TV Tropes fanbrats on Bellatrix: A Parody of a Rant

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

So… as I believe I have lovingly demonstrated, occasionally I’ll come across something on TV Tropes pertaining to Harry Potter that makes me want to kick babies. Case in point: I was reading reviews of a My Little Pony dark fic entitled “Cupcakes” when there was one author who threw in a casual mention about how Bellatrix was ultimate evil, and not worthy of any sort of Freudian excuse. So, to ease my troubled mind, I made this parody of their opinion of Bellatrix (for example). The rant below is technically taken from a series of rants by a fanfic author about characters who figure in her stories, but I’ve adapted it for my own purposes:
 
I truly hate this woman because...well, there's absolutely, positively nothing to like about her! She has no redeeming qualities, whatsoever!
First off, she tortures [Hermione]! Need I say more?! How can any [HP] fan like this psychopathic bitch or think she's just misunderstood?! There's nothing TO understand about her -- she's just an evil lunatic! \_/
There's absolutely NOTHING that can possibly be said to defend [Bitchytrix’s]* rotten behavior or explain why she's so detestable! I know a lot of people theorize that she was abused as a child or that somebody who was really close to her died and she just doesn't know how to express herself, but you know what? Those theories are pure speculation! There's NO evidence to back them up, which technically renders them invalid! (At least [Dudley], [James], and the like have actual proof, no matter how subtle or obscure, so that a case can be made in their favor, but with [Bellatrix] it's all "maybes" and "what ifs," and that just doesn't fly!) Besides, even if [Bellatrix] really is from an abusive family or if somebody close to her died, it DOESN'T excuse her from being so mean to [Harry, Ron, and Hermione]! Uh, [Harry] came from an abusive family, [his parents] died when [he] was a little [boy], and [he] was abandoned and tortured by [Muggles] for most of his life, but do you see [HIM] out [killing] and torturing people?! I don't think so – [Harry is] the sweetest, most loving character [in the book], despite all of the hardships [he’s] been through! This chick has serious problems! O_o
So once again, nuff said. [Bellatrix] isn't misunderstood at all -- some people are just evil, and she's one of them. She's a self-centered, psychotic bitch. Period. Paragraph. End of story.
Okay, I'm pretty much done playing lawyer for now. So to recap, [Harry, Ron, Hermione, and James Potter] = good. [Voldemort, Snape, and Bellatrix] = bad.
 
*XD

Comments

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

I did not make the rant up. I actually borrowed it from a very old page of rants on the Internet, posted by a fanbrat for a different fandom (hence why I copied and pasted Harry Potter names into it).

But I do agree- the Death Eaters would work better as Nazi analogs if there was some logic to what they do, but there just isn't. As I've said before, it's as though Rowling was worried that her villains weren't evil enough so she threw in the Nazi references to make them seem more evil.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Oh. Sorry. *Facepalms* May I ask what fandom it was originally for, or should I refrain from asking? #Genuinely curious. I mean, it really does feel like a game of "What's Wrong With This Picture", doesn't it? Like, "How many logical fallacies can you spot in this argument?"

And thank you. :)

And I agree. Completely. Like Film Brain said in his review of ULTRAVIOLET, "When you need to add substance to your shitty movie (or book, or whatever), just add Nazis!" Which is just insulting to those who died in the Holocaust, IMHO -- because the Holocaust, ultimately, is something we can't entirely grasp. The carnage that went on, the atrocities, why people did what they did, etc. etc. Or at the very least, we think we can just toss it into our stories, like Insta-Evil Just Add Nazis (or "Everything's Worse With Nazis", or whatever), when in fact, that's not how it works. It's not just offensive, it's bad writing. You have to actually work at developing your villains' motivations, building the tension, etc. etc., otherwise, you're pretty much doomed. Honestly, the DELTORA QUEST series -- I think Emily Rodda did much better with her villains than Rowling did with hers, because she actually took time to develop their menace: from the Tragic Monster types like Fardeep and Soldeen to creatures like the Shadowlord, etc. etc. (I think she's just a better writer than Rowling overall, but...I think I've rambled enough)

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

It was from the Pokemon anime fandom. The character being described was unpleasant to her associates to begin with, but this fanfic author was infamous for her tendency to shut down any interpretations of characters that differed from her own (kinda like the Harry Potter fanbrats on TV Tropes...).

