Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 151826


> kchuplis:
 I'm really not sure what you are countering by saying you  
> don't see how it relates to what an author chooses to do. The 
author  
> can choose to do whatever they want with in a reasonable framework,  
> and I think JKR did fine. I don't believe that "bad sportsmanship"  
> was portrayed (and supported that). I think Harry "pays" quite a 
lot  
> outside of his (and even within) his "wins". Now I just wonder how  
> badly JKR could have failed when there are groups like this  
> discussing her books months and even years after they've come out 
and  
> after a bazillion rereads.

Magpie:
Well, to be honest, neither do I understand what I'm supposed to be 
countering when I've agreed with you on the "movie vs. reality" 
and "fantasy vs. reality" and "story vs. reality."  I guess what I'm 
also bringing in is the fact that the thread was about how the contest 
in GoF went down, and how contests in HP in general went down.  My pov 
on that is still that they stick to a pretty similar pattern.  You 
brought in this issue as a different perspective, and I guess I'm 
still not quite sure what that perspective is supposed to be or how 
it's supposed to affect that first line of thought.  It seems like a 
perfectly obvious, valid thing to talk about in the books.  I see no 
need to qualify it by remembering that Harry gets crucio'd in GoF.

It just seems like--and maybe I'm misreading it--but the tone in your 
posts, the references to other thousands of threads etc., makes it 
seem like you just really have a problem with the way some people talk 
about the books, like some posters aren't showing proper respect to 
the author or to the fictional characters.  I like taking apart books. 
Taking them apart, even when it means pointing out a flaw in them or 
something that I didn't think was great at the time does not make me 
like them less.  To me, this is what appreciating a book is, and it's 
part of the reason that "there are groups like this discussing her 
books months and even years after they've come out and after a 
bazillion rereads."  When I read or write a post dissecting the story 
or pointing out a flaw I don't hear "JKR failed."  It's the way I've 
pretty much always looked at stories--to the point where it's what I 
do for a living, sitting sometimes on one side of the editorial desk, 
sometimes the other. It's very difficult for me to look at the story a 
different way.  Sometimes different fans' ways of appreciating  or 
talking about the books annoy each other. 

-m