Just thought I'd add my own two cents...

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

A little late to the party but enjoying every minute of it. I was thinking of Harry Potter plot holes and similar and suddenly I came across this little list online, and was amazed at how well it fit some of the complaints you guys make.

The list itself is criticizing another fantasy series by an unrelated author and so it may not be entirely compatible with Harry Potter, but most of the items on it are. A few of the juiciest items on the list are recapped below, but feel free to visit the original list to see if there’s anything I might not have mentioned.

*The Hero must not know jack shit about how the real world works. Instead he must rely completely on his mentors to tell him things and never question what they tell him. This is so that the reader can learn about things as he does in massive info-dumps.

Do I need to say more?

Evil is Evil. Good is Good. If someone is designated evil, then no matter what they do, it will be evil. If someone is designated good, then no matter what they do it will be good.

It’s Okay If A Gryffindor Does It, anyone?

The Hero is the only one who can save the world. If he doesn't it's DOOOOOMM!!

That’s why everyone sits around waiting for Harry to succeed rather than aiding the war effort on their own!

The Hero is the only one who fits the Prophecy. There must be a prophecy. Preferably with things like Chosen One, Prophecy, Future of the World Depends on It, Ancient Evil and Dark Lords.

Well, technically Neville fits the prophecy as well, but everything else checks out!

There must be a slave that the Hero frees who will become instantly loyal to him

Oh, hello, Dobby!

*Characterization is over-rated. In fact it's not needed at all. Stereotypes are all you need.

See Voldemort, personality and backstory!

The Hero is more important than anyone. Any other events that happen in his vicinity that would be potentially more interesting should be ignored in favor of whatever he's doing.

Much of DH is composed of this.

The climax doesn't have to be at all climatic or satisfying as long as the Hero looks good or does something impossible. Better if he does both.

The end of DH, oh, dear God, the end of DH!

That's about all I was planning on writing but you should check out the list and see for yourself just how well it fits here!

Comments

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Also, some fans think the whole Tom/Ginny thing in COS is like a rape metaphor, and she doesn't seem to suffer any consequences, either./

It's really weird. Ginny spent her whole first year being manipulated and possessed by a malevolent spirit in a diary and yet by the time the year's over, she's fine and nobody ever brings it up again. The only time that it's mentioned again in the series is in OotP when Harry finally remembers, "Oh, yeah, the girl that I'm ranting about Voldemort to was possessed by him in my second year. Oops, my bad." I agree with whoever said earlier that Ginny should have had a much worse reaction to the dementors than Harry did. Yes, Harry was there when his mother was killed, but he was only a year old. Ginny was eleven when she was possessed by Tom and tried to murder people. When faced with the dementors, not only would she have had to contend with the horror of what Tom made her do, but guilt as well.

Harry himself doesn't show many signs of trauma from his treatment by the Dursleys. Hermione isn't traumatized by being tortured by Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor and Ron's treatment by Hermione in HBP is presented as a joke. The only ones who do show signs of suffering and trauma are, of course, Slytherins. Merope is the prime example, since her very introduction itself presents her as a long-suffering victim of abuse. Snape's abrasive character and back-story are suggestive, while Draco is described as sickly and "paler than usual" all throughout sixth year and into seventh year. None of the "good guys" ever seem to suffer from trauma for that long.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

There is Neville. But, as with Ginny, Harry notes it briefly and forgets it. On the train in 5th year, Neville is back to "that loser I don't want people to see me with."

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

"The only ones who do show signs of suffering and trauma are, of course, Slytherins. Merope is the prime example, since her very introduction itself presents her as a long-suffering victim of abuse. Snape's abrasive character and back-story are suggestive, while Draco is described as sickly and "paler than usual" all throughout sixth year and into seventh year. None of the "good guys" ever seem to suffer from trauma for that long."

When you put it like that, it's no wonder that so much of fandom seems to regard the Slytherins as poor misunderstood woobies. If a character can just shrug off any damage, it becomes quite hard to care about them; it's only if they actually seem to have difficulty overcoming their trauma that they become sympathetic.