death to capslock

Resolving the wrong story problem

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:00:37 GMT

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

Film Crit Hulk’s essay “Black Widow and the Latent Last Act Blues” has some interesting thoughts about story beginnings and endings and how they work together to provide catharsis. (I haven’t yet seen Black Widow, but the essay makes sense anyway, so don’t worry if you haven’t either unless you care about spoilers.) He thinks the beginning of the movie is pretty great in isolation, but doesn’t properly set up the end, which makes the emotional resolutions at the end feel tacked-on and lackluster.

“that’s supposed to be the big lesson that’s at the heart of everything, right? And we genuinely do get the sentiment / fallout of it, but we’re still missing the most important thing that makes us care for it. Because there isn’t that first act thing where we experience the heartbreak of that along with them. […] ‘What is the thing they can do at the end of the movie that they couldn’t do at the beginning?’”

And this helped me crystalize one of my main problems with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, there are a lot of problems with that book. The one I’m going to focus on here is Harry’s resigned march to his death. There are a lot of problems with this scene too — and I think one of them is that it wasn’t set up properly.

This is where one of the main themes of the whole series reaches its climax: that you have to accept death, not try to fight it forever. But…did Harry need to learn that lesson? ( Read more... )

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Does Dumbledore really give second chances because he believes the best of people?

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 12:10:00 GMT

Posted by: sunnyskywalker

I know, there's an obvious, cynical answer to this one. But I'm curious how it holds up under somewhat-methodical examination.

Snape sells Bellatrix and Narcissa the line that Dumbledore’s weakness is wanting to believe the best in people. Now, just because he’s giving them a “likely story” doesn’t mean this must be untrue. Certainly the wizarding world at large seems to believe Dumbledore is kindly and helpful to suspected and marginalized people.

So, is his reputation warranted? And—a different question, but also interesting—either way, does Voldemort believe it?
( Read more... )

Can anyone think of additional examples that might support or undercut Dumbledore's reputation?

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Love in HP

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 20:20:00 GMT

Posted by: torchedsong.livejournal.com

Since Valentine's Day is close by, I thought this topic would be fitting to bring up ~~and ramble about until I get it off my chest.~~

Here comes a few (potentially) silly questions I have about love as a reoccurring and major theme in the HP books: is love a redemptive and saving force? Is it a reflection of our inner nature and morals? Does it make us better or worse than we are? Is it proof we’re capable of good? Or is it simply a nice message to have in a children’s series i.e. love is more powerful than anything?

( Read more... )

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Feeling guilty about being disinterested in or disliking Rowling's female characters

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 15:48:00 GMT

Posted by: torchedsong.livejournal.com

The title is self-explanatory. After rereading HP, I realized how let down I was about the dearth of interesting and/or likable female characters. As someone who has a long list of favorite female characters from various books, movies, TV shows, and video games, the women in the Harry Potter books leave me cold or bored.

Now, granted, the male characters aren’t spectacular either. Harry is passive, Ron is average, Draco is a waste, Snape is a mess, Dumbledore is also a mess, Voldemort is a standard villain, and plenty of other male characters are either boring or obnoxious.

And yet, as disappointing as some of the guys are, I can still find something about them interesting or engaging. I can see their potential or humanity, no matter how static, simplistic, or irritating their characterization is (well, maybe with the exception of James; I can’t stand him no matter how hard I try - and I’ve tried.)

Maybe I’m being sexist and judging the women too harshly. Maybe I’m not giving Rowling enough acclaim for trying to write a variety of female characters in a story revolving around a young boy. Maybe I’m excusing the poor characterization and lack of depth in the male characters when they’re far from complex either.

