Elkins' Draco Malfoy Is Ever So Lame. Yet Sympathetic. And Dead, Too.

[northsouth17]

No: HPFGUIDX 124464


> Elkins:
> huge snip
> <even more snipped>
> I mean, even Draco himself <snip> is hip to this dynamic.  
> Just look at how he responds to Pansy in _PoA,_ when she asks him 
> if his arm hurts.  <snip>  A macho "nah, not really, don't worry
> about it" just isn't going to win you any eros points from an 
> adolescent girl, unless there's one heck of a wince accompanying 
> it.  And Draco knows that.  To get the adolescent girls crushing
> on you, you have to be hurt...yet still doing okay with it. <snip> 

> Alla:
> So, I was rereading some of the Elkins' posts (the bit of reading 
> which I strongly recommend to anyone) and decided to ask a 
> question, which kind of bug me ever since I read "Draco Malfoy is 
> Ever so Lame.Yet Sympathetic and Dead" ( message 39083)for the 
> first time.

Ns:
I think I've read pretty much everything Elkins has written, it's 
what led me here in the first place, and quite changed the way I 
think about reading (and failed to make Lit class any more 
interesting, sadly). Just wanted to get that off my chest. :-)

> Alla: 
> Can somebody explain to me,why while I understand hurt/comfort 
> phenomena quite well, it does not work for me on Draco?

Ns:
First I should say that I personally don't quite get hurt/comfort, at 
least, I don't find characters attractive beacuse of it - but I don't 
find characters attractive beacuse of anything else either, for the 
vast majority. (to be honest, the only one I find attractive is 
Lupin, and I don't think thats hurt/comfort, oh, and for a bit there, 
Barty Crouch Jr.) I *can* concieve of being attracted to Sirius, 
Snape, Harry, etc though - I can't Draco. He's just....yuck. What 
could anyone possibly see in him? 

I think it's that he's so completely immature. Even on my first 
reading, when I was probably younger than him, IIRC, he annoyed me 
immensely, especially things like the whining after the Buckbeak 
incident. I like stoicism and maturity in men, and Draco shows so 
little that even hurt/comfort won't make up for it. 

Even when picturing the characters, Draco always seems to me to be 
younger than his classmates which is a further turn off, beacuse 
while I'm all for feminism supposedly, I do know that I have a nasty 
little glitch when it comes to romance - ideally, the man should be 
older. 

But he's not only younger - he's downright childish, and silly, and 
transparent. The example Elkins uses from the book - when he's faking 
pain for Pansy - made me cringe. "What do you see in him? Can't you 
see he's just playing? Like a *baby*?!" His behaviour may be 
presented with dignity, but I still find it far too twat-like to be 
covered up. 

That's why I don't like Draco. I suspect it's related to why I don't 
see much in Sirius or Snape, or even Harry either - I don't like 
angst. It makes me either laugh or cringe - I like stoicism and humor 
after suffering, not brooding and self pity. Go Lupin. 

Northsouth
(Who has never tried to explain what she finds sexually attractive in 
fictional characters before. Very interesting experience.)