JKR's dealing with emotions /Harry's grief over Sirius - realistic

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 147453

 

Jen D.:
> L,
> Given that your problems with how JKR handles a lot of issues, the 
> question that begs to be answered is: What keeps you reading HP? I 
> think that would be a far more illuminating discussion since none 
> of us is going to be able to change the things that are lacking (in 
> your view!).


Lupinlore:
Well, why wouldn't I read it?  Will they be damaging to me just 
because I may decide I don't like a lot about them?  Will they hurt 
me if I find JKR's attempt at dealing with complex emotional issues 
ham-fisted and unbelievable?  Will they damage me if, for instance, I 
determine that they speak approvingly of child abuse?  Will my world 
quake and shatter because JKR displeases me?  For goodness sake, it's 
only a series of books!  A series of books that vary widely in 
quality, with flashes of true brilliance in the early books that get 
betrayed by the self-indulgent, neurotic mess that was OOTP followed 
by the laughable HBP -- which essentially featured JKR running away 
from OOTP as fast as her typing fingers could carry her, shoving 
issues under the rug as fast as she could so that she wouldn't have 
to bend her plot schedule to deal with them.  It's a series of books 
with a morality that goes from the sublime to the truly puzzling and 
occasionally (and I'm certain inadvertantly) the reprehensible and 
near-monstrous.  It's a set of books that won't make one smidgen of 
difference in my life one way or the other, or change the Earth's 
rotation by one nanosecond however they come out.  If I like the 
ending I like the ending.  If, as I think is possible but unlikely, I 
find the ending uninspired and even morally reprehensible, so be it.  
I'll put them in the wood chipper and use them for compost.  There 
will be one more set of books that didn't live up to their early 
promise and one more celebrity author for whom I have little respect. 
I'll be out a few dollars and a few minutes here and there.  Even in 
the worst case, it beats drinking the money away (the HP series may 
induce nausea from time to time, but never a hangover).



Julie:
It's not so much that you continue to read the books in case the final
book unexpectedly meets your high standards, it's that you spend so much
time discussing a serires which makes no smidgen of difference in your life.
Seems like it already has made a huge difference, because think of the many
things you could be doing during the time you're posting here and reading
all the various HP forums (from you references to such). That's what I wonder
about.
 
Thanks for clarifying that you're male. I thought so but someone else refered
to you as "she." I guess I assumed male because you have a tendency to see
things in very black and white, morally speaking, which I've experienced more
from males than females, who tend to see more shades of gray. (And, yes, that is 
a stereotypical observation, and by no means speaks for the whole, but I'm
not perfect either!) You also tend to foist your moral expectations on others,
especially JKR, with statements like "If she doesn't punish Snape karmically,
then she will have reprehensively failed her readers."--(paraphrased) It comes
off as a bit pompous and unfair to me, and I feel a bit defensive of JKR. But
that may just be my perspective. I'm sure JKR isn't bothered ;-) 
 
BTW, I hope you really won't throw your HP books in the chipper. There are 
many people in the world who likely won't share your disgust, even if the
series ends in a way you dislike, so at least drop them at your local 
charity or library!
 
Julie 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]