Holding JKR Accountable (was Re: 7 reasons why - The Glass is Half Empty.)

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 174726

> > bboyminn:
> > This isn't a problem with the story, this is a problem
> > with what /you/ choose to believe or not believe.

Ceridwen:
Actually, it's a problem with the story.  When I read, I'm the one 
who *needs* the heavy anvil hints.  I like to read for pleasure, and 
it does take a lot of weight to pull me out of the book.  Like 
stumbling on a pebble while hurrying to meet old friends, I just 
shrug some things off.  I regret them, and I may think of them later, 
but if they didn't stop my progress by much, it takes a lot of 
discussion to make me dissatisfied.  If something does hit me between 
the eyes and halt me from my progress, it's probably bigger than a 
breadbox.  Which is why I don't come up with plausible theories a 
lot - the hints people had about Snape loving Lily were just too 
subtle for me to catch as a reader for enjoyment.  I do catch some 
subtle things, but not this sort of thing.  I see undercurrents, I 
see interpersonal things that now, apparently, JKR didn't intend.  
I'd make a poor detective!

Take that letter in DH.  How it got there bothers some people.  It's 
bigger than a breadbox for them.  I didn't think of it at all (it was 
Sirius's room, it was a letter to Sirius, hey, must be a letter to 
Sirius in Sirius's old room) until someone brought it up here on the 
list.  There really is a problem with it.  But, I came up with my own 
explanation (stuff sent to next of kin by Ministry) and shrugged it 
off...

On that level.  On another level, it's laying in a box in my mind 
that is rapidly topping off with more loose clues.  

va32h:
I choose to believe that JKR became lazier and sloppier with each 
book after PoA, culminating in a 7th book that is full of plot holes, 
continuity errors, and characters acting entirely out of character.

She has become so accustomed to her fandom cheerfully and devotedly 
explaining away all her flaws, that she didn't even make an effort to 
make anything in DH make sense.

And we just keep on doing it.

Ceridwen:
Before DH came out, most of the plot holes had the potential to be 
clues to something in Book 7.  We couldn't just dismiss something out 
of hand, in case it came back as an "AH-HA!" moment at the 
denouement.  These holes, along with bona fide clues, hints, and red 
herrings, were used to construct possible scenarios for DH.  How 
would Polyjuice come in?  Will someone (Snape?) be Polyjuiced to help 
Harry defeat Voldemort?  Is Remus Lupin weak enough to be unwillingly 
corrupted?  Is McGonagall evil, and if not, why wasn't she in the 
first Order? and so on.  JKR said she liked to read these theories 
and speculations.  And, they led to some decent (and some really 
awful!) fan-fic. ;)

va32h:
> Of course these are very small, even petty issues. But each little 
mistake in itself is not the problem. That readers are so determined 
not to believe she could ever be mistaken is the problem, IMO.

Ceridwen:
Before DH, most discussions about interviews said that JKR would 
never lie to us.  She might mislead, but never lie.  She certainly 
couldn't give the overall plot away in an interview, now, could she?  
Interviews were, and still are, secondary canon.  So I think it is, 
that we don't want the interviews to be wrong, because then all the 
interviews between the other books might be wrong too, and we've 
taken a stand to defend Rowling from the various slings and arrows 
that other people, who saw plot holes back then, were slinging.

I agree these are little things, but little things add up.  Like 
pulling five dollars out of the bank here and there, then discovering 
that you're short ten bucks on the rent.  Each mistake, like each 
clue, adds to the picture forming in the puzzle, and adds weight to 
that box up in my mind.

va32h:
Why is any convoluted scenario so much more plausible than "JKR 
forgot how she answered that question the last time it was asked?"

Ceridwen:
That's the most likely, and least lovely, solution.

va32h:
I think it's because we are reluctant to admit that we care far more 
about this universe than its creator does. I'm sure she cared once, 
but somewhere along the line she stopped. Too much hype, too much 
pressure, too much time spent with the material, I don't know the 
reason. But Deathly Hallows reeks of "getting this over with".

Ceridwen:
Maybe it was knowing the entire story for nearly twenty years.  The 
last chapter was written first.  Harry's entire story was scrolled 
out in her head, she says, from day dot.  It was fun, for a while, to 
explore this world while she could.  Make up new spells, explore 
interactions between characters, and between the Muggle and Wizarding 
worlds.

But, the end is hard.  Best to rush it, not say long good-byes.  
Also, with the exploring of the characters and the world, she created 
expectations which were not intended.  Unforgivables being 
Unforgivable, reconciliation between Harry and Snape, Draco's 
redemption, Marietta's pustules leading somewhere other than the 
local WW make-up counter, and so on.  Those expectations, or 
speculations, or theories, had to be done away with in short order.  
Maybe seven books were a bit much.  Maybe the later books being door-
stopper huge was a mistake.  Maybe we wouldn't have seen certain 
trends if so much hadn't been added.

I keep waiting for JKR to say, "Yeah, it was a joke, the real DH is 
still on my word processor, it'll be out by Christmas."

Ceridwen.