DD's dilemma + owl post

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 126381


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> wrote:
<SNIP>
> 
> Jen: On another related thought: I try to imagine a story where 
> Harry was raised a different way or where Dumbledore intervened or 
> the Dursleys were different people.
> 
> Most of the scenarios I run through my head pale in comparison to 
> what JKR actually created. I personally don't care to read about how 
> DD attempted to convert the Dursleys, or save Harry from their 
> fiendish ways. It sacrifices the story for political correctness 
> IMO. The idea of DD placing Harry with the Dursleys, then spending 
> the next 11 years trying to make them act a certain way sounds like 
> a social service case history, not a compelling, one-of-a-kind, 
> fantasy-based, fictional story.
> 
> Even if JKR did think through all the possible ramifications of her 
> plot, and still decided to depict the story, Harry, DD and the 
> Dursleys the way she did, I applaud her for that. She's created a 
> moment in history as much as a ficitonal construct, and she's 
> created nothing to be ashamed of, or to explain away or to correct 
> for people who don't agree with her story. 
> 

Well, as I've said many times, JKR is under no compunction or
responsibility to write anything for anybody.  She has every right and
power to write anything she wants for any reason she wants for any
audience she wants.  And anyone who reads her stories can react in any
way they feel is genuine.  That is the right of the reader.  And there
are plenty of people who feel as you have described.  That is
absolutely and inarguably your right.

However, there are plenty of us who feel another way.  We very much DO
want to read how DD tried to save Harry from the Dursleys, or agonized
over his decision.  And it is not politically correct in any way,
shape, form, or fashion.  Rather we have found or ability to believe
in Dumbledore's character, as JKR obviously WANTS us to believe in it,
to have been badly shaken by his actions or lack thereof with regard
to Harry and the Dursleys.  Now, you might say that we suffer from too
great a literalism, or an inability to suspend disbelief.  You might
even say, as with that excellent quote you used from JKR, that we are
simply not able to take the story as it is and react without analyzing.

All of that may be true, or not.  But, and it is a VERY important BUT,
our reactions and feelings are every bit as genuine and heartfelt as
those who love the story without any further explanation.  And the
expressions of our distress are in no way politically correct, or
unappreciative, or indicative of an inability to feel the magic of the
story.  Rather it is an indication of the fact that JKR obviously
wants us to feel one way about a character and situation, and we find
it impossible to do so given the story as it now stands.

I personally hope that JKR HAS paid attention to the "hullaballoo"
this storyline has caused, and takes action in the next two books to
calm it.  But she is under no obligation to do so.  She may do
whatever she wants.  She did not have to bring this up the first time,
and does not have to again.

Similarly, we are under no obligation to like or be appreciative of
what she has done, or to cease expressing our dislike simply because
she sees things another way.  Personally, if she does not address
these issues, or worse, provides some pat or off-the-cuff answer, I'll
probably throw the books in the dumpster and regret having wasted my
money.  That is just me, of course.  But it is a genuine expression of
my feelings about the matter, which are not politically correct, or
over-analyzing, or anything else.  They are just an expression of the
jarring discord I feel with what I read and the author's stated intent.

Chuckle.  Somehow, I seriously doubt anything I do will make much of a
dent on the Harry Potter enterprise, one way or another.


Lupinlore