss after all?  Lee Jordan appears very early on the 
Platform, and he's not a particularly developed character.  I think 
you're imposing hindsight on your interpretation.  At the time, I 
certainly didn't expect comic/romantic involvement.  I still don't.  
<<

I'm not sure I understand your point. *I* didn't know that 
Hermione would be important in the story when she made her 
first appearance, but JKR certainly did, and she chose to 
introduce Hermione to the boys in just that comic/romantic way. 
Certainly from the Troll incident on, we know Hermione's a major 
character.

 I knew  while reading PS/SS that it was a multi-year saga (the 
great big shiny gold "Year 1" on the cover kind of tipped me off 
<g>)  and that James and Lily had met at Hogwarts--so  it was 
clear at the start that one of the things I could expect the 
characters to do at Hogwarts is meet their potential mates. So, 
yes, I was interested to see what eligible girls Harry would meet 
at Hogwarts.

 It didn't surprise me that Harry would run across two before he 
even got there. Unless I have misread something drastically, I 
wouldn't think Piers Polkiss and Lee Jordan are eligible 
romantic partners for Harry.

You seem to be persuaded that teenagers should not be 
encouraged to think of anyone they meet at school as a future 
partner--but I see no foreshadowing of this lesson in the story 
itself. The two failed couples we know of, Hagrid's parents and 
Tom Riddle's, did *not* meet at Hogwarts, since Giants and 
Muggles do not attend the school. 

I said:
<<<<What strikes a chord with the readers and makes them 
want the characters to connect is the sense that they are 
emotionally incomplete when apart. This sense is created for 
both Ginny and Hermione in their opening scenes with Harry and 
Ron. It isn't created for any of the other female characters. In fact 
that's one of the biggest complaints people have about the 
books.  Having created this incompleteness, the story should 
resolve it, or it will always seem unfinished.>>>>>>>>>>

Penny:
Well, I'm afraid I really can't agree with this.  That may well be 
true for some readers, but not this one.  I've found Ginny irritating 
from the get-go, and I never once considered that she was 
Harry's potential romantic partner.  Briefly, after I read CoS, I 
thought that might be a possibility, but I immediately read PoA 
after that and quickly decided that no, Ginny couldn't possibly 
hold that role since JKR shunted her even more in the 
background in PoA.  That's one thing I definitely can't see as a 
"convention" (holding the hero's love interest into a completely 
background undeveloped role for a sustained period of time).  
Makes no sense to me. <<

I wonder if you would find Ginny so irritating if she had a crush 
on, say, Viktor Krum instead? <g> 

One of the things the author has to do is keep things from being 
predictable. This character, whom you admit you considered as 
a potential romantic partner for Harry, (hard to see how  H/G 
could play as contrived or an afterthought if that's the case)  has 
now been thrust into the background so far that you can't 
imagine how she could ever get back into Harry's life. That's an 
obstacle to the relationship, which is one of the necessary 
ingredients if the story isn't to be dead in the water at the start. 

As for McGonagall, in what way do you consider her to be 
emotionally incomplete? Ginny's incompleteness is obvious 
from her first scene on. McGonagall, OTOH seems remarkably 
stable and self-sufficient. Emotional incompleteness is not the 
same as character development, which would tell us things like 
*why* Ginny so desperately wanted a hero in her life, or why 
Neville, who's obviously attracted to Hermione, found Ginny 
attractive as well.

 I can see you don't *like* the H/G chemistry and that you don't 
like the R/H chemistry either, but that's not  the same thing as no 
chemistry at all.  I also would say that Ginny's interest in Harry is 
crafted skillfully into the narrative. I certainly didn't get
the impression from GoF that she'd forgotten about him. She's 
not actively pursuing him, but since that was one of the immature 
aspects of her character (chasing the train in PS/SS, wanting to 
go meet Harry) , that's hardly a detriment to their future as a 
couple. 

 As for throwing the  love interest into an inactive role, that is a  
part of many traditional stories, such as "The Sleeping Beauty."  
Here's Bruno Bettelheim's explanation, from The Uses of 
Enchantment, Vintage Books, 1977--

** Ancient as "The Sleeping Beauty" is, in many ways it has a 
more important message for today's youth than many other 
tales. Presently many of our young people--and their parents-- 
are fearful of quiet growth, when nothing seems to happen, 
because of a common belief that only doing what can be seen 
achieves goals. "The Sleeping Beauty" tells that a long period of 
quiescence, of comtemplation, of concentration on the self, can 
and often does lead to highest achievement."**

There is also H/H chemistry, I admit.  *I * happen not to like it. 
It seems  oriented to Harry's  needs and with rewarding 
Hermione for all she's done for him--as if the only way a man 
can properly show his appreciation for a woman's help is to fall 
in love with her. No thanks!  But that's just me <g>

Pippin