(no subject)

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one a little bothered by Dumbledore? Not only with the fact he could end up in the Guinness Book Of World Records for "Most Incompetent Headmaster of All Time" (though I'm sure there's worse. :P), but also because...he just bugs me. I know JKR was trying to write him as the "flawed Yoda", so to speak (and to be fair, he's nowhere near Yoda. XD), but it's also how...preachy he gets. Towards Fudge, for example. You know, in Goblet of Fire, with, "You place too much importance on purity of blood, yadda yadda et cetera et cetera" -- which considering how he treated Tom Riddle and the Slytherins is...slightly hypocritical isn't it? Probably bad writing on JKR's part, though. :/

Anyways, sorry 'bout the rambling. Thoughts?

Comments

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

Silly me not knowing that ambition is always evil. *roll eyes*

You have to wonder if Rowling ever truly considered how messed up message she's sending. :(

Not only that. Rowling herself is clearly extremely ambitious or she would not have had the temerity to quit her job (with a child to support, no less), write a book, shop it to over a dozen publishers, and do everything she could to make every last penny off her series. That isn't Slytherin-hatred. That's self-hatred.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Or simple hypocrisy, or blindness. Don't automatically attribute to malice what can be ascribed to stupidity.

Besides, if the theory that she's operating under a badly-understood Calvinism is accurate, of course she's not being ambitious, she's just favoured by God and deserves all this! I suspect if you asked her what she means by ambition, there'd be some implication that the ambitious want what they don't deserve.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

"Or simple hypocrisy, or blindness. Don't automatically attribute to malice what can be ascribed to stupidity."

Exactly.
I'll sooner believe (un)common stupidity, lack of understanding of , well, everything and self-righteousness from a women who can do simple math, can't keep track of things she already wrote, who can't plot one book without using deus ex machina (most times more then once) and who failed psychology and ethics is such spectacular way, then some kind of evile master plan.

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

I think you both misunderstood me, or perhaps I didn't express myself clearly. I'm not suggesting she consciously chose to ambitiously pursue success while simultaneously advocating the opposite value in her books. I'm saying the fact she can trash ambition in her books while being very ambitious in RL is another example of how clueless she is about her own beliefs and thought processes. I'm saying she consciously thinks ambition is bad--which is why she gave that trait to the "bad guy" Slytherins--but unconsciously believes in it and wants to be successful, so she's ambitious and pursues success in her own life. After all, this is the same woman who insists with a straight face that her books are all about the triumph of love over evil--and we all know how (un)true that is.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

*Sighs*

Honestly, with all this talk about Rowling, I think we're going to need more drinks. :/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/college_guide/images/tea_cup.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/25669164_abc44c8709.jpg

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/5525135/2/istockphoto_5525135-alcoholic-drinks.jpg

http://food.thefuntimesguide.com/images/blogs/green-drink-by-medialoog.jpg

And gifs. :)

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/126739_o.gif

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/1586172_o.gif

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http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/mygod.gif

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/elrond-carriewall01.gif

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/anakin.gif

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http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/ladyhadhafang/arwen.gif


Sorry 'bout that, BTW.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

It really is interesting seeing what we can infer about the author from her series. Lots of really unsavory stuff about her attitudes towards women dying in childbirth, skeevy manipulative old men using children and unfair condemnation of those who want to be successful, for starters. With a good author, they can write about characters with opinions that bare no resemblence to their own, but JKR's consistently been so trapped by her own narrow pov that I do think she believes a lot of the crap she espouses in this series.

the same woman who insists with a straight face that her books are all about the triumph of love over evil

LMAO! It aggravates me so much when fans buy into this! 'Harry's such a hero, Harry has so much love, Harry's so awesome and compassionate and amazing that he named his own son after Snape and got him a portrait, though that nasty bastard didn't deserve any such consideration'.

Yeah. Our hero smirked in triumph at seeing a young girl facially disfigured. Nice. Tortured a man for spitting! So noble! *shakes head*

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

*This*, just this! :D

(And permission to say that I adore your Hermione icon? :3)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes, I find that Hermione icon quite useful in discussions here on DTCL! I use it an awful lot...

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

It's awesome. :3 (And I get what you mean... :)

[sunnyskywalker]

I guess the triumph of random luck with wands over evil doesn't sound as good in interviews. Seriously, what did love have to do with that?

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

*Barely resists the urge to quote "What's Love Got To Do With It"*

But yes, *exactly*. Besides, can you imagine the deep sense of shame Voldemort would encounter in the afterlife?

(Seriously, even *Lord Nihilus* would laugh at that fail. XD)

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

he same woman who insists with a straight face that her books are all about the triumph of love over evil

LMAO! It aggravates me so much when fans buy into this! 'Harry's such a hero, Harry has so much love, Harry's so awesome and compassionate and amazing that he named his own son after Snape and got him a portrait, though that nasty bastard didn't deserve any such consideration'.

Yeah. Our hero smirked in triumph at seeing a young girl facially disfigured. Nice. Tortured a man for spitting! So noble! *shakes head*

Oh, yeah. In that fawning interview Oprah did with Rowling, Oprah gushed at the end of it something like, "My favorite part about the series is that LOVE triumphed!" Rowling gushingly agreed with her.

To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen in "No Surrender," "I learned more about love from a two-minute Beatles song than I ever learned from 4200 pages of Harry Potter."

I will now shamelessly promote the Warriors series again by pointing out that Fireheart, the hero of the first series, sometimes gets criticized for being too compassionate and sensitive! He's been called a Gary Stu, and there may be some truth to that, but after being immersed in the adventures of Harry "Torture is Fun" Potter, it was a real pleasure to read about a hero about whom the biggest complaint is that he's excessively kind and considerate.

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

the ambitious want what they don't deserve

LOL, sounds a lot like JKR going by the series! If you deserve something, it's awarded to you on a silver platter without any effort- like Harry being made Seeker in his first year, against the rules, with no other first years being given the same chance. Only the inferior and unworthy want something that they can't have! Like Draco, wishing he could be on the quidditch team! If he has to wish for it without it being granted, obv he's just greedy and a bully with no compassion or consideration for others!

Bleurgh.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it *is* from Harry's POV. And he *is* quite a little brat. :P

But that said...why the hell is *he* the hero? In fact, why is he even here? Or even better, why doesn't he *arc*?!

*Suddenly has the urge to hug Draco and tell him it'll be all right* And somehow, I think I understand the Draco love in the HP fandom a bit better. ^__^