A bit frustrated with fandom at the moment - DH spoilers

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 172875

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Lisa" <seuferer at ...> wrote:
<snip>
 This is positively infuriating to me.  I'm a fanfic writer, too, and 
a lover of all things fanfic, but I think it behooves us all to 
remember that these are her books, her characters and her stories to 
tell how she wants.
<snipped the rest>

va32h here:

I have seen this attitude in several forums and quite frankly, it's 
infuriating to me that we are expected to treat Deathly Hallows with 
nothing less than reverence, as if JKR had descended from the mount 
with the text inscribed upon slabs, instead of selling it to us at 
$35 a pop. 

These are indeed her characters and stories, but when she CHOSE to 
share them with us, they became OURS also. 

If you do not wish your art to be subject to public opinion - keep it 
away from the public. 

I remember an English assignment from ages ago - we had to write 
sonnets and have them analyzed by the other students in class. I was 
surprised and a little unnerved by the meaning some of my classmates 
found in my poetry. That's not what I meant, I kept saying. But, my 
professor explained - if there is textual evidence for an 
interpretation, then it is valid, even if it is not what the author 
intended. 

JKR is a talented writer, but her word is not Gospel, it is not above 
criticism, and we are not disloyal or ungrateful readers for applying 
an honest and critical eye to the work. 

Quite the opposite - I would say that if we did not like the series 
so much, we would not care so much. As I tell my children when they 
are complaining about being punished "if I didn't CARE how you turned 
out, I wouldn't take the time to correct you when you are wrong."

No one is disputing Rowlings "right" to tell her story however she 
wants - but there is no obligation on our part to accept it without 
question. 


va32h