OOP: Boys & Girls in the Potter World

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 67235

Jenny: 

 
> Cho - ah, I can relate to her behavior, which is probably why she 
> irritated me so much.  As I was tearing through my first read, I 
> squirmed when she burst into tears and when she left Harry at the 
> table during their date.  I vividly remember being a teen and 
having> serious trouble getting a grip on my emotions and thinking, 
for some reason, it was okay to always let people know how I was 
feeling, whether it was from the look on my face, the tone of my 
voice, or the clothes I wore (wore nothing but black for a good 
year).  As an adult, I see how selfish I was and how boys certainly 
did *not* want to date a girl who was an emotional-basket case, no 
matter how pretty she was.  
> I wanted to jump into the book and give Cho some advice on how to 
keep Harry interested, because once the tears and the questions 
started,  their relationship was a goner.  In a nutshell, Cho is 
quite a  realistic teen girl, and as someone mentioned, as pretty as 
she was,> it wasn't enough to boost her self-esteem.  Very teen.


Not a lady, but wanted to give my point of view here. Cho really 
didn't lose me until she started defending her idiot friend Marietta. 
Her crying fit over Hermione was pretty hideous, but I think that 
just shows how unusual the Hermione-Harry friendship really is, that 
someone like Cho can't grasp that they are just friends. Viktor 
didn't get it either.

(no, I'm not a Harry-Hermione shipper. I think they are just friends.)

 

> Hermione - I adore Hermione but I couldn't relate to her then and 
> can't relate to her so much now.  I don't think any of my friends 
were both smart and incredibly confident the way Hermione is.  Most 
of my friends worked extremely hard at school but often struggled 
with boys, worrying far more than Hermione seems to.  Teen girls can 
sit and analyze *every single* movement made by the cute boy.  I know 
I did  that endlessly, but Hermione seems not to be too bothered by 
what the boys think of her.  If she is bothered, she puts on the best 
act I've  ever seen.  If I was in her position and Ron spoke to me 
before and> after the Yule Ball the way he did, I would have broken 
down and cried all night.  Hermione seems to shrug it off.


Now, I can relate to this. I had a friend that KNEW it all about 
women. But, funny thing, we never saw him with a woman. We'd listen 
to his yammering about women, not fully realizing he was full of crap 
until later.

I wonder how Hermione would do in a relationship of her own, and how 
logical she would be.

I really see the Yule Ball as all about Hermione. She was the one who 
primped. She got the prize catch at school. That was her night, as I 
see it, to be appreciated for something other than her mind.

And nothing Ron, Viktor, Harry or anyone else said was going to 
change that. So, that's why I think she shrugged off Ron's tirade as 
easily as she did. And besides, she was right. Ron was being really 
unreasonable -- you snooze, you lose, pal -- and our girl Hermione is 
very confident when she knows she's right. 

> Ginny - CoS and OoP Ginny are vastly different, even though I like 
> Ginny in both books.  Do 14 year olds really develop confidence so 
> quickly?  That I don't remember.

Ginny reminds me of 14-year-olds at my school that somehow ALWAYS 
seemed to be dating guys at least three years older than them. I need 
to set up a clock to determine when that girl is legal.

Darrin
-- I'm not a sick bastard, I just play one on TV.