OOtP A tad disappointed (spoilage)

[abeeson20]

No: HPFGUIDX 64443

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Matthew Huston" 
<matthisattva at y...> wrote:
> To the victor goes the spoilers..
> .
> .I feel that this viewpoint of OoP is not correct at all.  This 
idea of Sitcom Syndrome does not apply to this story.  

The idea of Harry being removed from Hogwarts and forced to study 
under the OoP is rather ridiculous when put into practical 
applications.  We are dealing with a young man who has lived a lie 
the majority of his life, been brought into a new world, become a 
folk hero and now you want to make him better than everyone else and 
not have to receive a proper enducation?  Come on, the kid already 
needs years of councilling.  In my opinion making this move would 
have ruined the series and forced Harry Potter to have lost the 
luster of being an adolescent hero and turned him into a child actor, 
someone who people think is cool, but are not surprised when he/she 
ends up like Michael Jackson.  That would put too much pressure and 
destroy the realistic aspects of Harry.

On top of that we cannot make him learn from the Aurors.  That also 
ruins the realism of the story.  He is 15 years old and not a well 
trained 15 year old at that.  Mr. Potter would not be receiving a 
well rounded education, would be the product of the training of 
people with a one track mind (fighting evil) and would not have the 
opportunity to become what he decided was the right career path for 
him.  I do not think that Tonks and Mad-Eye are going to train Harry 
so that he and Neville can open a greenhouse together in the future, 
or even allow him that choice.

I am also having a hard time understanding why there is a problem 
with Harry's treatment of Malfoy.  What has Malfoy, or his family, 
done to deserve better.  I believe that Harry is remarkably good to 
the little punk.  In the same position I would have been making 
Malfoy miserable, destroying his family name, setting him up to get 
into trouble at every turn and basically being the bane of his 
existence.  However, Harry is the bigger man here, but does not 
deserve to kiss and make up with that little miscreant.

On the Snape front I completely agree with you.  I think that should 
have been a confrontation and/or reconciliation between Snape and 
Harry.  I think that what Harry did was morally reprehensible and 
that at the very least he owes Snape an apology.  I do have to ask 
though, why did nobody ever point out that those memories were from 
Snape's point of view and may have been rather skewed because of that?

Getting back to the issue of the Sitcom Syndrome, I think that there 
are alot of factors that have not been considered here.  Things have 
changed DRASTICALLY. 
1. Voldemort is now KNOWN to be back, by the public.
2. We know now that V will never stop coming after Harry and we also 
know why he will never stop.
3. Harry is now more alone than before.  He has lost his parents and 
his Godfather.  When one thinks about it, that is the person that his 
parents had entrusted Harry's safety to and now he is gone as well.
4. We now know that Aunt Petunia is not nearly as devilish as we once 
believed.
5. HRH have taken their OWLS and are bordering on making the 
decisions which will decide their life's pursuits.
6. Harry is basically ready to start his own line of romance novels 
now that he is entering puberty and the hormones are kicking on.

Overall I would say that these factors make for a story that has 
changed dramatically over the course of 850 + pages.  I think that 
recognizing this factors as well as many I have not considered, or 
named, will allow us to realize that the world of Harry Potter is 
changing rapidly before our very eyes.

Adam Beeson
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> I finished reading OOtP and have to say that I was kind of
> disappointed in it. After a spectacular finish with GoF, I was
> thinking to my self: "Self," I was heard to say, "With everything
> we've heard, it's got to be great..."
> 
> Alas, no. Don't get me wrong the book was well written. It kept me
> reading until the last page, though that may have been to get to the
> who's-gonna-die part. I just came away empty. Part of the reason is
> the predictability of the plot, I think. It was was pretty easy to
> foretell that Umbridge had sent the Dementors after Harry about the
> time the detention part rolled around.
> 
> What bugged me the most, however was what I call the Sitcom Syndrom!
> (insert dramatic cresendo here)
> 
> Everything must be as it was at the beginning. Every sitcom starts 
as
> it always does, and ends up back with the characters *pretty much*
> back to their original pole positions at the end. I get the whole
> 'ancient protection thing' ...blah blah, but it is wearing thin, in 
my
> opinion.
> 
> I started where every good reader does, at the beginning, and was
> accepting that Harry was unhappily on Privet Drive once again, but
> when the Dementors attacked he and Big D, I was very interested. No
> such dangers had ever been so close to "home" before. Then came the
> owls delivering notes. And lo harry was expelled! To tell you all 
the
> truth, my heart lept with excitement. I hought the story was really
> going to take a facinating turn! Herry out of Hogwarts...into the
> world. Then when the Auror Advanced Guard showed up to whisk Harry
> away I was well and truely thrilled. At last! Cool characters that 
are
> real, battle hardened Aurors, here totake Harry into their world,
> teach him to channel his teen angst into a power beyond all measure!
> (insert another dramatic cresendo here)
> 
> No. Just a short visit (albeit neat-o) to the Ministry, and the new 
hq
> of the OOtP. Then it's back to Hogwarts. Oh yippy. More hatred 
towards
> Malfoy...and Snape...and pretty much anyone who crossed his path. 
Then
> at the end, when it's all said and done, we come full circle. Does
> Harry get to go with people like himself? People who can teach him,
> understand him, take him to a wizard psychologist foor his anger
> managment issues? NO!
> 
> Back to Privet Drive, so he can stew in his own emotions, dwell on
> death, and never leave the house because he might be killed.
> 
> Not only this, but other Sitcom Syndrom effects abound. The biggest 
is
> Snape. We really got to see Harry given some new info concerning the
> potions professor. Info that shoulda made Harry understand the man
> better. For a few pages it look like Harry might had a mental 
process
> worth saving...he was almost-sorta-maybe seeing it from Snape's 
side.
> Then of course, we MUST go back to him simply reviling Snape. 
Despite
> the perfectly sound explaination from Dumbledore about why Snape 
acted
> (all in Harry's extreme best intrests, to boot) the way he did, 
Harry
> has to go back to hating Snape.
> 
> I had such high hopes, that we would break out of the mold here. 
Then
> I realized that we're supposed to be seeing 7 years of wizard
> schooling. I had just hoped that the story would grow to be more.
> 
> Matthew Huston