Maligning Lupin was Re: JKR has Mystery Writer-related to Tower Theories-long!

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 149630

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "susanbones2003" <rkdas at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Renee" <R.Vink2@> wrote:
> >(Vicious werewolf-like snipping)
> > 
> > If Fenrir Greyback would be the only werewolf in the series we got to
> > know, we'd hardly become indignant over the anti-werewolf prejudice.
> > ESE!Lupin, especially the variant who is responsible for almost all
> > the murders in the series that can't be laid at Voldemort's feet,
> > would forfeit, say, 99% of the reader's sympathy (my estimate - 
> others
> > may have slightly different percentages in mind) and do about as much
> > good to the werewolf cause as Greyback. A werewolf we can sympathise
> > with is essential to JKR's message. We won't be introduced to any
> > major new characters, she says. So guess who.
> 
> Jen D. here,
> I know Pippin said this much better than I can when I posed a similar 
> question "How can JKR take the only sympathetic werewolf in the series 
> and make him the spy?" She said 
> 
>  Pippin said in message# 146839
> > I'm talking about what happens when it looks like a respected person 
> > went wrong...OJ Simpson or someone like that. It's not easy to judge
> > a person  by their individual choices when you know that 
> > unfortunately some people are going to take it as confirming
> > their prejudices about a whole group.
> > 
> > Fenrir isn't admired by Dumbledore or Harry, and he isn't 
> > caught in a moral quicksand, either.  He obviously
> > enjoys what he's doing. The way I see Lupin, he believes because
> > he's a werewolf he wouldn't be forgiven the slightest transgression,
> > so to hide each crime he commits another, and they keep getting
> > worse and worse.
> 
> I think that giving us a character we know we should sympathize with 
> and making him the traitor/spy would be a very fine line JKR would be 
> willing to walk. I don't know that she's interested in making sure 
> she's politically correct. Difficult situations that are heart-
> breaking and make you want to scream "No! It can't be!" seem to be her 
> speciality.
> Jen D.
> > 
> 
Renee:

Unfortunately, Pippin's answer doesn't solve my problem, which is that
the *only* two members of this particular group we get acquainted with
would be evil if Lupin is ESE. We have no basis left within canon to
assume werewolves could ever be okay and are a cause worth fighting for. 

Political correctness does not apply here. If someone writes a book
that shows us two Jewish or Muslim characters who are both evil in one
way or another, readers can check this against primary world reality -
though lots of them would still be up in arms against the author. We
can't do so with werewolves. If JKR were to say after Book 7: `Yes,
well, werewolves are basically okay, but these two just happened to be
bad eggs,' it would cast a rather poor light on her handling of the
anti-prejudice theme running through the books. (The theme itself
suggests to me that political correctness is not something JKR would
shy from, but that's a tangential discussion.) 

Even assuming she wanted to give us `a character we know we should
sympathize with and make him the traitor/spy' to show that nice isn't
necessarily good - which I'm not convinced she does - there are better
choices for her to make than a person who already carries the heavy
burden of showing that `not all werewolfs are bad'. In its almost
pathetical insistence that among a known majority of bad werewolfs,
maybe a few are actually okay if you get to know them, this gloss from
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them speaks volumes. 

Renee