Why to Like and Not Like OoP

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 70796

"newdevilry9" wrote:

> I think it's important to keep in mind that it is still initially 
> intended to be a children's book.  While I feel that OoP is 
> touching on themes that are not entirely at a child's level,

Oops :-) I'm afraid I must disagree with you again : I never thought 
HP was a children's book series, but rather a series of books for 
everyone interested in them, children and adults alike. It is true 
that books with children as heroes are usually more aimed at kids, 
but that doesn't necessarily make them children's books. And as for 
OoP, it is *definitely* not a children's book, in my opinion !

> I think JKR keeps the complexity and range of emotions somewhat 
> simplistic for that reason.  Kids need to understand that there 
> hero is pissed. 

Okay with that.

> Kids don't need to consider how much therapy he would really need 
> to deal with all of the trauma he's been through. 

NOT okay with that. Why shouldn't they consider this matter of 
therapy ? Isn't it like telling them that it's okay to be pissed off 
and to take it on everyone else and not do anything about it ? I 
mean, it IS okay to be pissed off by things of course, but in my 
opinion, it is NOT okay to take it on everyone else and we HAVE to 
learn to do something about it. In my family, if we have a problem, 
we are *expected* to do something about it, not just wait for it to 
go away, *especially* if that problem makes us turn nasty on others. 
So while I perfectly understand that Harry is pissed off and 
misbehaves as a consequence, I don't like it that the underlying 
message is basically : "it's okay to wallow in your problems and pick 
at others until friends or adults come and help you out". First 
because it's the highway to depression (Harry is on the verge of 
depression throughout the book, and if his friends weren't here to 
rescue him once in a while, like after Mr Weasley's attack, he would 
probably have broken down), and also because it teaches to wait for 
answers from others instead of acting for ourselves. And I don't 
think it's a good idea to teach that it's okay for 15-year-old kids 
not to take care of themselves emotionally.

> And to counter, while yes, GoF was traumatic, so was his 
> interaction with Quirrel and Riddle.   Ok, so no one happened to 
> die in those instances, but it was not for a lack of trying and no 
> one was wondering why Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder wasn't being 
> addressed following those books.

*I* was :-) Okay, maybe not PTSD, but still I was wondering how Harry 
was managing to take it all in stride. But you see, the big 
difference was that until OoP, Harry *was* just taking it all in 
stride, so that was kind of okay with me. But in the last book, he 
blows up. So I was thinking that *finally*, we were going to see how 
to deal with emotional trauma. But no ! The only answer seems to be : 
get angry, get pissed off, keep everything bottled up inside, blow up 
in someone's face once in a while, and you'll be quite fine. Grrr...

> Selfishly, I just wish JKR would write books for adults, or maybe 
> just write an adults version, something that really delves into the 
> complexities, and all of the emotions that are there.   I think 
> they are great characters and to delve into what's really going on 
> with each of them would be too complicated for the kids whose 
> parents are reading this to them at bedtime (an insane practice if 
> you ask me.) 

I was okay with this practice for the first 2 or 3 books (depending 
on the kids). But not with the last ones.

(snip)

> Which is why, when readers say that they want JKR to write Harry 
> Post-Hogwarts books, I say: no way, not interested.  Give me the 
> history of Lily and James!  The story of the first war, the 
> original Order!  That is my desperate wish for what JKR should do 
> next.  I want an adult history of the adults.  A girl can dream, 
> right? 

I understand that wish :-) Especially considering the complexity of 
the characters involved : the Marauders, Snape, Lily... I mean, James 
turning from that bully to a hero, sounds like a miracle to me, I'd 
love to know what happened !

Del