List reactions, was Less than 1000 posts

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 180226

> From: "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...>
> > I have to say I am bewildered that a few of JKR's erstwhile fans 
no longer have anything good to say about the work they once praised
so expansively. The cynic in me wonders if it's just the reaction of a
largely female fan base to the bitter truth that so many juicy
> > characters are now dead or spoken for. <g>
> 
> Shelley:
> This attitude frustrates me, and makes me wonder if it's the cause
in modern  society for so much divorce.
<snip>
That's just absurd, and I am  offended that it would even be
suggested. Rowling's flaws are what they are-  obvious, out in the
open, and many. Let's discuss them as reasonable people, 
instead of unreasonable people who have to make up homophobe
accusations or accusations of being in love with male characters who
only existed in print and in our heads, and portrayed on movie screens.


Pippin:
Huh? If I insulted anybody it was myself, since I had a notable and
public Snape-crush. And BTW, I've been happily married for more than
30 years. I did not mean my comment to be read as speculating about
the motives of any other person in particular, which would be rude and
intrusive, but if we can't discuss the reactions of readers in general
and the possible reasons for them IMO it will limit our understanding
of the books. 

Of course not everyone who objects to Rowling saying that Dumbledore
is gay is a homophobe, and not everyone who changed their mind about
the series did so because they lost their crush object. Nonetheless
homophobia and feeling dumped, so to speak, by  fictional characters
are real observable phenomena, and just as likely to occur among the
universe of Potter readers as they are in any other group of otherwise
unrelated individuals. I don't think it insults humanity to say that
people are flawed and often like or dislike things, including books,
for less than admirable reasons. 

I am reading "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in The Annotated Sherlock
 Holmes, and I notice that though it is considered one of the greatest
mystery stories ever written, it has all the flaws, moral and
technical, that people are professing have made them disillusioned
with the Potter series.  Red herrings are not resolved. Holmes keeps
his friends in the dark and manipulates them for no better reason than
that he enjoys it, while Watson helps a brutal murderer to escape the
law and seems to think that it's no great matter if he goes free, so
long as it's not in England.

But who can forget "Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic
hound"? Too bad there's no way to identify a dog as a hound by its
footprints. And maybe there's no way for that letter to have been at
GP or for Snape to have known about it, though I can think of several.
But claiming this sort of thing is the difference between a bad writer
and a good one, or a good one and a great one, doesn't make much sense
to me. 

I am not going to forget Snape crying his eyes out over that letter
and tearing the photograph in two, nor clinging to Harry's robes as he
tries to hang on to life long enough to complete his mission. I am not
going to forget Harry reaching out to pat Dumbledore's arm and glad to
find that he could. And I am not going to forget Harry telling Albus
Severus that it doesn't matter where the Hat puts him. 

Anyone else want to talk about unforgettable DH moments?
   

Pippin