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

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 57527

Jenny:
> 
> Who loves to argue?  Darrin!  Whoa - I was not in any calling you 
> childish and I'm not even sure where you got that from.  I said 
that JKR's writing at times was more child-oriented, and that her 
creating  characters like the Slytherins was an example of that.  I 
never said, btw, that *I* didn't also generally see them all as 
assholes, because> I do.  They're even often described in negative 
terms physically:> Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent seem to resemble 
monsters from _Where the> Wild Things Are_.  To top it off, even if a 
Slytherin like Snape  somehow turns away from the evil path they all 
seem to take, he still  behaves reprehensibly fairly regularly.
> 

I got that idea because you seemed to be saying that to believe the 
Slyths were all going to turn out bad -- which, at least with this 
current crop, I do believe that, given the lack of evidence to the 
contrary -- was childish.

But, I wasn't sure, especially since it was coming from you, so I 
hedged.

AND YOU READ AHEAD! You aren't supposed to do that in Choose Your Own 
Adventure!


> If JKR is trying to communicate a message about good and bad and 
the  choices we make, she's not doing the best job with the 
Slytherins. She makes it too easy there because she seems to want all 
of us to  hate them, no questions asked, and I can't do that.
> 
> So there.  Nyah.

Why not hate them? All the ones we've met so far are reprehensible. 
Their very founder was a genocidal lunatic. The only good one we've 
met is such a miserable git that he seems to be trying to torture 
students to make up for his one good deed. Seems perfectly reasonable 
to me.

But seriously, I have to believe that she is setting us up for one of 
the Slyth students to come to the light. Dumbledore's speech about 
making choices and easy vs. right paths had to have sunk into 
someone's thick skull. 

And no, I don't think it'll be Draco, nor do I think it'll be Crabbe 
or Goyle. They are basically house-elves without the intelligence and 
good fashion sense.

Of the current crop, perhaps it'll be Pansy. That would be a hoot if 
Draco's apparent girlfriend is a Muggle-Born. 

But it could be a new Slyth we get in the next three books, either 
someone who is younger or someone who simply hasn't been pointed out 
or developed. (Like Malcolm Braddock, or that big bloke, Warrington 
or someone else I'm not thinking of.)

My guess is, watch carefully at any new Slytherin names we get. There 
could be your good Slyth.

Darrin
-- Really hope it happens soon. I'm tired of this argument. :)