A Rant on Demonizing Advisor Characters

Aug 24, 2011 10:40


Short version: Being older and wiser doesn't make you evil.

The long version follows. )

off on a rant

Leave a comment

zelda_queen August 24 2011, 21:09:51 UTC
I think you nailed it. With the one-tracked mind of most Suethors like Disobedience Writer, their thought process goes "Dumbledore is the greatest wizard who ever lived. The greatest wizard who ever lived ought to be able to snap their fingers and solve all the book's problems in a paragraph. Therefore, Dumbledore is deliberately farting around and letting people die/be manipulated for vague reasons".

Rarely does it seem to occur to the Suethors that the title of "greatest [blank] ever" is either hyperbole or just plain wrong. In the case of Dumbledore, he himself says several times that there are quite a few things he doesn't know and that he makes some damned huge mistakes. Nor does it occur to Suethors that many times, displays of authority don't necessarily equal raw power. To use Dumbledore as an example again, the books heavily imply that he never frightened Voldemort away from Hogwarts on power alone, but instead because deep down, Voldemort remembered his days as Tom Riddle and how Dumbledore was the teacher that frightened him with the burning wardrobe and moving box. (Sort of like in Fruits Basket, where the person Akito fears and hates the most is her abusive mother, even though by the point she's introduced, the mother is sickly and hidden away in a room and is much less able to challenge Akito than other characters).

And just so you know, the reason I've commented on Dumbledore as an example so much is because he's the one of the two that I know. ^^;;

Reply


Leave a comment

Up