Food and body image in the series

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 68181

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Beth Currie" <lists at d...>
wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> ..., I have an issue with the way she writes about food and body 
> image.
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Exercise-wise, I suppose Harry & Ron play Quidditch, but Hermione
> doesn't seem to get any exercise at all.  *HOW* are they not all
> bursting out of their robes??!!
> 

bboy_mn:

The Hogwarts castle is huge, and I mean HUGE. Bigger than any
real-life castle ever built. 

The main wings of the castle are 7 stories high, and that is not 7
normal residential building stories high, that is 7 CASTLE stories
high. Typical ceilings in a residential building are 8 feet. Typical
ceilings in a castle are 15 to 30 feet high. For reference, a typical
three floor 'Keep' type castle is between 90 and 100 feet tall. 

That makes the seven story building wings easily the equivalent of a
12 story normal building, and these kids are up and down those stairs
all day long, not to mention the towers which are even taller, and the
slopping lawns. Given all that climbing an dwlking the length of the
castle, I would say that most of these kids are about as fit as your
average professional mountain climber.

> The portrayal of Dudley and his weight problem also bugs me. 
> ...edited...

bboy_mn:
Dudley and the Dursley represent a measure of unhealth
self-indulgence. Vernon and Aunt Marge want Dudley to be a proper size
man like his father, not some swotty nancy boy, or some skinny runt
like Harry. 

In addition, I think you will find that many many of us here feel that
Dudley's weight, his parents blindness to that weight, and more
importantly the cause of that excess weight as a form of child abuse.
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley are harming Dudley as badly with their excess
indulgence as they would if the beat and abused him everyday. 

Because of his parents abuse, Dudley has the potential to grow up to
be a very physically and mentally unhealthy person who is without a
doubt going to be socially disfunctional. I think many kids too, see
that Dudley's parent are to blame for his problem, and equally see
that his parents are hurting him. They are loving him to death.


> Beth, who would be the size of a house if she lived at Hogwarts. Or 
> at least the size of Dudley.

bboy_mn:
To some extent, the portrayal of fat people is a matter of real life.
Generally, as people get older, they get fatter. Athletes like Bagman
are especially prone to becoming overweight when they get older. Even
high school and college athlete, keep reliving their glory days, and
drinking beer and eating just like they did when they were young,
unfortunately, they have long since stopped getting even remotely
close to that level of physical activity. 

So, I see the kids/students at Hogwarts as eating fairly typical of
kids their age. 

Also, not all bad people are fat in this story, anymore that all fat
people are bad. Lucius Malfoy isn't fat. Voldemort himself isn't fat. 

Just a thought.

bboy_mn