I still hate Ginny Weasley!!!

[phoenixgod2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 131712

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Laura Ingalls Huntley" 
<lhuntley at f...> wrote:

> YES, YES, YES!  Phoenixgod, I think I love you.  I may even have to 
forgive you for all those 
> horrible things you said about Hermione.  *grins*

<shrug> Who knows what I'll think of Hermione by the end of the 
series. She's a well written character. Just one I find annoying. 
Ginny, I find annoying *and* badly written.


> Both of these are totally valid responses with respect to RL.  
However, HP is a *story*.  In a 
> story, you really do need to follow the "show, don't tell" rule 
when it comes to 
> characterization.  It's true that we're (sort of) limited to 
Harry's POV, but IMO Jo could 
> have/should have dropped little hints along the way that Ginny was 
going to go Super!Girl 
> in OotP. 

I agree with you. Rowling did a great job of showing Nevilles 
transformation, a large part of which happens internally or off 
screen, yet it is still absolutely plausible when by the end of the 
book, he is second man standing after Harry.  

It wouldn't be hard to lay down track to show Ginny's evolution in 
front of Harry.  Maybe have her get really excited during the world 
cup and talk to him about his favorite team, momentarily forgetting 
who she was talking to. or have her show her power when she's in the 
DA by blasting through someone's shield after she loses her temper. 
Maybe she stays after a few times to help Harry clean up and they 
talk like real people instead of crush and crushee. all it would take 
is to *show* Ginny change in front of Harry. There is also not the 
slightest indication of any of her interests before this book. How 
hard would it be to show Ginny's interest in Quiddich before now?

Instead all we get is Hermione talking about how Ginny changed. It's 
clumsy writing. We get implausible stories about her taking out her 
brothers brooms to practice alone. I'm supposed to believe that the 
weasley twins, pranksters extraordinare, have their brooms in an 
easily found location unguarded by one of their oddly effective prank 
charms? Or that Molly doesn't have a ward or a chime, or some other 
sort of magical measure to prevent her kids from sneaking around? 
Please. The idea that she could get away with it at all, let alone 
for an extended period of time, is just silly.

The end of the book was another let down when it came to Ginny. We 
here about how great her hexes are, how she's so powerful despite 
being tiny, and she throws a temper tantrum so she can go to the 
department of mysteries, and what happens? She's practically the 
first one down, the first one if I'm not mistaken. Throughout OOTP 
Ginny is all talk and no payoff. But she's so in your face with her 
attitude that it makes her character deeply annoying. At least to me.

> smilingator4915:
> > Except for Ginny's role at the end of CoS, I too never really 
thought
> > much about her until reading OotP. But let's remember that we are
> > following Harry in these books, not any of the other characters. 
Since
> > Ron and Hermione spend a lot of time with the hero, then we get 
to see
> > all sides of their personalities. But honestly, who saw that Krum 
and
> > Hermione would end up at the Yule Ball together? 

I did. It was pretty obvious to me that Hermione and Krum were going 
to have some kind of fling and a date to the yule ball was a good 
guess.
 
> Not only did JKR do none of these things for Ginny, a 
characterization should really not be 
> a twist, per se, unless there's a very, very good reason for it.  
If, as Phoenixgod and I 
> suspect, the reason is to quickly beef up her to be The Perfect 
Girl For Harry in the 
> upcoming books . . . well, that is a pretty lousy reason, IMO.

Another possiblity that I've heard which makes me feel a lot better 
is this: Rowling shorthands Ginny's characterization because her 
character isn't ultimately that important, unlike Neville. While that 
seems plausible, I think that because of CoS supposed importance for 
the overall story, I don't see that happening.
 
> Personally, the only conclusions I can think of that would make me 
accept her 
> characterizations as is are 1) She's actually residually evil from 
Tom's influence in CoS or 
> 2) She's actually a plot device to show how cool *Neville* is (by 
ending up with him, that 
> is).  

I like option two as well. It has a very Molly-Arthur vibe.

Thanks for the support Laura. Your in the club!

phoenixgod2000, who as much as he hates ginny, does not believe in 
Slut!Ginny. Ginny isn't a slut, she's just annoying.