The Weasleys are a good example of a fiercely loyal family that then needs to grapple with Percy rising at the wrong time through the ministry and being oblivious to its moral failings.
It was also a situation of Percy being alienated from a family which (other than his mother) looked down at his quite real accomplishments and mocked him on a regular basis. When you turn it around and look at it, and several other situations, such as the post romance treatment of Cho, names like 'phelgn', etc there were more than one side to the story.
I would say Inverarity's accomplishment has been to depict a more nuanced world. Alexandra is not always right in her judgements the way Harry was. Would Harry, ever feel guilty or pay damages for destroying a muggle engine and furthermore, would JKR portray as something Harry should pay for? Can you picture Mrs. Shirtcliff rewarding Alexandra for wrapping a fellow student in a giant bugger like Slughorn did with Ginny?
The accomplishment of this series is how it looks at morality in a multidimensional manner.
But JKR went further, depicting marriage as a covenant, totally deemphasizing the role of exploring sexuality, of love while it lasts, which is how she can come to a situation where high school sweethearts stay together.
Truthfully, I don't think it was a noble choice on her part, rather a lack of skill. As for their being a great moral message? I think there were several cases where sex was implied (Ginny walking in on Percy/Penelope, after the Yule Ball).
You may not find it realistic, but there really are segments of society where the sexuality of the HP series is totally the reality. I know such places. While it may not be for everyone, it allows for questioning some current values, which is something literature lends itself to.
I am all for questioning values. Doing so had me running and desperately searching for better answers at a very young age, in part from places where the morality was very straight laced (When I think of Victorian, I think hypocritical, which I don't think you do).
Thing is, the school where Alexandra attends is not in that world, or rather, it's in a world several moralities, the Gemling Chu's, Alexandra's, the Seaburys, the Ozarkers, the Dinetah, Old Colonial etc (and I could go on) all meet, and don't always get along...rather like what you get in most High School and IRL.
The only place you get what you call the HP view is in communities that self segragate. Truthfully, can you tell me such places where it is not so? Inverarity does include such places (Ozarker, Dinetah), but they are, mostly, not where the action happens. So the story reflects this, as it should.
Oh, and why I don't think the gay aspect belongs in this story?
Gays are part of the world and some people have gay friends and relatives. Alexandra happens to be one of them. Regardless, it shows part of who Alexandra is; basically someone who is rather open minded toward individual choices, but rather blind to cultural/artifical constraints, such as the C/F and the Rashes.
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Date: 2012-04-26 04:58 am (UTC)It was also a situation of Percy being alienated from a family which (other than his mother) looked down at his quite real accomplishments and mocked him on a regular basis. When you turn it around and look at it, and several other situations, such as the post romance treatment of Cho, names like 'phelgn', etc there were more than one side to the story.
I would say Inverarity's accomplishment has been to depict a more nuanced world. Alexandra is not always right in her judgements the way Harry was. Would Harry, ever feel guilty or pay damages for destroying a muggle engine and furthermore, would JKR portray as something Harry should pay for? Can you picture Mrs. Shirtcliff rewarding Alexandra for wrapping a fellow student in a giant bugger like Slughorn did with Ginny?
The accomplishment of this series is how it looks at morality in a multidimensional manner.
But JKR went further, depicting marriage as a covenant, totally deemphasizing the role of exploring sexuality, of love while it lasts, which is how she can come to a situation where high school sweethearts stay together.
Truthfully, I don't think it was a noble choice on her part, rather a lack of skill. As for their being a great moral message? I think there were several cases where sex was implied (Ginny walking in on Percy/Penelope, after the Yule Ball).
You may not find it realistic, but there really are segments of society where the sexuality of the HP series is totally the reality. I know such places. While it may not be for everyone, it allows for questioning some current values, which is something literature lends itself to.
I am all for questioning values. Doing so had me running and desperately searching for better answers at a very young age, in part from places where the morality was very straight laced (When I think of Victorian, I think hypocritical, which I don't think you do).
Thing is, the school where Alexandra attends is not in that world, or rather, it's in a world several moralities, the Gemling Chu's, Alexandra's, the Seaburys, the Ozarkers, the Dinetah, Old Colonial etc (and I could go on) all meet, and don't always get along...rather like what you get in most High School and IRL.
The only place you get what you call the HP view is in communities that self segragate. Truthfully, can you tell me such places where it is not so? Inverarity does include such places (Ozarker, Dinetah), but they are, mostly, not where the action happens. So the story reflects this, as it should.
Oh, and why I don't think the gay aspect belongs in this story?
Gays are part of the world and some people have gay friends and relatives. Alexandra happens to be one of them.
Regardless, it shows part of who Alexandra is; basically someone who is rather open minded toward individual choices, but rather blind to cultural/artifical constraints, such as the C/F and the Rashes.