What makes the Nazi parallels worse is the fact that, as has already been stated, the bad guys may be discriminating against Muggleborns but we see the HEROES treating anyone who isn't a wizard with dismissive contempt, and that's apparently supposed to be okay. I remember when I was much younger I read a series of fantasy books about talking owls, in which the main villain was a Nazi owl- and the series faced the same problem because the heroic owls constantly made fun of or looked down on any birds who weren't other owls because they didn't regurgitate pellets (or something). Admittedly I never finished the series so I don't know if that was ever addressed, but even this series did better than Rowling simply because the Nazi parallels actually had some buildup (however minimal), rather than just feeling tacked on to increase the villains' evilness.

[sunnyskywalker]

Do Americans (for this was an American-made movie) really think that this is what Nazism is all about? Something that only Evil People will fall for? Something that might never happen to YOU because YOU Believe In Stories?

Quite possibly, though as an American, that particular idea pisses me off, so the conditioning doesn't get us all. Though I know my school was unusual in trying to teach us subtleties and making sure we understood what the Milgram experiment meant and things like that. But I think the idea that someone who's really nice at the neighborhood barbecue and loves his kids could then go make lampshades out of human skin is just too horrifying for a lot of us to handle (not to mention the idea that something we do in ignorance or without intending anything bad could end up having horrible consequences), so we'd rather pretend that Evil comes in specially marked packages with skulls and crossbones on them so no one could get mixed up.

There's also the cultural baggage of the whole Native American genocide the US perpetrated over centuries: try to talk to people about that, and you'll get, "But they must not have known they were moving onto Indian land," and "But they must not have known any Indians, so all they knew was they were getting attacked and really believed the Indians were all just cruel and inhuman," and any number of ways to avoid having to think that those nice, brave pioneers and manly cowboys and Union soldiers did know what they were doing. (It's really hard to justify soldiers mowing down women and children and making necklaces out of human ears, so most school history books leave those bits out.) A whole lot of energy goes into maintaining the national myths that make our ancestors look less bad (at least they've stopped trying to justify slavery as far as I know, but still aren't very good at addressing how Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Patrick Henry could be slaveowners), and I can't help but think that these kinds of stories are an outgrowth of that. Not that other countries wouldn't have their own reasons for similar stories - the British Empire comes to mind. And then there's personal narcissism, but I think the larger cultural mythology is needed for the popularity of the stories.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

"But I think the idea that someone who's really nice at the neighborhood barbecue and loves his kids could then go make lampshades out of human skin is just too horrifying for a lot of us to handle (not to mention the idea that something we do in ignorance or without intending anything bad could end up having horrible consequences), so we'd rather pretend that Evil comes in specially marked packages with skulls and crossbones on them so no one could get mixed up."

It's the same logic that drives the failure of Captain Planet- all the villains were jerkasses who polluted for fun, which defeated its whole purpose by suggesting that only certain, obviously-evil people could possibly be part of the problem.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Well, it would hardly look good to have Captain Planet terrorizing industrial workers who really have nothing to do with their company's policies, would it?

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. It's usually the villains that are supposed to do stuff like that -- not the heroes. Yes, heroes can make stupid mistakes at times, but there's kind of a fine line between making stupid mistakes and being a sociopath. Which, unfortunately, seems to be the problem with how Harry's character is written then and there. :/ What do you think?

