Respect (was: Less than 1000 posts in a month - why now?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 180344

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > Again, you've ignored all the positive posts.  True, *I've*
> > not been kind to JKR. (I finished DH and said, "My God. She's
> > evil!"; I've since decided she's less evil and more misguided.)
> > And there've been others who agree that DH was not a swimming
> > success nor JKR a particularly bright bulb. But we by no means
> > make up the entire list.

> >>Susan:  
> Betsy, I want to suggest that when you say that JKR is evil, that
> you are really attacking her...saying that she is not a bright
> bulb is a comment that would not be tolerated on this list by
> the list elves if you said it about me.

Betsy Hp:
I don't deny that I'm attacking JKR when I say such things.  Nor do I 
deny that saying such things about a fellow list member would be 
unacceptable behavior.  For me, the difference comes down to power.  
I could possibly bully a person off this list by calling them names.  
But, I cannot remove or quiet JKR's input into Potter-verse.  She is 
more powerful than me.

I'll also say that in attacking a fellow list member, I'm moving off 
message; I'm not talking about the Potter-verse.  In attacking JKR 
(as an author) I *am* talking about Potter-verse.  (In that vein, I 
suppose if I talked about JKR the person (wife, mother, etc.) I'd be 
moving to off-topic waters.  Which would be a bad thing.)

> >>Susan:
> I am in an incredible minority who thinks that Ms. Rowling should   
> be treated as well as anyone on this list. The List Elves do not   
> agree, so I am suppressed.... oh well...

Betsy Hp:
Obviously you're *not* suppressed.  Your point of view is out there 
for everyone to see and discuss.  (The elves are actually pretty good 
about allowing messages slamming them and the way they run things.  
You know, for power-hungry despots. *joke!*)

> >>Susan:
> Evil? You really think Ms. Rowling is evil? In my own humble
> opinion that seems to be a little over the edge.....

Betsy Hp:
Heh.  You should have heard me when I put DH down for the first 
time.  I told my husband it was like finding out your husband had 
been cheating on you.  With a ten year old.  (He was just *thrilled* 
with that analogy. <g>)  Not just betrayed and made foolish, but also 
actively replused.  A misjudgment of epic proportions. So yeah, I did 
think "evil".

A huge part of that came from my buying into her world, really 
thinking she was going to pull it out in the end and have this 
beautiful, satisfying, and well thought out message.  It was stunning 
and dismaying to be so very, very wrong.  And it shook my personal 
opinion of myself as a critical thinker.  (I took some solace in the 
realization that I'd been nervous about the series for a while, but 
still... I missed the boat so completely I wasn't only at the wrong 
pier on the wrong day, I was standing in the middle of a desert.) 

I've since gotten over the bitterness (I feel like anyway) and am now 
enjoying re-examining the series to see *why* I thought like I did, 
and what warning signs I missed along the way.  But my reaction was a 
real one, and I think that makes it valid.  (I can't see a casual 
reader feeling this strongly.)

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > As for me?  I figure JKR's a big girl. I'm betting she can
> > handle little old me calling her to task on an internet group.
> > Looking at her bank balance might help. ;)

> >>Susan:
> Betsy, this is an example of how I think Ms. Rowling is not being
> treated with the same respect that anyone on this list is entitled
> to...
> When you say " Looking at her bank balance might help..."..To me,
> this means that she is a rich jerk who is entitled to any vitriol
> that anyone might dish out? No?

Betsy Hp:
I was referencing her power (as made apparent by her wealth built on 
the popularity of her books).  She *is* the creator.  Katie Couric is 
not going to interview *me*.  My expressions of dismay at what she 
created and why (and wondering about motivations, etc.) haven't made 
a dent in JKR's ability to express herself.  Nor has my voice come 
even close to matching the power of hers. 

Betsy Hp