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

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 164402

> >>Bart:
> Hogwarts has students from 10-17. Doesn't ANYBODY have sex? Now, I am 
> not one of those people who say that ALL teenagers have sex, but     
> certainly, SOME do. Even the professors appear to be virgins!

Betsy Hp:
Honestly, I think part of it is because these are childrens books in 
the end.  And I also think JKR probably isn't all that keen on writing 
about human sexuality.  She does do it to some extent (Ron is her 
favorite subject, I think) but she seems to prefer to do it from a very 
great distance.

It might also be the genre.  My experience with school-days books is 
Malory Towers.  IIRC, puberty is never touched upon and neither are 
boys.  Though it does take place at an all girls school, so there's a 
bit of (though not much of) an excuse. <g>

I do think it's... I don't know if odd is the right word, but it does 
lessen the realism of the Potterverse for me.  How many years was it 
before Ron discovered boys couldn't enter the girls' dorms?  You're 
telling me none of the boys attempted a panty raid at one point or 
another?

It also strikes me as fairly unrealistic that none of the boys bring 
dirty pictures to school.  I'm not saying Harry should do so, but it'd 
have made dorm life more real if something of the sort were floating 
around. (I was in boarding school in eighth grade, and naked man 
pictures were snuck about for a while there -- with much giggling of 
course.)

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.  

Instead it's Ron who takes very quick notice of  Madam Rosmerta, and 
who falls all over Fluer, and who is very willing to make out with 
Lavander until the cows come home even though they don't have all that 
much in common. 

Also, Harry is fairly quick at spotting the handsome young men (Cedric, 
Sirius, Lupin, Tom Riddle), while he doesn't seem as able to spot the 
pretty young women.  Is Tonks attractive, for example?  And why do we 
need a Slytherin to point out that Ginny is pretty?  (Though partially 
I wonder if this isn't because JKR doesn't like describing female 
characters as good looking for political reasons.)

But aside from all that, even though we have Harry doing something with 
Ginny down by the lake, he still doesn't seem all that sexually aware, 
IMO.

> >>Bart:
> And look at Draco. He clearly has little care for the feelings of    
> others. Yet, he has a woman who has the entire older male student    
> group hot under the, ummm, we'll call it the collar, and Draco has   
> her under Imperious Curse, and, well, nothing! Don't tell me that     
> Draco has become  a gentleman!

Betsy Hp:
I'm quite sure Narcissa would have some words for anyone who considered 
her son anything less than a perfect gentleman! <bg>  Seriously, I 
think it comes down to the fact that just as Draco doesn't have it in 
him to be a murderer, he's not a rapist. Also, Draco has a girlfriend.  
One he's possibly been dating since Fourth year.

Actually, given the physical comfort the Slytherins seemed to have with 
each other in their glorious train scene, I suspect they're a bit more 
sexually aware then their Gryffindor counterparts.  Draco was quite 
comfortable putting his head in Pansy's lap (can you imagine Ron or 
Harry doing the same?).  And they were all comfortable talking about 
the physical attractiveness of their fellow classmates.

I don't know if JKR meant for it to come across this way, but it seems 
like the Gryffindors are the prudish house and the Slytherins the 
sensual house.  It wouldn't surprise me if dirty pictures have made the 
rounds in the dungeons and wizarding versions of spin the bottle been 
played.

But yeah, we're not going to hear about it. <g>

Betsy Hp