Reacting to DH (was:Snape Reduced LONG(was: Re: Villain!Dumbledore...

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 177946

> > Betsy Hp:
> > Yeah.  I'm not anything like Harry.  I question. <rbg>  DH, IMO, 
> > doesn't stand up to questions.  It was, IMO, a failure.
> 
> Pippin:
> See, the more I question, the more interesting answers I find.
> Partly, I think there's a cultural difference going on in that 
> European  novels tend not to have triumphalist endings with
> everything resolved.  I think Americans tend to expect that sort
> of Hollywood ending,  and may either feel cheated of  it or assume 
> that it's meant to be wholly triumphal and that it's evil of
>  JKR to ask us to celebrate such a less than ideal state of affairs.

Magpie:
Did I get the Americanized Hollywood version of the book then? 
Because the one I read ain't Bergman. I'm sure JKR considers the 
flaws in the WW to be flaws the way she always has, but I don't think 
this makes the ending any more ambiguous. Harry isn't a social 
revolutionary. He's defending his own world and friends as they 
are/were. The central issue has always been Harry and his happiness, 
and in the end he gets that in true Hollywood fashion with a passel 
of kids hired from central casting. He gets the girl, the sidekicks 
get each other, everybody has children, preferably with even more 
people in his little circle. His life's exactly the way it was before 
only no Voldemort so there's no threat to any of them.

I don't see anything not triumphant or happy about that ending just 
because she didn't include Slytherin and Gryffindors singing kumbaya 
together while House Elves board the Express as students. Harry's 
line to his son gives props to poor old Snape who could maybe have 
almost been a Gryffindor, and harks back yet again to Harry's choice 
of Gryffindor which has always been a bood thing--remember kids, all 
you have to do is choose not to be Slytherin. He's no longer 
disturbed by the hat suggesting he'd have been good in the house. 
(Kids choosing their house with the hat without interference of older 
siblings or parents has never been an issue for anyone.) I just don't 
read the imperfect state of affairs as some indication of darkness. 
It's just not of primary importance to Harry's happiness and never 
has been. He's happy in his imperfect world, living his ordinary 
life. He's got an enviable place in his society. I took "all is well" 
at face value. How could it not be--look at all the babies they've 
got.

-m