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

And yet he is consistently thought by both JKR and her fans to be a Christ parallel. I think the main problem is that Harry doesn't learn from anything. I hardly consider myself to be an amazing writer, but at least my immature, self-centered protagonist gets better and actually acknowledges that he has done the wrong thing. That is something I am somewhat proud of.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Definite kudos, man. Definite kudos. :)

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

I try. However, I hope I don't sound crazy but it seems like a lot of his development is a result of his personal choices, not my forcing him in a given way. Suddenly being in a much less forgiving environment and having your beloved sister in danger because of your irresponsibility seems to do a lot to make you grow up. ;-)

Not that I will probably publish it or anything. In fact, I sometimes wish that I could hit up a better writer to write it for me because I feel like my characters deserve better.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely like to see it, if you have time.

And yeah...stuff like that *can* break a man. It truly can.

And I'm sure you're a pretty good writer. Don't worry. *Hugs*

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! The first half of what I have is pretty old and terrible, but I think some of the new chapters are better. Am a bit embarrassed of them, but I did post as much as I have on my main LJ page. I would appreciate comments, though please don't mind some of the suckitude. (that's a word!) If you do read it, let me know because there are some things I have changed that aren't reflected in the older chapters. There are also some world-building things I need to clarify for it to make sense.

I feel pretty bad for my protagonist at this point- he's silly and arrogant but not a bad person. Still, if this doesn't make sort of a hero out of him then nothing will.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :) *Makes note to check out*

Honestly, from the description of your protagonist, I'm hooked already. :)

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Good point. Considering a lot of the history of the US, Americans really have no excuse for not understanding how Nazism works. I mean, I'm pretty sure that they got a lot of ideas from our Eugenics movement in the early 20th century. One could also mention things like the internment of Japanese-Americans and the violence against civil rights protesters here. We ought to be the most understanding, really, not the most ignorant.

[sunnyskywalker]

The Vermont Eugenics Project alone ought to be a big thwap upside our collective head about how it works, but then, we never talk about that either. There's a really strong impulse toward denial at work.

And yes, eugenics was quite a popular idea in the US for decades. Victoria Woodhull, a labor and women's rights activist who ran for president, was also a eugenics advocate. The latter probably had to do with her developmentally delayed son she had in her teens, whose condition she blamed on her abusive husband being alcoholic (which, given the effects of tons of alcohol on sperm, might actually have been true, but we'll never know for sure). It isn't hard to see how she jumped to the conclusion that her husband shouldn't be allowed to reproduce. So, it was an idea supported by plenty of non-Nazis who were trying to do other, good things (like fighting for the right to divorce abusive husbands) and who really weren't intending all the brutal consequences which, true, they should have foreseen, but the fact that well-intentioned people could support it just makes it even scarier and should inspire us to think more carefully about the possible consequences of the things we do and support. But then we'd maybe have to admit to being wrong.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

I don't think the books were that bad. I remember that the bad owl was jealous of his brother (and bad from the start, too) but I don't think that the good owl started off as especially special at first- he only got that way with help. Yeah, the movie does have a bad reputation but the books were a little longer and more complex. That attempt at Nazism still irked me, though, in part because, like in Harry Potter, the owls blatantly make fun of and look down on other birds (sometimes RIGHT TO THEIR FACES) and that's apparently supposed to be okay.

Mostly, though, what originally drove me away from the series was the fact that the author got many facts dead wrong, e.g., burrowing owls rarely dig unless they have to, many of the birds that the protagonists chide for not being able to regurgitate pellets actually can, Boreal owls are not bigger than Barn owls, etc.- not to mention how ridiculously anthropomorphic the owls are (and this from an author who wanted to discuss owl natural history, too!).

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

This is completely off-topic, but I really like your Lady Vader icon, showing Padmé with Anakin as Vader. ^^

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D *Hugs tightly* ^^ I remember seeing it somewhere and thinking, "Oh my goodness, I need to have this..." Especially considering that I absolutely adore the Padme/Vader pairing. So much. :) *Hugs more* ^^

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

*hugs back* Yeah, that icon alone brings up so many plot bunnies for AU fanfics. ^^

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Indeed it does! :D