OOP: I was disappointed, too
jenny_ravenclaw
meboriqua at aol.com
Thu Jun 26 13:38:52 UTC 2003
No: HPFGUIDX 64221
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "joywitch_m_curmudgeon"
<joym999 at a...> wrote:
> The other thing that made me not like OoP that much is that it was
so dark that it made Hogwarts unappealing. The reason I fell in love
with Harry Potter was because it made me want so much to go to
Hogwarts, to be a witch, to find the magic in the world. OoP's
Hogwarts is not a place I would choose to be. But, I guess that's
JKR's point – that humans are pretty good at screwing things up.>
I can understand why you feel disappointed with OoP - I had a feeling
people would feel that way. I was quite satisfied, though. I
certainly didn't find Hogwarts unappealing, even with Umbridge's
constant meddling. I'd still choose to go to Hogwarts if I had the
chance, Umbridge or no Umbridge. I suppose also JKR was showing us
how bureaucracy, even in the WW, can make things unpleasant for
everyone, but as a NYC teacher, I am sooooo used to it.
she continued with:
> And, there wasn't much character development -- with some major
exceptions, of course, such as Hermione, Ginny, Neville, McGonagall,
and (poor) Sirius.>
What about Harry? I felt he was enormously developed. I loved that
JKR chose to give him some serious flaws, like his temper and his
inability to deal with girls. She also nailed the age of 15, which
Harry was, quite painfully. Every scene where Harry spoke up made me
cheer for him even more. In an indirect way, James Potter was more
developed as well, as we discover he was not the perfect man he
appeared to be in previous scenes. I found that very real; often the
very people we admire are the ones whose faults we ignore. It is a
shock, as it was for Harry, to discover that they aren't always nice,
or smart, or that they mess up, just like we do.
There were definitely a few things that seemed superfluous, like
Hagrid's tale (sorry, Joywitch!), and there were, of course, things
that we could all see coming, as we've been discussing HP in minute
detail for several years now. For example, finding out what the
Order was was no surprise to me at all, as someone had already
predicted that here at HPFGU. Why Harry stays at the Dursleys was
also accurately described here, so that wasn't much of an "Oh!"
moment, either. That actually made me proud of the people here at
HPFGU. :-) Really, it would have been impossible for JKR to be
completely innovative and surprising, given the fact that we all have
probably spent as much time on Harry as she has.
--jenny from ravenclaw, whose favorite is still PoA
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