New Topics!!! (was Re: Request for new topics)

[tbernhard2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 152430

justcarol67 wrote:

> Ideas, anyone? Any themes we can discuss besides love, revenge, and
immortality? Can we look at the books themselves instead of our own
lives and social views?

Carol, you ask if we can look at the books themselves. I challenge you
to tell us what the books themselves are then!!! Or, if you choose
another way, you could demonstrate that what YOU say about the books
is really about yourself! Anyone can do this, actually. I've done it
below, in fact, with my topics.

So, I often think of new topics - the problem is, they are unsettling,
challenging, complex or what have you - they need some TBAY and TBAY
is a ghost town (which was inevitable - any place where things sink so
quickly isn't going to be prime real estate after a while).

Nevertheless:

We could discuss the anarchist politic behind the narrative!

We could notate and discuss instances where Rowling seems to be saying
morality is crap, but situationist type ethical acts are essential!

Is Rowling an existentialist? More like Camus or Sarte? Is she a
socialist? A liberal?

We could look for the effects in the narrative of an author (woman) in
poverty becoming super rich! (And if we can't identify these effects,
why not? Are we missing something, or is the narrative truly aside
from Rowling the millionaire?)

We could generalize about how a book so clearly about class is
analyzed without reference to class - or, if it is analyzed with
reference to class, in such a way that completely negates what Rowling
says about class!

We could promise never to write a single post to HPforGrownups that
didn't acknowledge that, on some level or another, anything we say
about the books can be described as "meta".

We could identify parts of the narrative that encourage intentional
misreading - I hold, for example, that Arthur's fascination with
muggle stuff is entirely for fun, and nothing else - it's like people
we know who collect weird and boring stuff. But does it count as an
inverse reflection of those fascinated (in the Real World) with magic
and so forth? You bet!!!! And THAT is damn fun!

We could talk about how Harry is an ass when he says he doesn't care
if all the centaurs get trampled. We could decide if he means what he
says or not - was it said in a moment of anger but isn't sincere?
Well, of course. But it, I submit, is a VERY serious topic - I think,
in the RW, there are lots of people who say such things to themselves
but would never really want it to happen. If anyone reading this wants
to deny this, feel free - but I doubt it would be believed....

And so on...

dan