Harry's looks - Butt Ugly vs Hollywood Handsome

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 177304

---  "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
...
> >> Carol responds:
> >> 
> >> "Various girls since he was eleven"? I count 
> >>Ginny as one girl. In PoA, when he's thirteen, Cho
> >> ... starts to like him,..., but that still makes
> >> only two girls. In GoF, girls are temporarily 
> >> attracted to Harry as a TWT champion--...--but 
> >> once the ball is over, things return to normal. 
> >>...

> Carol responds:
> 
> But my point is, Harry's (occasional) attractiveness 
> to girls has little to do with his looks ... and 
> everything to do with who he is ... and what he has
> done .... Perhaps we should substitute "popularity"
> for "attractiveness" since Harry attracts girls 
> other than Ginny and Cho only during times of 
> popularity ...
> 
> Betsy Hp said he was handsome and that his looks 
> attracted the girls. I'm saying ... that what 
> attracts the girls, starting with Ginny but including
> Cho and Romilda Vane and a dozen or so unnamed others
> at only two periods in seven books, is his fame...

bboyminn:

Once again, and I am sure to no one's surprise, I 
agree with Carol. We must remember that 'looks' are
a spectrum, not simply 'good' and 'bad', or as I
will use it here 'butt ugly' and 'Hollywood Handsome'.

Harry absolutely does not fall into the 'butt ugly'
category, but neither does he fall into the Hollywood
Handsome catagroy. Like most of us, he falls into the
middle ground of cute and/or attractive. But 'attractive'
in no way implies beautiful. You must have seen on
occasion in life, a person of modest appearance 
with a person of impressive beauty. That 
relationship clearly shows a distinction between
beauty and attractiveness. 

Attractiveness is a very abstract concept, can you
explain how and why, when you walk into a crowded
room, you are attracted so some people and not others?

My point is that Harry is clearly in the middle 
ground of appearance. And those that are attracted
to him, are so attracted for various reasons. Some
are drawn by the perception of fame and power at
any given moment. Other like Ginny (eventually) and
I'm sure Cho, are genuinely attracted to Harry as 
a person.

Fame and power are powerful aphrodisiacs, and can 
draw people to you, but most often their attraction
is selfish. They want to bask in the reflected
glory that spills over, and it wouldn't hurt if
a lot of money and attention fell their way too.

That's one of the biggest problems for people who 
have fame; how do you tell the glory seekers and 
money grubbers from the truly sincere people? 

Harry clearly doesn't trust the motives of a
majority of people who find him attractive because
he knows that without the fame and noteriety they
wouldn't give him a second look. This is clear from
the story, as we see Harry's fame wax and wane, we
see his popularity and attractiveness wax and
wane along with it. 

That is a fickle form of attractiveness that has 
nothing to do with who Harry is or how he looks.

Rambling a bit, but I think there's something there.

Steve/bboyminn