A James Rant - Who was This Guy?

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181346

Carol earlier:
> <SNIP>
> We can also take as true, I think, that he referred to Remus's
condition as "your furry little problem" since Remus has no reason to
lie. He recalls the words fondly, but I find them demeaning and
insensitive. Lycanthropy as a "little" problem? It's like calling
blindness "your little vision problem." It's along the same lines,
IMO, as Sirius's "Wish it were full moon" and his silence in response
to Remus's "I don't."
> <SNIP>
> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Personal interpretation v personal interpretation of course, but I 
love, love, love that James' moment. I LOVE that he is sort of 
downplays Remus' illness here IMO, it sounds to me as what one friend
would say to show that is what his lycantropy to him - furry little
problem, nothing else. That lycantropy does not define Remus' for him,
that is what I got from that moment. Again totally IMO.
> 

Carol again:
Right, it's personal interpretation, and I'm not trying to convince
you to agree with me, only to explain why it bothers me. I think it's
like downplaying Harry's scar, which more or less defines him, as
"that little lightning scar of yours." That's a bad analogy, though,
because the lycanthropy really is a handicap, so I'll stay with my
blindness analogy. Or deafness ("Your little hearing problem") or
being confined to a wheelchair (Your little foot problem). IOW, it
treats a serious problem as if it were nothing. To James and Sirius,
running around at the full moon is fun and exciting. To Remus, it's
both a comfort to have friends with him and a risk that he willingly
takes and yet is ashamed of. Every time he comes back safely, having
not bitten any innocent victims, he counts his blessings. And every
full moon, he does it again. (Ever so weak Lupin, whose friends don't
seem to understand that they're putting *him* at risk, just as Sirius
put *Remus* as well as Severus at risk in the so-called Prank.)

IMO, Remus *is* defined by his condition, starting with his nickname,
Moony, and his Boggart (the full moon). The first thing James asks
when they get out of the DADA exam is how Moony liked the werewolf
question. (Remus asks him to lower his voice because he doesn't want
anyone to hear.) Handsome Sirius and athletic James perceive
themselves as "the height of cool," but Remus is only "cool" by
association and because he's a werewolf. They, unlike him, look
forward to their adventures on full-moon nights. He's not even defined
by his Prefect badge. He may ask them, on occasion, to lay off
Severus, but the Prank and the SWM show just how well that worked. (Of
course, he "gave as good as he got," which may have made some
difference. It wasn't like hexing poor defenseless Bertram Aubrey.)

At any rate, Sirius spurns Remus's suggestion that they study for
their Transfiguration exam; he's an Animagus, so he doesn't need to
study, and he's not even willing to quiz non-Animagus Remus to help
him prepare. So, as far as I can see, while Sirius and James are best
friends, Remus is only part of their little gang because he's a
werewolf and Peter is only part because he's the fourth roommate and 
has attached himself as a groupie to "the biggest bully on the
playground" (James). They must have made some contribution to the
Marauder's Map or their names wouldn't be on it (I think that the
order, of the names, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, has nothing
to do with the significance of the individual contributions and
everything to do with rhythm), but we never hear about that. Either
Remus is acting/reacting as a werewolf or he's being an ineffectual
Prefect, too weak to stop his friends from doing wrong for fear of
losing their friendship. (I suspect, though I can't prove it, that
Padfoot and Prongs thought that Moony was the traitor because he was a
werewolf. What other reason would they have to suspect him?)

I just realized (actually, I knew it already, of course, but the
thought just popped into my mind): even his given name, Remus Lupin,
defines him as a werewolf. And, of course, the DADA curse operated on
him through his "furry [not so] little problem."

So I'm afraid that I see nothing endearing in James's remark. It
strikes me as supremely insensitive and demeaning. James, who had no
real problems that we know of (he had rich, loving parents, good
reflexes, cleverness, popularity based in part on his Quidditch
prowess and in part, perhaps, on fear of annoying him, as we see from
Remus) really could not relate to Remus's monthly agony or his fear of
what would happen if he bit someone. Nor could arrogant, handsome
Sirius (who did have a problem with a dysfunctional family whose
values conflicted with his but nevertheless managed to let his own
boredom take precedence over Remus's feelings--to say nothing of the
consequences of that boredom for Severus Snape.)

Alla:
> 
> <snip> It was suggested to me offlist that when Voldemort 
> tells Harry lies, he indeed lies twice in that scene – first saying 
> that his parents died begged for mercy and then when this lie does 
> not work, he starts manipulating Harry's emotions in a different
way–  that they died bravely fighting and you should live for them, etc.
> 
> It makes sense to me that Voldemort would lie to get what he wants, 
> that his lie has nothing to do with James, but everything with Harry 
> and manipulating him in this instance.

Carol:
But it's not just that scene in SS/PS. Voldemort says it again in GoF,
something along the lines of "your father died fighting bravely." he
wants Harry to face him in a duel so that he can show the DEs that
Harry is no threat by killing him in front of them, but he doesn't
want to just murder him as he did Lily. So maybe he has a reason to
lie about James: he wants Harry to face him like a brave man. Or maybe
JKR just forget that she'd presented him, through Voldemort, as dying
bravely, not once but twice.

So for those of us who were looking for *something* to admire in James
were disappointed. All I got (and I speak for no one but myself) was
confirmation that Severus was right about him; he was an arrogant
bully from his first appearance on the Hogwarts Express.

Carol, who accidentally typed "myelf" for "myself" and attributes the
typo to overexposure to a certain thread that must not be named