*Harry’s surprised to see that the wild look of joy on Tom’s face does not enhance his handsome features. You’d think anything would enhance those handsome features. He’s really handsome, that Dark Lord!
You know, I really think there's a supersekrit message about appearances slipped in there. After all, Tom completely neglected his own adonis-like beauty in striving for more lofty goals and look how far he got! JKR essay about Hollywood and appearances not mattering is now completely backed up. Go Team Evil!
*In the final battle Harry will fight under a red and gold standard that reads "I still don’t understand."
Just be glad he can find the right end of the wand.
*I confess: I love FuckUp!Lucius.
My favorite Lucius moment is actually when Voldemort announces that he ran from the Dark Mark in the sky. Because I can totally just see that in my head.
*Dumbledore then goes on to explain, most wonderfully, that by "power of love" he means "vengeful rage and vague feeling that honor demands you murder your parents’ killer." Phew! I was worried about everything resting on Harry Potter’s capacity for love, but if you’re going to define love that way Harry’s your man.
I thought about this for such a long time, actually. Like, WTF Dumbledore could have been smoking in that scene. But if you tie it in to the overall Slytherin theme, it makes more sense. Slytherins never do anything unless the wound or the reason is personal, they have no "because it's right" they have, "because it will protect me, mine, and my own interests." And as selfish as that is, it also means that they have this passion and drive for whatever it is they're doing or fighting for that others might not. Even Neville, probably the most morally upright person in Gryffindor, needed Bellatrix to escape prison in order to really work in the DA. And the beautiful thing about that is, it means that where others don't have choices, Slytherins do. Rather than be forced by any outside sense of right or wrong, they sort of create a right and a wrong based on every individual situation, therefore making all their actions a conscious decision on their parts. Like, “alright, you can force me to do this, but I’m doing it on my own terms.”
And I think that that's actually what Dumbledore's getting at here, and you kind of have to accept JKR's whole, "Voldemort can do nothing but DIE because he CANNOT LOVE" argument to accept it, but the fact is, Harry has to kill him. But if he elects to kill him because of the people who have come before him, rather than because of some rigid moral code forced down on him, then he has made a conscious choice to do something based on his own personal reasoning and his resolve will be that much stronger. If that makes much sense. And I think that that cuts right to the heart of what Slytherin really stands for. In some ways, the theme of the books, choice. I think it's less about Harry's suddenly going homicidal and hellbent on honor killing than it is about the process there. If that makes sense. And doesn't sound like it's trying to justify something completely horrible, there's sort of a time and place for it all.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-08-18 09:12 pm (UTC)You know, I really think there's a supersekrit message about appearances slipped in there. After all, Tom completely neglected his own adonis-like beauty in striving for more lofty goals and look how far he got! JKR essay about Hollywood and appearances not mattering is now completely backed up. Go Team Evil!
*In the final battle Harry will fight under a red and gold standard that reads "I still don’t understand."
Just be glad he can find the right end of the wand.
*I confess: I love FuckUp!Lucius.
My favorite Lucius moment is actually when Voldemort announces that he ran from the Dark Mark in the sky. Because I can totally just see that in my head.
*Dumbledore then goes on to explain, most wonderfully, that by "power of love" he means "vengeful rage and vague feeling that honor demands you murder your parents’ killer." Phew! I was worried about everything resting on Harry Potter’s capacity for love, but if you’re going to define love that way Harry’s your man.
I thought about this for such a long time, actually. Like, WTF Dumbledore could have been smoking in that scene. But if you tie it in to the overall Slytherin theme, it makes more sense. Slytherins never do anything unless the wound or the reason is personal, they have no "because it's right" they have, "because it will protect me, mine, and my own interests." And as selfish as that is, it also means that they have this passion and drive for whatever it is they're doing or fighting for that others might not. Even Neville, probably the most morally upright person in Gryffindor, needed Bellatrix to escape prison in order to really work in the DA. And the beautiful thing about that is, it means that where others don't have choices, Slytherins do. Rather than be forced by any outside sense of right or wrong, they sort of create a right and a wrong based on every individual situation, therefore making all their actions a conscious decision on their parts. Like, “alright, you can force me to do this, but I’m doing it on my own terms.”
And I think that that's actually what Dumbledore's getting at here, and you kind of have to accept JKR's whole, "Voldemort can do nothing but DIE because he CANNOT LOVE" argument to accept it, but the fact is, Harry has to kill him. But if he elects to kill him because of the people who have come before him, rather than because of some rigid moral code forced down on him, then he has made a conscious choice to do something based on his own personal reasoning and his resolve will be that much stronger. If that makes much sense. And I think that that cuts right to the heart of what Slytherin really stands for. In some ways, the theme of the books, choice. I think it's less about Harry's suddenly going homicidal and hellbent on honor killing than it is about the process there. If that makes sense. And doesn't sound like it's trying to justify something completely horrible, there's sort of a time and place for it all.