Question About JKR's Male Characters...

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

Some comments I've seen about JKR's writing have led me to the thought that possibly, one reason why certain characters in the story have to keep insisting on their manliness and not doing anything "girly" like crying, etc. might have to do with the fact that Rowling just isn't good with writing men, and so resorts to stereotypes to do the job, except when writing "evil" feminine men like Snape. You know, kind-of like how Rowling wants Harry to be not-gay, but probably can't imagine being attracted to a woman, and so he ends up seeming gay by discussing the beauty of various men.

Any men in this community care to weigh in here? Part of the reason why I ask is because I sometimes doubt my own abilities to portray men convincingly in the stories I write :P

Comments

[annoni-no.livejournal.com]

Also not male-gendered, but still weighing in:

Besides seconding the general advice to focus on character personality first and everything else second, I think this particular issue is an extension of Rowling's general over-identification with her lead characters. Rowling relies heavily on stereotypes for all her characters, and in particular on the 'beauty-equals-goodness' trope. So, to a mindset like that, having the most vile person in the world be also one of the most attractive would be incredibly disturbing, if not outright uncanny. When she goes on in detail about how wicked Riddle was even as a child, while also stressing how handsome he was, I really think she's trying to impart her sense of uncanniness about the juxtaposition to her readers. She just doesn't understand that not everyone makes a connection between looks and morals, and that having a teenage boy (whose other main plotline is focused on his hormones) constantly underline that discrepancy isn't a neutral description, but intrinsic to the boy's characterization.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

And then of course she shoots herself in the foot by making Voldemort turn out to be hideously ugly in the story itself! So it goes....

Incidentally, I've seen an anime in which the villain is this ridiculously-gorgeous, golden-haired man, who is also the evilest person in the world. And no, that's not hyperbole; he is literally supposed to be the evilest person in the world (whether or not he wants to be is more complicated, however)! That actually works because it symbolizes how seductive evil can be, but Rowling squanders it as she does every other opportunity to make Voldemort anything other than a pathetic stereotype!

[kahran042]

Out of curiosity, what anime would this be?

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

It's called 'Monster.' It's awesome :D

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

What's that? A Sword of Truth anime?