Post by littlecricket on Jun 11, 2008 9:08:56 GMT -5
One of the things I guess that bugs me about the books are that the villains are so one-sided. We never get a sense of the motivation behind the villains, just that they're "bad" (not true for all the villains, but many of them--and I'm obviously not counting people like Snape as villains). For example, the way Harry's adoptive family treats him is so ridiculously hostile, even *after* it's obvious that he has magical powers and could totally ruin their shit. It's like, the good characters are so "normal" and not that amazing in their own right, that in order for there to be someone to rally against in the books, Rowling had to make some characters unbelievably stupid, mean, and irredeemable. That, and many other things, just didn't sit well with me. And yes, I realize it's a children's book, but there are plenty of really intelligent children's books that don't really have these things going on.
And re: the whole, "not my daughter, bitch" line or whatever--I might be a little dim, but I'm not a total idiot. I do realize that you're gonna appreciate that line more if you're more invested in the characters, but I still thought it was pretty pedestrian.
That said, I don't totally despise the books, I just couldn't get into them. There were some things I liked though--I liked the parallels to "class wars" in the real world; the way wizard school seemed like a prestigious private school, and some kids were discriminated against because they were there "on scholarship"--not really but that's a comparison that can be made--as opposed to just because of who their parents were (i.e. the academically astute Hermione--a "mudblood," versus the snobby Draco). I can definitely relate to that. And the movies are just fun to watch. Although I haven't seen all of them, I think if I had to, I could sit and watch an HP movie any day.
~Lisa
And re: the whole, "not my daughter, bitch" line or whatever--I might be a little dim, but I'm not a total idiot. I do realize that you're gonna appreciate that line more if you're more invested in the characters, but I still thought it was pretty pedestrian.
That said, I don't totally despise the books, I just couldn't get into them. There were some things I liked though--I liked the parallels to "class wars" in the real world; the way wizard school seemed like a prestigious private school, and some kids were discriminated against because they were there "on scholarship"--not really but that's a comparison that can be made--as opposed to just because of who their parents were (i.e. the academically astute Hermione--a "mudblood," versus the snobby Draco). I can definitely relate to that. And the movies are just fun to watch. Although I haven't seen all of them, I think if I had to, I could sit and watch an HP movie any day.
~Lisa