SHIP cliches (Was: Re: H/H SHIP)

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 79923

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cressida_tt" 
<cressida_tt at h...> wrote:

the cliche of the hero getting the girl is HOLLYWOOD which is about 
as far from real life as it is possible to get. This scenario was 
created as a sop because things like that really do not happen in 
real life. If JK Rowling is trying to portray realistic teen romance 
in her sub-plot then the ending of the book will be as unlikely as 
real life itself. I am sure that she will show more spark of 
imagination than most of the 'shipping' arguments I have recently 
seen on this board.

CW comments:

The problem I have with all the SHIPPING is that in my experience, 
teenage crushes and romances rarely lead to long-term relationships, 
and if they do, they end in tears, because the partners grow up and 
grow apart. I am in my mid 40s, and can't think of anyone I knew at 
school who either married their school sweetheart, or if they had a 
serious relationship then, is still in it. 

Similarly, even those who met their partners at college, or in their 
early 20s, had trouble sticking together. Maybe its our real world, 
but the strong couples I know are often on their second or third 
relationship, having trudged through a lot of grief and revised 
expectations on the way. 

On the other hand, plenty of people I know of both sexes keep in 
touch with school friends, and remain curious and interested in how 
their life stories pan out. (See the success of that website which 
puts school friends in touch with each other).

It seems to me to be incredibly boring and limiting to suggest that 
any of the main school characters should marry their classmates. Ok, 
so Lily and James married just out of school, but they died so young, 
we have no idea if it would have been a long term happy relationship. 
Molly and Arthur apparently did the same; but personally I wouldn't 
class their marriage as an interesting relationship from the way it 
is depicted in the book, in fact it seems to me it is incredibly 
stereotypical from the 50s era (I am thinking of my own parents here).

With JKR's personal history, I would be really surprised if she 
disposes of all the kids in neat pairs. Some of them might embark on 
a more serious romance, and we can endlessly speculate on the outcome 
of that post-book 7, but will she give us permanent, marriage-type 
relationships by the end of the series ? No, I hope not. Its totally 
the wrong message for 21st century kids; they need to grow 
individually and find out who they are before taking on the 
compromises and difficulties of a permanent partnership.