Whatever the reason is - it is what it is. Even as a young girl who enjoyed the books, I only gravitated towards Hermione and Luna. McGonagall was the sole female authority figure I found respectable. The rest?
( Read more... )

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Why DH left me disappointed with one of my favorite characters

Tue, 08 Jan 2019 12:07:00 GMT

Posted by: torchedsong.livejournal.com

(I've been lurking in this community for a couple of days now, reading posts from way back and enjoying the discussion [and snark]. I know this topic has been done before numerous times, but I hope it's okay for me to offer my thoughts as well.)

It is over a decade later and I am still disenchanted with how Severus Snape was flattened as a character in DH by having everything connect to Lily. I rarely encounter fans of Snape on Tumblr who feel the same way, so I decided to post this here to find other people who can empathize.

From books 1-6, I found Snape to be a fascinating character. He was a mean teacher and a bitter man, but also (seemingly) on the side of the good guys with his own mysterious agenda. Despite his cruel nature, he was presented as capable of protecting and helping those whom he loathed or did not care for. He had a sense of right and wrong when it counted, even while remaining bitter. This unpleasant man left a group of prejudiced and dangerous criminals because even unpleasant people are capable of stepping away from evil. All of this made him an intriguing character full of potential, and I hoped that JKR wouldn’t waste that potential by making everything he’s done be for the Love of a Good Woman that Got Away.
( Read more )

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HPPS: the Tally

Sun, 12 Aug 2018 12:44:00 GMT

Posted by: chantaldormand

( Read more... )

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On Integrity and Transcendence-

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 23:29:00 GMT

Posted by: mary-j-59.livejournal.com

This is going to be a whole lot shorter than that title would suggest. It's really just a question, brought about by Sunnyskywalker's post below on the meaning of the prophecy. Here goes--

Many of us were disturbed by the flayed child in Harry's visit to the afterlife--or whatever that train station was. You remember, he at first felt compassion for the child, and then ignored it. And didn't Dumbledore say the child was Voldemort? Or, to be precise, Voldemort's soul fragment?

But we know Dumbledore is not always truthful, and we know he is not truly wise. So who is the flayed child? Where did it come from?

Clearly, it is the part of Voldemort's soul that resided in Harry for seventeen years. That child is Harry, not Voldemort. Oh, I know: J.K. Rowling would like us to think the soul fragment has nothing to do with Harry. In her story world, everything about Harry that was at all like Voldemort--his vengeful feelings, his rages, his self-absorption, his parseltongue, heck, perhaps even his magical ability--came from the soul fragment and Harry is a completely separate individual. But I can't believe that.

( Read more... )

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Is Severus Snape's story more powerful if his motivation was initially Lily?

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 20:41:00 GMT

Posted by: fatairuq.livejournal.com

I have loved Severus since I first read the Harry Potter books. Before the Snape discourse in Tumblr, I basically felt annoyed at how J K Rowling (JKR from here on) explained his motivations in DH. As someone who has gone through everything he went through except for poverty, I felt that she robbed us off one of the most important representations abuse and bullying survivors ever. You see prior to the Prince's Tale, Severus was angry and bitter even his thirties, he was competent in his line of work as a Professor, Potioneer and spy, he fell in with a fascist cult in order to survive and get ahead in life, and then he redeemed himself. He's everything survivors aren't allowed to be. He is the epitome of Bad Victim. To be Good Victims, we're supposed to forgive those who hurt us, be kind and compassionate to everyone without fail, work in small business or social work because we're not cut out for anything bigger, and while we are expected to help ourselves without support systems, we need someone us to guide us to redemption.
( Read more... )
After the discourse which highlighted Severus' association with Lily to a ridiculous level, I hated that chapter even more. I could understand Severus loving Lily for years after her death because she seemed to be the only who gave half a crap about him but enduring torture, hate and even killing someone he cared about just for Lily? It felt so cheap. JKR didn't seem to think a Slytherin could do good and if they do it's for a Gryffindor. She takes this complex character, one of the few in her books, and constantly reduces his reasons to Lily and Severus' bitter, petty tendencies. It was maddening. I spent hours thinking about it and I'm starting to change my mind.

