Harry Potter, REALLY for Grown-Ups (well, PG-13 anyway)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 164422

> >>Carol:
> Ron's discovery of the girls' staircase being off limits to boys is 
> a memorable comic moment... <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I totally agree that the comedy of this moment was great.  But it 
suggests that either Ron walks around with a giant bag over his head 
and cotton in his ears, or the Gryffindor boys (of any class present 
when either Ron or his brothers attended Hogwarts) have never 
considered raiding the girls' dorm.  Which is not very realistic, 
IMO.  (Nor is the fact that the girls haven't raided the boys dorm.)

I'm not *demanding* that level of realism, of course (especially 
since I don't think it'd fit with JKR's writing style).  It'd 
completely change the makeup of the books, but it does keep the 
series labeled as "childrens' books" in my mind.

> >>Betsy HP:
> > I will say, also, that it leaves Harry's sexuality somewhat in
> > question for me, or at least a bit ambiguous.  I mean, I know JKR
> > means for Harry to be quite straight.  But he seemed very bored   
> > with actually kissing Cho.  (One kiss, and Harry lost all        
> > interest in the possibility it seemed.)  Harry doesn't develop   
> > any sort of crush on any older girls.  Veelas do nothing for him.
> > <snip>    

> >>Carol:
> That's not the impression I get. Harry spills water all over himself
> when he sees Cho in GoF and his stomach does flipflops every time he
> sees her.

Betsy Hp:
Absolutely.  And I think JKR captured that sort of first crush 
anxiety very well.  But it's *after* Cho actually kisses him that 
Harry pulls away.  He doesn't seem all that impressed with his first 
attempt, and doesn't seem at all interested in trying again.  Which 
is perfectly fine, of course.  But it does sort of suggest that Harry 
isn't all that excited about sex (kissing, etc.) yet.

> >>Carol:
> He never has any such crush on another boy.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, of course not!  I'm not suggesting JKR's overtly stating or even 
insinuating that Harry is gay.  It's more something I chuckle over, 
frankly.  We're just very quickly told about all the pretty boys.  
Pretty girls? Not so much. And since it's generally through Harry's 
point of view that we learn about the good looking guys, and it's 
Harry's point of view that's *not* noticing the good looking girls, 
it can seem a bit suggestive at times. 

> >>Carol:
> <snip>
> As for the Veela (and Fleur, of course, is part Veela),
> Harry at first is just as susceptible as Ron... <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oops, you're right. <g>  Harry does slip under the Veela's sway for a 
while there.

> >>Carol:
> Maybe Harry is just a bit more mature than Ron (which I hate to say 
> because I like Ron, but he's very much a kid even at seventeen).

Betsy Hp:
That's probably what JKR is going for, yes.  Personally I don't like 
the idea that an interest in sex is a mark of the immature but there 
you are.  And of course, Ron's interest is always couched in comic 
terms.  Whereas Harry is always more interested in personality than 
looks, bless him.  (Um, unless of course it's a guy. <eg>)

> >>Carol:
> Or we need to know that those young men are handsome for plot      
> reasons.

Betsy Hp:
That Tom Riddle is so very, very pretty is important, but there's no 
reason to suggest Tonks might be attractive?

> >>Carol: 
> Seriously, I think Harry is so obsessed with Cho for two books that 
> he can't even see any other girl, and by the time he realizes that 
> he likes Ginny, he's seen her so often that he doesn't even think   
> about her looks.

Betsy Hp:
Which *so* doesn't work for me.  If Harry is suddenly attracted to 
Ginny, he should notice something physically attractive about her, 
something he's not noticed before.  Magic of puberty, etc.

> >>Carol:
> Is Tonks attractive? She's an "older woman" with pink or purple     
> hair.

Betsy Hp:
Yup.  Meanwhile Tom Riddle is "more handsome then ever" when he 
steals the Hufflepuff cup.  Why can't we get an idea of Tonks being 
attractive?
 
> Carol, who wouldn't want sex in a kids' book, anyway

Betsy Hp:
Me neither.  But it does keep them as kids' books, and therefore not 
terribly realistic.  Especially as we start dealing with teenagers.

Betsy Hp

Betsy Hp