(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

Re: I agree

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

What pisses me off is that people sigh over how 'tragic' it was...FOR HERMIONE. What a huge sacrifice was made...BY HERMIONE.

Um, how about her parents? I know we never actually hear them speak or see their characters develop in any significant way, but they're real people whose lives were ruined by something they didn't even know about because Hermione lied to them all those years. And then she made a unilateral decision about what she thought was best for them. I cannot stand it- in the movie, she literally hits them from behind, while they're sitting there, happy and unsuspecting of what's about to become of them. Yet we're supposed to feel sorry for Hermione? She got rid of them like so much excess baggage! No dialogue, no chance to explain anything to them!

And people go, 'This way it saves them having to worry about her.' Um. OMFG. These people are her parents. They raised her for at least eleven years, they have a right to love their daughter, be concerned for her, worry about her, pray for her and everything else! It's like saying the parents of soldiers off in Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever would rather be mind-wiped, because it's easier than worrying about their children. Just. How sick and offensive is that?

Re: I agree

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Well said. It's pretty disgusting really, and what amazes me more is that most of these people can't seem to see how incredibly offensive the treatment of non-wizards is in the books. I wonder if they have forgotten that they themselves are "just muggles"?

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Somehow it makes a sick degree of sense. :(

Re: I agree

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

How so? That everybody wants to be special?

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Not really. Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with being special! *Is thoroughly embarrassed* XD The problem is falling into a What Measure Is A Non Super mindset. That's what I was referring to. And probably one reason (YMMV) of why they might not have cared too much about Hermione Obliviating her mom and dad.

(That and putting Hermione up on a pedestal, but that's another story)

Hope it makes it a little clearer. :)

Re: I agree

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

I see your point. Hey, I want to be special too, but the idea of looking down on those who aren't... that leads to a whole host of ickiness.

Re: I agree

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

It's pretty disgusting really, and what amazes me more is that most of these people can't seem to see how incredibly offensive the treatment of non-wizards is in the books. I wonder if they have forgotten that they themselves are "just muggles"?

A couple of years ago I came across a comment several paragraphs long in which a woman insisted there was nothing wrong with Obliviating Muggles, that it didn't hurt them, cause any permanent problems, or violate their rights in any way. I remember thinking, "Back away from this person slowly. She's obviously completely delusional and very dangerous."

Seriously, that kind of mindset is what leads to "ethnic cleansings," that attitude that "this other group isn't worthy of consideration because they're inferior to us." Once you start justifying "harmless" activities like mind-wiping, it's only a matter of time before you start making excuses for torturing and killing--just like Scumbledore and Grindelwald, with their schemes for torturing and enslaving Muggles.

Re: I agree

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent point regarding ethnic cleansings. Also, it's incredibly creepy that anybody could honestly think that. I wonder if anybody has asked them how they would feel about it if a wizard tried to obliviate them?

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Well, they definitely have no place in the human race. Heard Mars is a *lovely* planet this time of year! :D

Re: I agree

[sunnyskywalker]

Yikes. Now, I could grudgingly concede that if something indisputably magical happened and the Muggles involved were definitely going to and had the means to reveal it and endanger wizards, then Obliviate might be the lesser evil. But otherwise, couldn't they just dress up like FBI agents and tell everyone what they saw was just the test run of an advanced holographic system? Or that funny vapors in the area were making them see things? Certainly Obliviating a guy every hour to cover up a sporting event seems awful to me - again, couldn't they have "helped" him win the lotto and meet a very helpful "travel agent" who could send him and his family on the vacation of a lifetime, and then hold the Cup while they're gone? (I'm assuming the setup would be easier to hide than the gazillions of clueless wizards streaming in for the actual event.)

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

"Yikes. Now, I could grudgingly concede that if something indisputably magical happened and the Muggles involved were definitely going to and had the means to reveal it and endanger wizards, then Obliviate might be the lesser evil. But otherwise, couldn't they just dress up like FBI agents and tell everyone what they saw was just the test run of an advanced holographic system?"

*Jots down idea* :D

Re: I agree

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

But otherwise, couldn't they just dress up like FBI agents and tell everyone what they saw was just the test run of an advanced holographic system?

The WiB. WizWorld defenders. Watch for the red light at the tip of this wand...

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

*This*, just this! D:

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

That was for borg_princess, BTW. (*Curses the funkiness of LJ commenting system* :P)

Re: I agree

[sunnyskywalker]

I can't find it right now, because I think it's in a comment somewhere, but gehayi has a fragment about "Wendell and Monica Wilkins" in Australia realizing they can't actually remember what any of their supposed siblings look like and having horrible nightmares and a terrible feeling that they're forgetting important things. Which seems like a plausible outcome of Hermione doing such a drastic modification for the first time.

Re: I agree

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

It really does. *Shudders at the thought* Poor Mr. and Mrs. Granger...talk about a case of We Hardly Knew Ye to boot, especially since they don't get much screentime. (Or pagetime, rather. ;-)

Re: I agree

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Another case of characters that could have been really interesting but were ignored in favor of *The Harry*.