How do the books affect children? (was: Why down on all the characters?)

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 179554

> Alla:
> Oh, of course he is the Chosen one and sure, he is important. I 
was 
> thinking about one of the most recent debates as to whether he is 
a 
> popular guy on campus, because that I disagree with - that he is 
not 
> popular all the time and not with everybody.
> 
> Steph:
> I agree with Alla here.  Just because Harry is famous doesn't mean 
> he's popular.  In fact, he spends much of the time in both GOF and 
> OotP being distinctly unpopular.  The rest of the time, he just 
> seems like someone no one really pays that much attention to, 
except 
> when something spectacular happens, as in SS and CoS, or when he's 
> playing Quidditch. 

Magpie:
So except for all those times random strangers are throwing 
themselves at him or he's being chased by hoards of girls. Or when 
something spectacular happens, which is once a year. Harry's a 
totally nobody in between the times he's front page news, the stuff 
of legend or the school sports star. Iow, he's never a nobody. If 
nobody cared about Harry he wouldn't have the dramatic shunnings he 
does--that's even spelled out in canon in PS when Harry gets the 
brunt of the reaction to the loss of points because Hermione and 
Neville actually aren't important (rather than just having periods 
where the crowd's attention gets down to a dull roar or turns 
nasty). Harry is far more high-profile all the time. Even if Hannah 
Abbot has twice as many people to her birthday party.

Fame is a whole greater level of importantance and Harry's got it. 
When the head of the government is showing up to try to get you on 
his side, and the new teacher is sucking up to you, and when the 
world goes to hell the whole world is looking to you as a savior 
because you kind of are their savior--come on, how on earth is this 
kid not important? I can't even come up with somebody who's Harry's 
level of importance in our world. Chosen One. Literally. I think 
Harry's central to his universe even more than most fantasy heroes.


Steph:
 Overall, Harry doesn't appear to have many 
> friends beyond Ron, Hermione, the other Weasleys, Seamus, Neville, 
> and Dean.  It's not until HBP that he actually becomes popular, 
when 
> everyone finally realizes that he wasn't making up the stuff about 
> Voldie.

Magpie:
So you're admitting that Harry did become popular in HBP at least? 
His importance doesn't come from how many people are in his circle. 
Julia Roberts probably doesn't have that many more friends than I 
do, but she's still the one with far more importance socially. She's 
the movie star even if she's not "popular" in the way you're using 
the term here (as opposed to meaning somebody with social 
advantages). And yet people probably also dislike her en masse more 
than they do me.

Steph:
> 
> I also don't think that Ron was looking to make connections when 
he 
> met Harry.  Ron certainly thought it was cool that Harry was who 
he 
> was, but after that it didn't really seem to matter to Ron that 
> Harry was famous.  If you want to finger someone for wanting to be 
> friends with Harry just because he's famous, Colin Creevy would be 
> your boy.

Magpie:
The fact remains when it came to connections, it was Ron who made a 
good one in that scene and not Harry. Which is why when Ron's Sorted 
into Gryffindor it's no big deal, while when Harry's Sorted into 
Gryffindor there's a huge cheer and people chant "We got Potter!" 
The only place Harry could possibly come close to meeting somebody 
of a social standing similar to his own is when he meets Viktor 
Krum, and I don't recall him having any desires to make connections 
with him because he, too, was famous. Otherwise he's the one with 
the string of people who are drawn to him like moths to a flame. 
Sure you can say those people don't like the "real Harry" or 
whatever, but that doesn't make him any less important. (As 
presumably Ron knows, since he seems to be the character who 
actually deals with being ordinary.) The fact that Harry has a Colin 
Creevey is just another symptom of his importance.

-m