The truth is people don't trust survivors. It's why so many villains are survivors of some kind of violence. They think we're backstabbers and that we are taught to be selfish and violent. In pop culture Bad Victims aren't often loyal to anyone but themselves and if they are it's usually loyalty to another antagonist. Severus Snape is different. The people he is loyal to are considered the best people in canon. Lily is practically a saint and Dumbledore is a deity. Severus' loyalty is steadfast and it helps him do a lot of good. It could potentially be a powerful story on its own.

The problem is I'm not sure. I could be forcing myself to justify what felt like the flattest part of the series. What do you guys think?

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Random thoughts on DH

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 12:50:00 GMT

Posted by: star-dragon5.livejournal.com

Hello, all! Nice to meet you. This is my first post, so please be nice to me.

( Read more... )

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So what if Snape really is nasty?

Fri, 23 Oct 2015 18:22:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

This is an idea that came to me as I was tearing apart a children's book for another comm.

We all know that it's common in the Harry Potter fandom to portray Snape as mean, morally-degenerate, creepy, cowardly, and pretty much any other negative you can come up with. We on this comm have also spent large amounts of time debunking these assertions, insisting that actually, he's not as bad as he's commonly made out to be.

Here's the thing, though: even if you DID accept that Snape was just that nasty and evil and horrible, that's not his fault--it's the fault of the series. And it doesn't actually paint the series in an especially good light, because it implies that teachers who you don't get along with must automatically be evil or morally backwards. Remember: Harry takes an extreme dislike to Snape from their first meeting, just because Snape was generically snide and intimidating to him. It's one thing for Harry to dislike a teacher, because that happens to the best of us (particularly at the age Harry is). But to portray the teacher as evil because of it?

But that is pretty much the trend in the series. Teachers Harry likes, or who are nice to him, are generally portrayed as heroes or at least reasonably pleasant, whereas those Harry takes a disliking to are nearly always presented as villains: Lockhart, Umbridge, etc. And even when they're not (see, for instance, Trelawney and arguably Slughorn), they're generally treated as rather pathetic, so Harry doesn't have to take them very seriously. The overarching pattern this creates implies that if you don't get along with a teacher it's because that teacher is evil or morally weak-willed, or that it's generally all the teacher's fault that they're not bending over backwards to please you. And while you could argue that this is all the Harry filter, it's never really challenged at any point in the story.

Now, I am all for the notion that teachers should look after the well-being of their students; but the fact of the matter is, students can't always expect that to happen. It's great when it does, but sooner or later every student comes upon a teacher who for whatever reason doesn't click with them, either because that particular teaching style just doesn't work with that particular student, or the institution is corrupt, or the teacher is careless. I know it's happened to me a couple times over. Some of the teachers I've had bad experiences with were careless, but I wouldn't say I thought any of them were evil.

And remember: this is a series that targets children and young teenagers. It doesn't do them any favors to be presenting them with a narrative that states that any teacher they don't get along with is evil. The notion that Snape must be a horrible person suffering from trauma and acting out of some misplaced selfish desire is a testament to the story's inability to portray anything Harry doesn't like in a positive or even a neutral light, not a convincing portrayal of a disagreeable character (and I have many, MANY convincing potrayals of disagreeable characters that I could use as a baseline).

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Thoughts on how "love" is portrayed in Harry Potter

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 22:28:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Not too long ago I had some major brainwaves about love, which I thought would be relevant to our discussion about Harry Potter. Rowling in her books loves (no pun intended) to portray love as this all-powerful force for good (except when it’s not). The thing is, though, she seems to have a pretty messed-up idea about what “love” really means.

( Read more... )

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Rowling does sympathy wrong. Again.

Sat, 30 May 2015 18:39:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So I recently finished the 17th chapter of my parody of HBP, and I noticed a rather awkward sequence.

