I Hate Ginny Weasley!!!!

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 122431


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "antoshachekhonte" 
<antoshachekhonte at y...> wrote:
 
> Antosha:
> 
> Starting with the admission that I am rather fond of Ginny, I'd 
like to address the 
> interesting question of whether Ginny has crossed the line into 
Mary-Sue-dom....

Hickengruendler:

I don't hate Ginny. But she's also not one of my favourite 
characters. She is, so far, one of those who are just there and who 
don't really interest me. That said, I dislike the term *Mary-Sue*. I 
think fandom uses the term way too often, describing every female 
character, that dares to be likeable.  

<snip>
 
> 
> In CoS, of course, we get to see much more of her. Of course, she 
barely talks, but Ron 
> tells us early on that this isn't the normal Ginny. Lunkhead that 
he is (emotional range of a 
> tea spoon, and all), he can't figure out why, but we get it quickly 
enough. 

Hickengruendler:

Really, I thought Ron got it pretty quickly. Much sooner than 
Harry. ;-) Anyway, the problem I have with this statement is, that 
saying Ginny talks a lot has nothing really to do with her 
development in OotP. IMO, of course. It's often used as 
foreshadowing, but I don't understand why, especially because OotP 
Ginny *doesn't talk very often*. Yes, she lost her crush behind and 
was more talkative than earlier, but that wasn't difficult. But I 
have seen nothing that confirms Ron's statement, that she never shuts 
up. Both, Hermione and Luna, talked much more when they were around. 
I think the real change in Ginny was in her attitude, instead of the 
blushing girl from the earlier books, she was a kick-ass and sporty 
girlpower!girl. And I know that she was shyer in front of Harry than 
usual. And I also know that she's at an age where people change, but 
still I, too, found her change to sudden, and was for example 
dissatisfied with Jo's explanation about Ginny's Quidditch skills. 
It's really impossible, that she's flying secretly around the Burrow, 
without anyone noticing. Add to this, that we never really saw her in 
action (quite in contrast to Neville), but were only told about her 
greatness by either Hermione or the twins, and I can see why people 
don't like her development very much. It might not have been 
impossible to happen, but it was clumsily done, IMO. 
 
> 
> It isn't until OotP that the opportunity for Harry truly to get to 
know Ginny appears. It's not 
> that _she's_ gone through a transformation: we've been told before 
that she's talkative, 
> good with hexes, etc. 

Hickengruendler:

When have we been told before that she's good with hexes? Anyway, the 
hexes don't really bother me, I have no problems to suppose that she 
learnt them in course of the years in Hogwarts. She surely should 
have more knowledge than at the end of book 2. However, again, did we 
ever see Ginny actually doing a Hex? I don't think so. We only were 
told about it by Hermione, Ron and the twins, and this is not helpful 
to develop a character properly.
   
> Too, she knows _Harry_. She has watched him, both as the 
> object of her affections and as her brother and Hermione's best 
friend for _years_.  At the 
> same time, the plot demands that someone slap some sense into Harry-
-he spends the 
> first half of OotP wallowing in self-pity, doubt and anger. Whether 
that's because he's got 
> a direct line to LV's subconscious or because he's a fifteen year 
old boy is a topic for 
> another day. But Harry needs someone to wake him up, to be the 
voice of reason, and 
> Ron's ill-suited, as are Hagrid and Sirius, Lupin's too distant, 
Dumbledore's actively non-
> presnt, Hermione herself tends to panic when really scary stuff 
raises its head... So who 
> else should JKR turn to remind Harry that the sun doesn't rise and 
fall on his navel?
> 
> Ginny.

Hickengruendler:

Nope. If you mean the scene in Grimmauld Place, it were Ginny, 
Hermione and Ron together. All three of them were offering a part to 
reassure harry, that he isn't possesed by Voldemort. Ginny in talking 
about her own experiences, Ron in telling him that he never left the 
dorm and Hermione in reminding him (again) that you can't apparate 
into Hogwarts. It were all three of them together, and not just one 
person. You could say that it was Ginny who reminded him, that she, 
too, had made bad experiences, but on the other hand it was Hermione 
who was able to make him leave the room and I think Ron was the one 
who begged Hermione to come. Therefore I stand by my opinion that all 
of them helped.
 
> 
> And on the train ride back, it's all six of them riding together: 
the trio, Ginny, Luna and 
> Neville. 

Hickengruendler:

If it only were so. But sadly, Luna isn't there. I hope, that this 
isn't a bad omen for her role in the next two books.
 
Hickengruendler: Who wants to like Ginny, but so far had only two 
scenes, where he found her interesting: the pre Yule-Ball and 
the "Lucky You" scene.