JKR and the boys

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 161460

--- "Miles" <miles at ...> wrote:
>
> After watching the PoA film again, I stumbled about a
> scene ... where the boys have fun in the dormitory, 
> imitating animals and having a small pillow fight 
> afterwards.
> That's a nice insight in the "private life" of Harry 
> and his friends - and that's the point, I really miss 
> that in the books. ... the behaviour was quite "boyish"
> in my impression.
> 
> That leads to my thesis:
> JKR does not understand boys well and has great 
> difficulties describing them and their full emotional 
> and social capacities. On the other hand, her 
> description of girls is much more realistic and 
> comprehensive.
> 
> 

bboyminn:

So many good quotes and comments in this thread, though I
confess I don't agree with many of them; still it's 
difficult to know who to respond to, so I'm going back to
the beginning and starting from there.

I see this /mistake/ being made many many times with 
regard to artists, social commentators, and authors in 
the real world, some how the overly liberal 'do gooders'
(no offense intended to anyone) some how think it is this
/persons/ job to create a universally postive universally
complete portrayal of whatever the 'objector' is objecting
to. Sadly, it is NOT.

JKR's job is not to create a univerally positive and
universally complete picture of ALL boy and ALL girls. It
is her job to create the characters of Hermione, Ron, and
Harry along with their /individual/ personalities /within/
the confines and context of the story. 

Can you really point to one individual boy or one 
individual girl in the real world and say they portray 
the universally postive and complete image of all boys or
all girls. I don't think so.

Harry is Harry, flaws and all. Personally, and I have 
commented on this several times in the past, I think JKR
does an amazing job of depicting the inner workings of 
the male mind in her books. Most 'boy' depictions I read
in books by female authors is always slightly skewed. 
'The Outsiders' by E.S.Hinton springs to mind; yes, it's
a good story, but I think she falls far far short of 
truly capturing the male voice and personality. But I 
think JKR is right-on within the confines of the 
available story.

Take Harry's body dysmorphia as he walks over to meet Cho
to begin their first real date; been there, done that. 
Take Harry's cluelessness about what is motivating Cho in
the tea shop; again, been there, done that. Take Harry's
general anxiety over asking Cho out; once again, been 
there, done that.

Boys relate to life very differently than girls. You are
rarely going to hear boys discussing their /feelings/. 
With guys, it's more of an unspoken understanding, similar
to that way Harry didn't need Ron to apologies after the
Dragon task. Hermoine thought they should talk about it 
and hug, but to the boys, the understanding was there but
unspoken. That's all boys need, or at least think they 
need.

Another good example is Ron's reaction when Harry is 
thinking  about breaking into Umbridge's office. Hermione
is trying to talk him out of it, and Ron is minding his 
own business though I'm certain he has many opinions on 
the matter. Finally, Ron tells Hermione to 'shut it', 
Harry can make up his own mind. That's how guys do it. 
Your very best friend will allow you to out your life at 
extreme risk and say nothing, because as a friend, he 
knows that allowing you that freedom to chose is part of
what guy friends do; even when that particular choice
is completely stupid and illogical.

I remember the great controversy that occurred at one 
time accusing JKR of not providing /positive/ female role
models in her books. I remember the 'Fat' controversy over
JKR's depiction of vitue relative to body size. None of 
these things matter because JKR is not writing a book 
about any of that. She has specific characters that have 
specific personalities that are run through specific 
circumstances, and her only concern is whether they react
'in-character' to the events they encounter.

As long as we are on the subject of personalities let's 
take Harry's. Through his whole life Harry is an outsider,
a loner, partly because he had no one else to associate 
with; Dudley, Vernon, and Petunia saw to that. Why are 
people surprised that Harry acts exactly that way when
he comes to Hogwarts? Harry has never had any reason to
trust anyone, and he carries on in that model. He does
find Ron and Hermoine, and that is two more friends than
he has ever had in his life. He clings to them dearly.
Yet, he still has no reason to trust people in general,
and especially has no reason to trust adults. Where were
the adults when Dudley and the gang were chasing him 
around the schoolyard? Where were the adults when Harry
was locked in the cupboard or locked in his barred room?

People spoke of the type of personality that is created
by Harry's circumstances growing up. Yet, I defy you to
find a single person who conforms completely to a 
projected universal personality as a result of those
circumstances. Harry has become an observer. Yes, he 
understands people to some extent, and from a distance is
able to divine their underlying motivations. But he is
also still a kid, and his actions and misinterpretations
reflect that. From Harry's perspective, and given his
circumstances, observing from a distance is a survival
mechanism, and it is a proven effective strategy in his
mind. Consequently, Harry doesn't get to know other kids
the way a more normal outgoing kid would. Consequently,
he has observed from a distance other Slyterin kids in 
his COMC class, but sensing the potential for danger, or
at least conflict, he has kept his distance. I think the
only people outside Gryffindor that Harry knows are 
people who for good or bad have gotten in his face. He
knows Ernie because Ernie has made himself known. He
knows Justin because Justin has made himself know. He 
knows Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle because they have very 
much made themselves known. But he doesn't kwow Blaise 
because Blaise has apparently kept his distance from 
Harry. 

Hermione for all her know-it-all book knowledge is not
very skilled socially. JKR said in an interview comment
about Hermione that she is really very insecure. In books
she finds safety and certainty. As to how she can know so
much about the Harry/Cho situation, it is her detached 
book-smart. It is always easier to know, understand, and
solve other people's problems because you don't have any
emotional investment in other people's problems. I'm sure
we have all found that in out own lives, far easier to 
solve our friends problems that to face our own.

So, in summary, it is not JKR job to positively model
all people in all situations; it is her job to model
these specific flawed people in these specific unusual
circumstances.

Personally, I am positively stunned by how well JKR
captures the inner landscape of her male characters. I
think it is a stunning achievement, and a task she 
succeeds at far better than most other female authors.

Remember, you heard it here first.

Steve/bboyminn