[HPforGrownups] Pansy Parkinson

[Karen]

No: HPFGUIDX 150640


On Apr 6, 2006, at 8:58 PM, Magpie wrote:
>
> kchuplis:
> >
> > I don't see where you read this. Because of Pansy and Draco on the
> > train? I don't recall Hermione disparaging Pansy's girl gang anwhere
> > and frankly, we don't know enough about Pansy to make that kind of
> > statement.
>
> Magpie:
> I think Betsy's referring to the fact that girls who are "other" and
> threatening to Harry are often accompanied by giggling gangs.   
> Pansy in
> earlier books was often shown with a gang.

kchuplis:

To me, that is just generalization though. Our focus is through Harry  
and Harry hangs with Hermione and Ron, but I in no way see that as an  
aspersion that "girls with giggly gangs" are all necessarily shallow.  
IMO, there just isn't proof of that. I hung out with several boys  
through out high school. I also had two good girl friends. But, we  
didn't all hang out together. My point is that I don't believe there  
is enough information to extrapolate this.
>
>
> > kchuplis:
> >
> > Again, how much do we see Ginny? The stories are from Harry's POV.
> > Ginny hangs out with Hermione when she is a bit older. Hermione is
> > only a year older, so I'd say that's her age. She knows Luna who
> > isn't even in her house. Just because in the later books she is
> > dating does that mean she doesn't have girl friends?
>
> Magpie:
> She doesn't seem to have girlfriends because we don't see them.

kchuplis:

See the above. Because WE don't see her hanging out with them does  
not mean they don't exist.

Magpie:
> We see her
> friends with Hermione and being nice to Luna.  If she has friends  
> they're
> invisible to her boyfriend, unlike Cho's friends and Pansy's friends.

kchuplis:
"Her boyfriend" I assume we mean Harry? Well, since that all happened  
within one month or so of the end of HBP, probably not. Young new  
love with half of Harry's free time being spent with Snape isn't  
going to leave her hanging with the girls all the time. I guess it is  
only my experience, but when I fell in love, particularly in the  
beginning, I was pretty one track minded. It doesn't mean they didn't  
talk about it, but is JKR going to spend a bunch of dialogue talking  
about Ginny's girl friends? (Although there was the tatoo thing, does  
that count?)  Not sure exactly what you mean about Cho and Pansy.  
Sorry, guess I am thick.

magpie:
> Perhaps the idea is that of course Ginny is totally popular with  
> everyone,
> but as a character she only exists insofar as she is attached to  
> Harry. But
> from reading it I get the impression that Ginny has one girlfriend,
> Hermione.  She talks about lots of other people, but they're people  
> she
> doesn't like.

kchuplis:
I'll pay more attention to this aspect next time through, but I  
simply don't have that impression. It sounds like Ginny is a back  
biting little .... well... I never got that impression. She's  
pleasant enough with Luna whom everyone else seems to dislike. I  
can't believe that is the only other person that she is pleasant with  
other than Hermione. Again, an author *does* have to choose the most  
germane points to stick with and honestly, I wouldn't think twice  
about this stuff normally. I guess I am a shallow reader. And, yes,  
there is also the fact that Ginny was raised with 6 brothers. It  
probably does tend to make her more naturally comfortable with boys  
than girls. But for some reason, I am beginning to get the feeling  
this is seen as some kind of writing flaw by JKR in her presentation  
of character. I just don't agree with that.

>
> > kchuplis:
> >
> > Errr....."stealing boys" is not necessarily the sole definition of
> > "being mean". Pansy's mouth seems to take care of that if you ask  
> me.
> > But that is just my opinion I guess.
>
> Magpie:
>
>
> So yes, Pansy is a mean girl, but her role in the story doesn't  
> seem to be
> "mean girl" to Hermione's heroine.  She's more just an extension of  
> Draco,
> imo.
>
kchuplis:
Ah, like Jennifer Warner's "friend" in 13 Going on 30. Cute movie.  
But, honestly, isn't that a little pedestrian? Pansy is a mean girl  
but not a "mean girl". I missed that distinction. I see more and more  
how I just am not very scholarly in my reading.

To be quite honest, I think in the statement about Pansy, JKR just  
picked ONE of the unpleasant female personalities to use as an  
example. I don't think she meant, "my character Pansy P is the most  
vile personification of a feminine jerk and I'd rather be Hermione."   
It's got to be hard to be JKR when every statement is picked to  
atoms. But I also think Pansy is sure getting a bit of a free pass  
here! She's a little twit and toady and very unpleasant. Marietta is  
indeed worse (or at least the consequences of her transgression were  
worse), but oh yes, she was a victim of that malicious Hermione also.  
I know, I'm being too sarcastic but honestly! it seems like the good  
guys in these books need some defending at times! I've never known  
protagonists to be so .... well..... picked on!

(and yes, I'm over my posting limit. But if I don't respond now I  
never will. That would probably be better as I quite feel like the  
interloper here. But I never was one to shut my mouth if I had an  
opinion. And at least it isn't a Snape thread).