Lockhart as Pullman? (Veering Off-Topic, then back On)

[grannybat84112]

No: HPFGUIDX 91192

> > Siriusly Snapey Susan again:
> > What Granger was
> > suggesting is that Gilderoy is based on PHILIP PULLMAN himself, 
> > not on one of Pullman's characters
> 
> Iggy here:
> Having met a number of authors ... I can say that
> the authors I have met tend to be either very nice and easygoing, or
> arrogant, condescending, and a little too full of themselves.  
> 
>...(One of the hardest things to do, apparently, is keep a
> realistic self image when you're popular for a long time.  Having 
> people gush over you and your writing often goes to one's head... 
> for some much earlier than others.  

Not intending to sound critical, but it's not just writers who fall 
prey to this problem. Actors, painters, film directors--anybody who's 
experienced commercial and/or critical success in the arts is 
vulnerable to this form egotism. It runs rampant in the worlds of 
science and business, too.

I see the point this thread is making, yes. If JKR is puncturing 
another writer's swollen head, then her criticism is particularly 
sharp because Lockhart turns out to be practicing a form of 
plagiarism--if the adventures in his books aren't his own, then the 
words probably aren't, either. (Does he Obliviate his ghost-writer 
after each book is finished? I wonder.)

I suspect JKR wrote Lockhart not just as a symbol for Harry, but for 
herself. Perhaps she thinks of golden Gilderoy whenever she fears 
that she's slipping into the personality of The Well-Praised, Well-
Paid Author.


Grannybat
who thinks JKR
is very grounded