What's with all the Draco love in fanon?

[ClareWashbrook at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 153208

John:

For some  reason a lot of people like to ship Draco with Harry, Ginny,
or  Hermione.  Maybe I'm missing something here, but Draco (in canon)
is a  pompous, gloating, racist nitwit...
 
Clare:
Redemption perhaps?  Throughout the ages people have been fascinated  by the 
idea of redeeming the bad guy - when there is a mystery to them.  We  do not 
get to know much about Draco.  There is no canon to illustrate Draco  as a 
complex character.  Therefore he retains his mystery and is open for  redemption.  
This has been discussed on forums as well as explored in  fanfiction and JKRs 
temporary reprieve for him in the shape of Snape plays to  that theme, we 
seem to be supposed to wonder whether he will be saved.  Who  someone wants to 
pair him with in a romantic fanfiction is about the tastes and  predilections of 
the author but I believe the above to be the impetus.
 
 
John:
The comparison I make for the Death Eaters and Draco and Voldemort  in
particular are Nazis (particulary fitting since Hitler was part Jew)
or  the KKK and their prejudice towards blacks.  If I was black
(Hermione),  half black (Harry), or friends with somebody who is black
why would I date  somebody who thinks the world would be a better place
without black people  around?
 
 
Clare:
 
I don't think the fics contain a Draco who still holds such beliefs, the  
point is that he has learnt his lesson or never truly felt that way in the first  
place.  As to the Nazis, we use that term generically for all forms of  
fascism and I am not sure that it is applicable here.  Voldemort and the  Death 
Eaters are not "the institution", they are a rogue group working against  the 
status quo.  This is completely different to Hitler, who had control of  the 
government and intistuted martial law in order to be able to do whatever he  
liked.  The situation is markedly different.  In addition JKR has  already aligned 
Grindlewald with Hitler by making the muggle WW2 and the  Grindlewald war one 
and the same.  This illustrates the difference and  implies that Voldemort is 
supposed to represent a more modern form of fascism -  perhaps akin to our BNP 
or to the IRA, who got England used to terrorism long  before the rest of the 
world starting wetting themselves about the grammatically  incorrect term 
"terror".
 
John:

Is there any reason besides the actor for the character being  handsome
(which Draco in the book WASN'T described as being).  Is it  simply one
of those "I can change him" situations that seems to happen with  lots
of girls/women?  Would replacing "mudblood" with "n****r",  "death
eater" with nazi and "pure blood" with "aryan" in the books yield  the
same amount of pro-Draco stories?
 
Clare:


The poor boy who plays Draco can't get a girlfriend because of the  character 
he plays, so I don't think perceptions of handsomeness make much  difference. 
  Of course it is an "I can change him" scenario, you've  answered your own 
question.  It isn't just women though; why do you think  they made so many Film 
Noirs?  Why is the wayward woman often the  focus of comics/graphic novels, 
dark romances and gothic novels?  Why is  Mina Harker sexy?  Who doesn't want 
to save her?  Salvation,  redemption, "I can change this" - it's the whole 
point of personal  fantasy.  It's the same impetus that has a normally sensible 
adult jumping  around on furniture pretending to be a pirate having watched 
Johnny Depp in a  rather swanky battle scene.  We want to be involved in the thing 
that has  fired our imaginations and changing it to suit our own personal 
tastes and  desires is the most natural first step towards "ownership" (I hate 
the term but  it is appropriate).  You might not agree with the choice but I am 
sure that  you have perpetrated similar literary sabotage within your own 
mind.  
 
Would changing the words alter the number of redemption fantasies? Not a  
jot!  Oswald Moseley had women swooning all over the place, including some  of 
our most celebrated and intelligent women writers and he was openly a genuine  
Nazi.  Gotta save the bad guy - everyone knows that all he needs is a good  
woman/gay guy...  lol.
 
Smiles,
Clare xx





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