[HPforGrownups] Is Hermione pretty? WAS: Re: CHPDISC: HBP14, Felix Felicis

[Susanne]

No: HPFGUIDX 151983



Hi,

Sunday, May 7, 2006, 7:13:36 PM, gelite67 wrote:

> A quick clarification and an apology.  I didn't mean to make it sound
> as if I was quoting JKR, and that JKR said that Hermione wasn't
> "conventionally" pretty.

She actually calls her "plain" in several interviews and
that her studying and needing to be number one academically
is her way to make up for her perceived lack of
attractiveness.
JKR said she felt the same until age 16, when she discovered
make up.

For example this interview:
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/0999-slj-feldman.htm

Hermione is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me
when I was 11, which I'm not particularly proud of. She's
quite annoying in a lot of ways. I like her as a character,
but I'm very aware that some people wouldn't. I know girls
who are a lot like Hermione--endearing and pesky at the same
time.

I've met a lot of girls who say they recognize themselves in
Hermione. I think it's a very female way of coping, to try
and be the best. Hermione is a character I understand
really, really

well. I consciously try to make it clear that underneath the
aggravating surface is someone who is actually quite
insecure, hence her constant struggle to be the best. I
think boy readers can grudgingly see the point of Hermione.
Girls tend to identify with her a lot more. It probably is a
particularly female characteristic for young girls to cover
up their insecurities about feeling plain, or whatever
inadequacy, by trying to get the best marks. Hermione will
loosen up a lot. In fact she does loosen up a lot in Chamber
of Secrets--as I did as I got older.

Another interview here:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/cookarama/telegrfukjul99.html

 Joanne Kathleen (aka J.K.) Rowling
is pretty with blue eyes and long hair, but when she was
young, she says, she was just like Harry's friend Hermione
-- very plain and the school swot [nerd].

"I loosened up a lot at 16 when I discovered makeup," she
tells me. "I realized the star at the bottom of your
homework wasn't everything. I still worked hard though."

I could go on, but all the talk about Hermione is very
similar. :)

So, no, I don't think Hermione is supposed to be a beauty
and I'm very happy about that, because there is too much of
this idea that she just "has to be beautiful" going around.
As if only people with physical beauty are worthy...



-- 
Best regards,
 Susanne                           mailto:siskiou at vcem.com