Perhaps why folks are so reluctant to come around to Draco?
I was trying yet again to explain to someone why it is that Draco Malfoy is perhaps not a totally bad person, and yet again he stubbornly refused to believe it. He's not even a big fan of the books, so you'd think he'd be more pliable, but he kept trying to figure out ways to reject my point and to put Draco back into the box he'd come from.
And it struck me that this is why a lot of people are reluctant to even try to see Draco in a different light. Not why people don't, but why they don't try. And it's because Draco Malfoy has been the most consistent thing in the series thus far.
More consistent than Voldemort, because he wasn't around in book 3. More consistent than the Trio because they're constantly getting into fights and not speaking to each other(although, the equivalent would be to claim that there was any kind of argument the Trio could not resolve, I think people would be just as reluctant to consider that). More constant than any part of Harry's life, really (except for perhaps the Dursleys - and do you see anyone at all attempting to see anything sympathetic about them?). It's a very subtle thing, but you always knew, no matter which book you opened and no matter what twists in character Rowling threw at you, you would always be hating Draco Malfoy and Draco Malfoy would always be justifiably dislikable. Not only that, but you also always knew he’d be there in some rather loud capacity.
And I think it's that consistency that people are afraid of letting go of, because if Draco, the one solid rock in the series, isn't the complete and total prick he has always seemed to be...then what other huge concepts could folks have been missing this entire time? It turns the whole series on its head in a way that almost nothing else could, twists it on its axis, because if Draco is not completely bad, then what might that say about the morality of the Trio, of the people we've always thought of as 'good'?
I think that with Draco, it's even stronger than it is with Snape because we've known for books that Snape's had dubious loyalties, that's been built in from book 1. But Draco's never been anything but contemptible. I mean, I think it's the same reaction that Harry had, actually, and it's interesting how that works, and how the audience gets so easily sucked into his perspective on things. After Sectumsempra, Harry did everything he could to put Malfoy out of his mind despite the fact that he knew for certain that he was plotting something. And I think it's because that moment destroyed the one certainty that Harry has had for the past six years. A shock so great he was rooted to the ground, remember?
And maybe that's what makes Draco such an effective villain and one that gets a bigger reaction out of people than, say, Bellatrix, the fact that he's always there and he never changes. Voldemort, it's true, has been defined as only evil, but he's an inconsistent sort of evil, he acts out in different ways, and is at different strengths at different times. Bellatrix is there and she's crazy, but not consistently.
His consistency and also his personality, I think. Draco does ask to be disliked, he deliberately goes out of his way to be an asshole. I think because he equates any sort of attention with a sort of affection, and so if he can't be Harry's best friend, he's going to be his worst enemy because that at least means he notices him. So why should you like someone who doesn't seem to want to be liked? It makes it a lot easier to hate him, doesn't it? And JKR has been very thorough in making sure that there is not one single obvious redeeming factor about him. Snape is hateful, but he's also extremely powerful. Voldemort is too distant a character to really be all that dislikable. Bellatrix has a certain glamorous charisma to her. Peter Pettigrew isn’t around often enough to engender all that much feeling in the reader. But Draco's not only an asshole, he's a pathetic asshole, he's incompetent, he never seems to know when he's beaten, or that he should know his place. And he never leaves.
All these things added together create a character who is consistently easy to hate in a book with very few consistencies and where it's often hard to figure out what kind of emotions should be attached to what character because each character is generally not who they appear to be. And so Draco becomes this character to whom people attach this one very sure emotion, and they're very reluctant to let that go.
And it struck me that this is why a lot of people are reluctant to even try to see Draco in a different light. Not why people don't, but why they don't try. And it's because Draco Malfoy has been the most consistent thing in the series thus far.
More consistent than Voldemort, because he wasn't around in book 3. More consistent than the Trio because they're constantly getting into fights and not speaking to each other(although, the equivalent would be to claim that there was any kind of argument the Trio could not resolve, I think people would be just as reluctant to consider that). More constant than any part of Harry's life, really (except for perhaps the Dursleys - and do you see anyone at all attempting to see anything sympathetic about them?). It's a very subtle thing, but you always knew, no matter which book you opened and no matter what twists in character Rowling threw at you, you would always be hating Draco Malfoy and Draco Malfoy would always be justifiably dislikable. Not only that, but you also always knew he’d be there in some rather loud capacity.
And I think it's that consistency that people are afraid of letting go of, because if Draco, the one solid rock in the series, isn't the complete and total prick he has always seemed to be...then what other huge concepts could folks have been missing this entire time? It turns the whole series on its head in a way that almost nothing else could, twists it on its axis, because if Draco is not completely bad, then what might that say about the morality of the Trio, of the people we've always thought of as 'good'?
I think that with Draco, it's even stronger than it is with Snape because we've known for books that Snape's had dubious loyalties, that's been built in from book 1. But Draco's never been anything but contemptible. I mean, I think it's the same reaction that Harry had, actually, and it's interesting how that works, and how the audience gets so easily sucked into his perspective on things. After Sectumsempra, Harry did everything he could to put Malfoy out of his mind despite the fact that he knew for certain that he was plotting something. And I think it's because that moment destroyed the one certainty that Harry has had for the past six years. A shock so great he was rooted to the ground, remember?
And maybe that's what makes Draco such an effective villain and one that gets a bigger reaction out of people than, say, Bellatrix, the fact that he's always there and he never changes. Voldemort, it's true, has been defined as only evil, but he's an inconsistent sort of evil, he acts out in different ways, and is at different strengths at different times. Bellatrix is there and she's crazy, but not consistently.
His consistency and also his personality, I think. Draco does ask to be disliked, he deliberately goes out of his way to be an asshole. I think because he equates any sort of attention with a sort of affection, and so if he can't be Harry's best friend, he's going to be his worst enemy because that at least means he notices him. So why should you like someone who doesn't seem to want to be liked? It makes it a lot easier to hate him, doesn't it? And JKR has been very thorough in making sure that there is not one single obvious redeeming factor about him. Snape is hateful, but he's also extremely powerful. Voldemort is too distant a character to really be all that dislikable. Bellatrix has a certain glamorous charisma to her. Peter Pettigrew isn’t around often enough to engender all that much feeling in the reader. But Draco's not only an asshole, he's a pathetic asshole, he's incompetent, he never seems to know when he's beaten, or that he should know his place. And he never leaves.
All these things added together create a character who is consistently easy to hate in a book with very few consistencies and where it's often hard to figure out what kind of emotions should be attached to what character because each character is generally not who they appear to be. And so Draco becomes this character to whom people attach this one very sure emotion, and they're very reluctant to let that go.