[HPforGrownups] OoP: Has Anyone Seen Redeemable Draco???

[the firey chasm from whence it came]

No: HPFGUIDX 66724

At 12:16 AM 7/2/2003 +0000, you wrote:
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>I just thought I'd throw out the question for all you Draco fans out
>there. Is there more evidence in OoP for "Redeemable Draco"?

Actually, in a recent interview JKR mentioned that "I think you're all 
getting too fond of Draco". Which is very interesting...does this mean 
something bad's going to happen to Draco, or does this mean that he's going 
to DO something really bad? I swear...her interviews always leave me with 
more questions than answers.


>Personally, I've never liked Draco. The only way that I thought he
>could turn into one of the good guys would be if he, for some reason,
>examined the kind of stuff he's learned all his life as a good Malfoy
>and decide that maybe what Daddy Lucius was teaching him was wrong.

I've never liked Draco either, and I've never found him all that 
interesting a character. I have a theory as to why so many people like him, 
but frankly it isn't a pleasant one. Let's face it, we've all known a Draco 
in our lives. Probably more than one. He has a common personality, the 
typical snobbish bully. How many people reading HP right now were like 
Draco as a child? I think it's safe to assume that probably at least a 
reasonable number of them were, seeing as how this isn't a rare personality 
type. Well, they're bound to see a character that reflects their past 
selves in a more positive light than a  person who was never like Draco 
would. We tend to relate to characters and like best characters that we 
have something in common with, or can see ourselves in. Like I can really 
relate to Hermione for example because I was a "smart" kid and I have more 
than a passing interest in social justice. I totally can't relate to Draco 
because I wasn't ever a bully, I was always the kid who got picked on. But 
someone who had been like Draco in their youth is probably more likely to 
like and relate to him now, and also see his flaws in a more redeeming 
light, perhaps focusing on his relationship to his father and excusing him 
on the basis of that. They also might be using the same logic that Sirius 
used to excuse James when he said, "of course he was an idiot, we were all 
idiots, we were only 15!". A lot of people are probably taking the point of 
view of "oh, he's young, he'll grow out of it", in regards to Draco.

I for one have never been a fan of Redeemable!Draco, but it's a popular 
theme in fan fiction. He also tends to be a much better developed character 
in fanon than canon. Personally I find him to be a cartoony, hardly 
developed and increasingly ineffectual adversary in canon.

>  Anyway, while I
>know I've only covered some of Draco's scenes, he strikes me as one
>of the characters that has had little, if any, character
>development.  If anything, he strikes me as becoming even more of a
>stock character.

I'd agree with this. If anything, his importance seems to be waning and his 
focus seems to be on fairly childish things (House points, Quidditch, 
getting HRH in trouble, etc), while Harry seems focused on much bigger 
issues (Sirius, V., etc). I think his importance has actually been 
overestimated by a lot of people, he strikes me more as something who was a 
big obstacle in Harry's early years, but is now becoming more and more of a 
joke. If you think about it, that makes sense, I mean, after taking on Lord 
V., how the hell is Draco supposed to be remotely threatening anymore?

~dream