[HPforGrownups] Re: Sirius & Remus

[Madam Marozi]

No: HPFGUIDX 131262

Julie:

>To me both of them are straight, 

Marozi:

Eh, I've never known any straight men who, on hearing
a woman's outfit described, would think to ask about
the handbag. :D

Seriously, I always took them for lovers and was a bit
surprised when I realized other adult readers weren't
seeing it that way.  Then when I thought about why, I
realized it had something to do with how POA is
written.  

The first two books have mystery elements but are
basically coming-of-age adventure stories, but POA is
really a Gothic Mystery, and the Deep Dark Secret at
the heart of the plot is the connection between Lupin
and Sirius.  The teasing way in which this is revealed
practically seethes with the sort of suppressed
romantic energy you find in those types of novels; for
example, Lupin dropping his briefcase at the mention
of Sirius's name is like something out of Wilkie
Collins.

So while it isn't necessary to read their story as one
of star-crossed love, it does work rather brilliantly
that way.  It makes sense out of the huge, dramatic,
but vaguely-defined emotions that drive POA.  

Why is Snape so sure that Lupin will help his "old
friend?"  Why does Dumbledore say that Lupin would be
discredited if he tried to testify on Sirius's behalf
because they were "old friends?"  Given that Sirius's
supposed victims were also Lupin's friends, this seems
to be assuming a rather perverse level of devotion on
Lupin's part.  Understanding "old friend" as a
euphemism makes it make sense. 

And they do act very "couply" in OotP - "like an old
married couple" as Alan Rickman would say I guess -
right down to parenting Harry together.  The joint
gift is really the least of it.  What about this:

Ginny did not go quietly.  They could hear her raging
and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs,
and when she reached the hall Mrs. Black's
earsplitting shrieks were added to the din.  Lupin
hurried off to the portrait to restore calm.  It was
only after he had returned, closing the kitchen door
behind him and taking his seat at the table again,
that Sirius spoke.

"Okay, Harry...what do you want to know?" (US pb 91).

Why?  Why is Lupin even part of this conversation, let
alone the one who actually decides how much Harry
should know?  Because he and Sirius operate as one of
two competing sets of surrogate parents, and honestly,
Molly could stand to take a lesson in co-parenting
from them.  She disrespects Arthur in front of the
kids all the time.  


Betsy Hp:

> I like the idea of Sirius/Remus being JKR's little
> subversive 
> addition to the text.  

Marozi:

Yeah, radical tolerance and equal rights are the
values most consistently upheld by the books, and you
can see that in the subplots of both characters. 
Gifted teachers should not be kept from working by the
ignorant prejudice of parents and politicians. 
Teenagers should not be driven from home by bigoted
mothers who call them "abominations."  There's a lot
of subtextual resonance there.



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