death to capslock

LAST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

( The end is nigh! )

Only ten more chapters of this book!!!

[After Harry and Ron leave the hospital wing, they find themselves on better terms with Hermione]
( Read Chapter 20 )

( Read Chapter 7 )

As an added bonus, have a picture of Ginny with a giant Arnold!

( See the picture )

So, it just so happens that I am currently in the middle of taking a class on storytelling at my college. As its name suggests, a lot of what we do in that class consists of, well, telling each other stories--with a particular emphasis on folktales and fairy tales. And the more I learn, the more blatantly laughable Rowling's assertion that her made-up folktales are better because the heroines are more active in seeking their fortune becomes.

See, a lot of real-world folktales involve heroines that are perfectly capable of seeking their own fortunes and doing what they want. This almost certainly did not reflect the reality, of course; and it is true that in a good many famous stories the heroines end up married (or whatever); but by this point in the class I've read stories about (for example) a cook who finds a way to outwit her master; a princess who cuts the head off a magical man to gain her freedom from him; and another princess who, after being kicked out of her home, figures out a way to support both herself and her man when he's sick, and not only heals him but makes them both rich. Hell, the story I'm preparing to tell right at this point in time is about a little girl who rescues herself from a monster without any sort of help from a man.

So, all told, not only is Rowling's assertion that Beedle the Bard deserves praise because it features more independent and capable heroines than real folktales arrogant, patronizing, and yet ANOTHER instance of devaluing the real world; it just plain has no base in reality, and seriously makes me wonder if Rowling has ever encountered any folktales at all beyond the basics like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty! Good to find new reasons to hate that book, I guess!

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

Quite honestly, the Harry Potter stuff on that site has gotten to the point where I can't read it because just about everything is fawning over how great and super-special-awesome the series is, oh, and how Snape is an evil douchebag who wanted to get Harry and James killed so he could keep Lily. But this... this makes me want to scream:

"Hermione... [is] one of the smartest and more pro-active females in the whole Harry Potter canon and English literature in general"

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!

How could they make such a claim?! Hermione is a better heroine than, say, Tiffany Aching?! How about Eliza Doolittle?! And I'm sure you could come up with other examples.

No, no, in Harry Potter it seems fairly obvious that the most powerful women in the series are antagonists. Sure, Hermione's perfectly independent and capable, but in the last several books it's like she becomes Harry's servant because he's too lazy to do anything himself!

God damn it, Harry Potter wouldn't bother me so much if everyone didn't insist it was the greatest thing since sliced bread!