( Read my rant )

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Rant about Voldemort and Rowling's failed Nazi comparison

Tue, 12 May 2015 18:35:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

By popular demand!

( Read more... )
In summary, Rowling is Doin it Rong when it comes to discussing the Nazis, racism, prejudice, and basically anything socially-relevant whatsoever and she needs to just stop and get her facts checked.

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Revisiting meta about Draco...

Fri, 08 May 2015 20:50:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

Did anyone else pick up on just how much Rowling's commentary about Draco seems to infantilize him? I'm totally serious--the way she writes about him he seems to be only slightly more mature and proactive than Harry! Look at the way she phrases things:

( Quoting liberally from the article on Draco... )

I just think it seems like a pattern, you know? Are there any other characters she does this to? Or is Draco a special case?

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Harry Potter Abridged! OotP Chapter 23

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 09:42:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

I was going to wait to post this until Christmas, but I don't know how reliable the internet will be then. And this way you guys get to read it over Christmas! Win-win!

( Read Chapter 23 )

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J. K. Rowling presents Umbrigde's backstory

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:51:00 GMT

Posted by: t0ra-chan.livejournal.com

In time for Halloween JKR gave us another short story (more background info to be honest, it's not like it has a plot). You can read it at Pottermore (if you have an account and can actually remember your user name and password) or you can read it here: J.K. Rowling writes Harry Potter Halloween tale profiling 'malicious' Dolores Umbridge

My personal take on this little story is that it's wholly pointless. It just repeats that Umbridge was always a nasty person with no depth to her and she's worse than blood purists. Nothing really new or insightful is revealed, nor do I believe did anybody care to know this sort of stuff about Umbridge. I also found it very unbelievable that anybody would buy her claims of being a pureblood, considering how small the wizarding community is. And of course she was a Slytherin, because where else could an evil person in HP have come from.

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Deathly Hallows, Chapter 32: The Elder Wand

Fri, 23 May 2014 05:41:00 GMT

Posted by: oneandthetruth.livejournal.com

The beginning of this chapter reminded me of a song that was popular when I was little. This is Skeeter Davis, singing her signature song, “The End of the World,” from the year of JKR’s birth, 1965.

(Written by Rob Crosby and Joanna Smith)

Why does the sun go on shining?

Why does the sea rush to shore?

Don’t they know it’s the end of the world

‘Cause you don’t love me any more?

Why do the birds go on singing?

Why do the stars glow above?

Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?

It ended when I lost your love.

( Read more... )

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Padfoot's Breed

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:04:00 GMT

Posted by: annoni-no.livejournal.com

Rowling never specified what breed of dog Sirius' Animagus form was, and 'a bear-like black dog' doesn't do much to narrow the field of possibilities. However, if we assume that the transformation closely reflects the wizard's personality, and perhaps reinforces it, I think I might have identified our mystery breed.

( Meet the Russian Newfoundland, also called the Moscow Water Dog. )

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Harry Potter Abridged! OotP Chapter 11

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 14:12:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

( Read Chapter 11 )
*I'm sorry--it was way too easy!

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An interesting article...

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 21:32:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So I was perusing the intarwebz and I found this website with this article about heroes, victims, and self-sacrifice, which has some ideas that seemed relevant to what we discuss on this comm.

It's interesting because it occurs to me that Harry does seem to switch between playing the hero card and the victim card throughout the course of the books (particularly the last three), and so do most other characters we're supposed to admire, either on Harry's behalf or their own (such as Lily begging Voldemort to spare Harry's life to no avail). And the narrative never really attempts to reconcile the two sides of that coin at all--we're just kind-of supposed to think that Harry is so noble and virtuous that the decisions he makes are always right and when things go wrong he's never to blame and always deserving of all the sympathy.

Some of the quotes that most stood out to me are as follows:

"[a] person that chooses to play the hero should not simultaneously be allowed to receive the benefits of being seen as a victim. It needs to be one or the other. A victim is someone who is to be pitied because they didn't have a choice in the matter."

