SHIP: JKR on Ginny, WAS Ginny is Mackenzie

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 136911

Ali:
> I'm not saying that JKR is a bad writer nor am I saying that
> I'm as good as she.  I'm merely saying that she made a rookie 
> mistake in writing H/G. 

Valky:
Hi Ali, I honestly do extend you due respect in saying this, I
promise. So I hope you don't mind if I state my difference of opinion
with this particular frame of mind.
The POV that the lack of H/G relationship canon in HBp, I understand,
could constitute a 'rookie mistake' as you said, but is it possible
that perhaps this fuzzy focus writing of the ship was entirely
deliberate and not a mistake at all.

I'm aware of the interview canon where JKR in a sense rolls her eyes
and says well if they don't get it, I have done all I can.. is what
most annoys those who can't see that the H/G relationship in HBP was
anywhere near all that could be done. Now I don't mean to
unnecessarily complicate the O.R. interpretation of that statement,
yet I *do* think that taking it to mean that Jo believes she wrote a
good filled and frilled H/G love story in HBP but she *actually
DIDN'T* might be slicing it incorrectly. 

Heres the quote:
MA: You're making our lives a lot easier by laying it on the table -

JKR: Well I think anyone who is still shipping Harry/Hermione after
this book -

ES: [whispered] Delusional!

JKR: Uh - no! But they need to go back and reread, I think.

IMO this can't be taken directly as a statement that we *should* get
the H/G ship absolutely. Because it isn't about Harry's feelings that
JKR is talking here, but Hermione's. I definitely am sure that JKR is
saying that we should *get* Ron and Hermione. We should *get it* that
Hermione loves Ron Weasley always has and always will, any attention
between Hr/H couldn't scratch the surface of the relationship that
built between R/Hr. Harry's feelings just don't count here.



Now heres the quote on H/G in HBP:

ES: Were you always -----ing it? [We can't figure out what Emerson
actually said here.]

JKR: Well, no, not really, because the plan was, which I really hope I
fulfilled, is that the reader, like Harry, would gradually discover
Ginny as pretty much the ideal girl for Harry. She's tough, not in an
unpleasant way, but she's gutsy. He needs to be with someone who can
stand the demands of being with Harry Potter, because he's a scary
boyfriend in a lot of ways. He's a marked man. I think she's funny,
and I think that she's very warm and compassionate. These are all
things that Harry requires in his ideal woman. But, I felt — and I'm
talking years ago when all this was planned — initially, she's
terrified by his image. I mean, he's a bit of a rock god to her when
she sees him first, at 10 or 11, and he's this famous boy. So Ginny
had to go through a journey as well. And rather like with Ron, I
didn't want Ginny to be the first girl that Harry ever kissed. That's
something I meant to say, and it's kind of tied in.

Valky:
Now here, we are being told that the intention was to build the
characters side by side until they were quite clearly viewed as
perfect for each other. IOW, I think, a *fairytale romance* and not
anything more for now. I liken it to a Cinderella story. In
Cinderella, we are shown tht Miss Ella is a kind girl a good person,
she has a strength of character that we admire, and we watch her grow
a little and become a lady - Harry is like this - except a boy who
grows to a young man instead. When Miss Ella's Prince Charming comes
along, we are shown that he's a little cut above the ordinary, he's
got the characteristics that we think Ms Ella *deserves* in her
companion. So our mind puts them together and they live happily ever
after. No details, no filler. Just universal hope for the life we
wanted for Ella to come to her finally. And there I see the HBP Ginny
and Harry. Yes we are supposed to use our imaginations, I think. H/G
are supposed to be perfect *for each other*, not Harry perfect in the
eyes of some reader as a boyfriend or Ginny happy in the eyes of
another as a girlfriend, just for each other and nothing more.

This Happily Ever After was always intended to last not longer than
the blink of an eye too. So for those of us adults who would be
disappointed with the vacuum (that probably would appeal more to
younger readers), there might be more of this romance to come. My bet
is that there is.


Valky