Not sure quite what to call this - it's a comment I made on an earlier thread, where it was pretty deeply buried. I'm posting it as a separate comment because it's something I feel pretty strongly about.
Yes, I know - this is a sporking community. We are making fun of the Harry Potter books, and, at times, some of us can get quite irate in our
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Every litt class I've ever had has brought up and analyzed authors personal lives, and even though I'm more of an 'author is dead' person myself, there's no reason for me to expect my teachers to cater only to me myself and I...
I wouldn't like to be called a 'stupid cow' indeed, but that's because it reeks of mysogyny. I someone calls me stupid because of something I write, whatever. And if you really don't want to be psychoanalyzed on something you write... good luck because it's going to happen anyway.
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I do think, though, there's a difference in examining the work of a living author and that of someone who's dead. I also think that attempting to diagnose someone by analyzing their writing is more than a little chancy. Finally, I'm absolutely opposed to making personal attacks on an author. That's not criticism. It's just meanness, don't you agree?
Thanks for your comment. I wasn't really trying to control anything, you know; I was merely expressing my own discomfort.
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So - yes, it's fair to talk about certain aspects of an author's life and how they may have influenced her art. But I do think there is a line we shouldn't cross. And it's simple. We shouldn't make personal attacks on the human being, even when we're attacking the books.
As I said above, I understand this isn't a moderated community, and I don't want to tell anyone what questions they can raise, etc. But I do think we can try to be kind and courteous.
Really, I think we see eye to eye on this, don't we?
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All in all it's a very fine line to tread, I think.
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But I'm glad you didn't diss me personally because of our disagreement!
And, really, that's all I'm asking for. Just that we keep it to attacking ideas, not people. As I've said, I do realize this is not a moderated community. For the most part, we do manage to be civil to each other. There are a couple of people who are very passionate, very insightful, and whose posts and comments I usually enjoy who have, however, sometimes disturbed me. They have attacked Rowling personally, not just the books. I can understand their frustration; I can understand their questioning her motives. There is a fine ( ... )
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I'm not about to tell others what they can and cannot discuss. To some extent JKR's life is relevant to her books, but I think there is a point--hard to define but real--at which personal criticism and speculation reflect worse on the critic than on JKR herself. I prefer not to get too close to that line, and I always end up thinking less well of those who cross it.
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Oh, people who've visited these comms (mostly Marauders fans!) already have very negative thoughts about me and my work, alas! Too late!
To get back to your comment, you are one of the people I've found very passionate and insightful when discussing these books. I've found a lot of what you have to say illuminating. I cannot, of course, fully understand how much of a trigger these books are to you, but I appreciate that they are a trigger, because they are absolutely ridden with narcissism.
And I'm grateful to you and OneandtheTruth for pointing it out.
But I really do think there is a difference between the morality in the books and the morality of the authorThat's a very, very, fine line, and people will perceive it in different places. There's also a line, not so fine, between discussing an author (and I mean the author, not the books) and simply calling an author names. That line's been ( ... )
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