General Stereotypes (was: Fred and George and the battle of the sexes)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 57496

Jenny, in calling me a bit childish, wrote: 

> 
> Ah, stereotypes.  JKR writes them so well.  It is possibly the only 
> criticism I have of HP in general, but I can justify it.  Darrin, your 
> intense loathing of All Things Slytherin feeds right in.
> 

oooh, nice foreshadowing... let's see how it goes.


> Characterizing all of the Slytherins as jerks who will be evil is also 
> a bit childish.  In reality, people are not generally simply good or 
> bad.  You may think so-and-so is just peachy but so-and-so has been a 
> real shmuck to me.  This is why I'd like to see JKR take a different 
> direction with Draco.  Make him a coward who can't use Cruciatius on 
> another!  Turn him against Dear Old Dad!  Let us find out his secret 
> ambition is to run an inn in Hogsmeade!  Or make him what he'd be in 
> real life: a spoiled, unsuccessful, completely dependent on Dad to 
> bail him out kind of guy, not a leading DE.  As of now, the Slytherins 
> pretty much always do what we expect them to and I'd like to see 
> something different.
> 

Since I don't want to jump to a conclusion, I'm going to respond in the style of 
the old Choose Your Own Adventure Books.

Am I being referred to as a bit childish here? If so, please begin with the next 
two paragraphs. If not, please skip to the sentence beginning with the quote 
from your post.

Remember, reading through will lessen your enjoyment in reading this post.


So, you ask for the Slyths to do something different because they are 
predictable, but then you say, I'm wrong, AND a bit childish besides, for 
holding onto the belief that the Slyths we've met  -- so far -- all seem to be 
without redeeming qualities?

Don't call me childish based on what you WANT to happen, Jenny.  That's just 
not fair.

"In reality, people are not generally simply good or bad," 

Fair enough, but this ain't reality. It's the HP universe, and in that universe, the 
Slyths we've met -- with the exception of Snape, who grew up somewhere 
along the way -- have shown me very little evidence that 

I've set a broad, admittedly unforgiving, criteria here. I see the Slyth culture to 
be filled with racism and those that stand beside and let that happen are just 
as culpable.  

The Mudblood thing gets me angry every single time, as does the idea of 
Salazar leaving behind a Muggle-killing monster. It is genocide, plain and 
simple.

I fully realize that off-screen, there could be Slytherin kids who are filled with 
disgust over Draco, or are hiding their Muggle-born nature,  In a real school, 
there would likely be. 

But they aren't in canon. We have to go with what is in canon.


> The girly giggling is definitely another irritating stereotype.  I 
> *hated* when the girls were pointing and giggling at Harry when 
> McGonagall told her students about the upcoming Yule Ball.  The 
> giggling when Cedric's name was mentioned wasn't much better.  I'm 
> glad that Cedric himself was not the stereotype of the handsome jock 
> and that Cho's characterization reveals her to be mature and 
> respectful. 

Roger Ebert, the movie critic, once commented about a movie that had a lot of 
characters in it. He said that the movie depended, to a certain extent, on 
typecasting. We couldn't keep the characters straight any other way.

As Cedric grew as a character, he got more developed. That kind of thing will 
happen. But some characters are just -- apparently, but who knows with JKRs 
penchant for surprise -- not appearing to be crucial enough. Lavender and the 
Partil girls, for instance, and Seamus and Dean, don't appear to be headed for 
complex characterhood.

I do think we have to keep in mind we are talking about adolescents here -- 
and late-blooming ones at that, if Harry is just noticing women in the middle of 
his 14th year -- and some giggling is going to happen.  This is the first time, 
really, that this group of kids interacted in a Mars-Venus kind of way. 

 
> --jenny from ravenclaw, who now always reviews my posts for potential 
> band names.  See any, Darrin? ************

The Anti-Giggling Girls?

And from me:
The Choose Your Own Adventures?

Darrin