Does JKR want us to hate Draco? (was: Re: Admonishing Snape)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 129645

>>Betsy:
>How do we, the readers, *know* that JKR doesn't  like Draco?  I'm 
honestly curious about this because Draco has such a large fan base
(and I'm talking adults here, not Tom Felton loving teeny-boppers) 
and that can't have been formed in a vaccum.<

>>Katherine Coble: 
>I believe there are several interviews where she says so--and also 
in the FAQ on her page.<

>>Hickengruendler:
>She said so several times. If you want to read one example, it's on
her webpage at the Edinburgh book reading.<

>>Nora:
>Since you asked in this way, you've opened yourself to the meta-
answer even though I know you don't like it: because she's told us as
much. Draco got no birthday announcement (at least yet) on the
website; she repeatedly has said (I think aimed at the younger
fans) "Draco is not Tom Felton", meaning one should not be attracted
to him because he is hot, and other comments etc.<

Betsy:
Okay, so this is the "JKR wants us to hate Draco but is such a bad 
author she can't get it across in the text and is forced to give 
readers a heads up in interviews and on her website," point of view.  
In other words, readers *aren't* able to pick up that Draco is evil 
to the bone.  Only fans devoted enough to visit the website and 
listen to interviews are able to realize how JKR feels about Draco.  
You'll excuse me if I find such arguments as less than satisfying. 

>>Gerry:
<snip>
>I want to add that it is not only Tom Felton who is a pretty boy, 
Draco in the books also is quite good looking. Contrary to
Dudley, Crabby or Goyle, who never get excuses for behaving like the
moronic baddies they are. When you are handsome, you just cannot be
evil. Especially not when you are just a kid. I think a lot of people
have problems believing a nice looking boy, who is also fairly
intelligent can really be bad. Not only being raised that way, but
actively embracing the values he inherited.<

Betsy:
Now this I can see.  Draco, though never out and out described as 
good looking, is certainly not described as thuggish as Dudley, 
Crabbe and Goyle.  There are hints that he's intelligent and he's 
certainly quick-witted.  So perhaps there is an unwillingness to 
condemn a child that seems to have so much going for him.

Gerry:
>When you are boring Persey Weasley who did nothing else than stick by
the rules, ofcourse this must mean you are a budding Death Eater.<
<snip>

Betsy:
Oh, Percy has quite a support group out there.  Not as large as 
Draco's possibly (of course he hasn't needed one until recently) but 
Percy has not been written off yet.

>>Betsy:
>But again, *how* can they find such positive traits in that house
or those characters *unless* JKR put them there *herself*.<

>>Pippin:
>I think she wants the readers to feel sorry for Draco, without losing
sight of the fact that much about him is warped and dangerous, and
growing more so. I don't think she wants us to find him totally
repulsive.<

Betsy:
I agree with this.  Because it would be fairly easy for JKR to write 
an unforgivable scene from which folks would have a hard time pulling 
Draco back from the edge of evil. At this point in Draco's character 
arch, he's not that hard to save.  As No Remorse says in an essay on 
Draco (found here: 
http://www.livejournal.com/users/no_remorse/43476.html )

"I guess this whole thing is puzzling, because while Draco is a bully 
up to this point he is essentially harmless. When people are writing 
redemption scenarios for him, then I guess the first thing, they 
realise, is how simple it is. Daddy was wrong, Voldemort is an idiot 
and muggleborns can be really cool. Done."

>>Nora:
<snip>
>Massive projection. Most all Draco defenses (and I include our
arguments in this) involve going "Oh, that action wasn't that
bad...", "He was just following Lucius' lead", "His motivation isn't
really what he said it was", "He was actually trying to help in the
only way he knew", "He's just an ignorant kid", etc.
>If you look for it hard enough, you can probably find it. Occam and
I are both a little wary of that procedure. But enough people out
there really want to find positive traits in Slytherin House at
present that the surface is explained away.<
<snip>
>Because readers, many of them, are extremely resistant to actually
closely following the text and are very open to reading the way that
they want to, even if it fails to take into account a lot of things.<

Betsy:
But this type of interpertation - readers are trying to find 
something that just isn't there - I have a harder time with.  I mean, 
sure, if it was just me and few others desperately crossing our 
fingers for a happier outcome for Draco than "failed Death Eater" 
(because the boy *would* fail as a Death Eater, IMO), then I'd say 
fine, I'm projecting, etc.  But it's not just me.  A casual search 
around the internet calls up quite a few thinking folks who *do* hope 
for something better.  Are *all* of them fooling themselves?  Or is 
there something *in the text* that gives folks hope?

>>Marianne:
<snip>
The question of whether JKR does a poor job of writing her villains,
is gist for another thread.<
<snip>

Betsy:
No, no, no!  This is *exactly* what I'm asking.  If Draco is such an 
obvious villain, why do so many refuse to see him that way?  Is it a 
fault on JKR's part?

Marianne:
>People interpret books through their own filter, regardless of what
an author may wish. I'm not an expert on literary criticism, but I
have often wondered at what point an author's stated critique of
his/her character can be legitimately ignored by the reading public.
If JKR is indeed telling us that Draco is evil, then shouldn't
everything he says and does in the books be seen through that
filter?<

Betsy:
But does JKR succeed in getting across that Draco is evil?  If the 
only place folks can find evidence of his evilness is outside the 
books, does that mean JKR has failed in her job as author?  In my 
opinion, if Draco is supposed to come across as totally evil, JKR has 
failed miserably.  (A hint: it's hard to get your audience to hate a 
character when they are so often smeared by the hero.  Usually it's a 
good idea for the evil character to do some smearing of his own.  
People like to hiss.)

>>Marianne:
>Yet, if people can find evidence that he's not evil, are
they simply misinterpreting the story, or did the author not do a
decent job writing the character? Or, are the readers clinging to a
forlorn hope that their belief in Draco's redeemability will come to
pass later in the series?<

Betsy:
Again I ask, where would the readers find evidence of not-evil or 
reason to hope if it's not provided by the author.  We're not talking 
about a movie where an actor or actress can instill so much charisma 
into an evil character viewers will find something attractive in the 
most repulsive villians.  When an author writes a book, doesn't she 
have ultimate control over how much charisma or attractiveness a 
character will have?  And if that's the case, why has JKR loaded 
Draco up with so much that book fans seem to like?

If the only place to find out how a character should come across is 
*outside* the text, has the author failed?  (Or, more subversively, 
could JKR be yanking our chain with her out of the books commentary?)

Betsy