"When someone does choose to play the hero, we should not get outraged because they had to suffer for it. We should not rail against the obstacles that stand in their way, or suggest that the opposition that they were against should've made it easier for them.... An attitude of victimization just cheapens the value of being a hero and suggests that they weren't responsible for their own decisions. That adversity is the only thing that gives the word "hero" any value at all and stands to separate the real heroes from the wannabes."

I bring this up only because it provides an interesting counterpoint to the way that Harry, for all he suffers, doesn't actually have to face the consequences of his own actions unless it's convenient to the plot--it seems like always finds someone to rescue him whenever things get really bad, and reassure him that he's totally right about everything.

And finally:

"Of course there is a whole other category of people who are even less sincere and who try to look like they're playing the hero in order to put themselves into a victim position later. These people are called attention hogs, masochists and martyrs; but that's an entirely different topic."

As to whether that last one applies to Harry or anyone else...eh, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

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New Pottermore entries from PoA

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 09:45:00 GMT

Posted by: t0ra-chan.livejournal.com

( Secret Keeper )

( Werewolves )

( Time-Turners )

( Patronus Charm )

( Remus J. Lupin )

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Harry Potter and Narcissism

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:27:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So, a lot of people here seem to think that Harry Potter and his friends are narcissists. That's interesting because I was looking up narcissist behaviors for a villain in one of my own stories and I realized that Harry fits the "vulnerable-narcissist" pathology to a T.

( What I've found )

If you read the rest of the blog, I think you'll find that a lot of the traits they describe to be reminiscent of the behavior of several Harry Potter characters.

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JK Rowling and Introversion

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:50:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So here’s something that just occurred to me as I was pondering stuff. I’ve recently gotten interested in a book called Quiet, which is designed to be empowering for introverted people, especially in the US where they’re often marginalized. And one of the things it mentioned is that Rowling is an introvert. So how do you guys think that’s influenced her writing (if it even did at all)?

It sometimes seems like she doesn’t think very highly of introverted people in general, since Snape (for example) is an introvert generally regarded with disdain, while Harry always hangs out with his friends and Ron has a large family, which we’re supposed to think of as charming (to say nothing of how the Marauders’ friendship is portrayed). Not to mention, Gryffindors are portrayed as being virtuous because they’re bold, charismatic, and hang together in packs, rather than because of any virtues that a more introverted person might have (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, the most introverted houses, are treated as little more than window dressing).

On the other hand, it seems like many supposedly sympathetic characters also have traits in common with negative introvert stereotypes. For example, Hermione is a neurotic bookish know-it-all whom nobody likes, Harry treats his friends as people he can use and summarily ignores or pushes away anyone he fails to accept as equally special, and Ron argues and fights with his family constantly and wishes to be better than all of them. And then, of course, there’s Dumbledore, who thinks himself too good to fraternize with anyone other than Harry and the like, it seems. Meanwhile, Voldemort had many acquaintances over the years, but never cared for them, and we're supposed to think of this as ultimate moral degeneracy.

So what are your thoughts on this? Anyone care to comment?

Incidentally, I'm not trying to offend anyone here. I'm an introverted person myself, which is why I got interested in the book in the first place.

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Question About JKR's Male Characters...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:18:00 GMT

Posted by: 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

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Harry's Dead Parents: An Offshoot of my "Phoenix" Essay

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:46:00 GMT

Posted by: sweettalkeress.livejournal.com

So, this was just something that came to me as I was rereading my phoenix essay. Anyone else think that Harry has a bit of an unhealthy obsession with his dead parents? I mean, to be fair, I can understand that he’s upset that they’d die, since it’s thanks to that he has to live with his psychotically abusive aunt and uncle*, but even so....

( Consider the following... )
* Yes, I know the exact extent of their abuse is debatable, but just to give Harry the benefit of the doubt this once...

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