Twelve Unpopular Opinions...
Eleven Political Rants...
Ten...
Whoops, no. Ahem. Finally giving into peer pressure (as always), I give you the Twelve Unpopular Fandom Opinions meme:
1 - "Sexy" in literature has little to nothing to do with looks. Severus Snape is sexy because he is smart, competent, passionate, self-controlled (usually), courageous, and complex. Draco Malfoy is not sexy because he is a lame whiny loser.
2 - Nearly everyone in the fandom is way too interested in fanfiction. Most fanfiction, definitely including mine, is really not very good. Anyone who says any fanfic is "better than canon" needs to develop better judgment and critical thinking skills.
3 - Ginny Weasley's character as revealed in Book 5 was organic, well-foreshadowed, and reasonably well-handled. Although it is true that Rowling used "telling" rather than "showing" for some aspects of Ginny, this is also true of characters such as Dumbledore, Sirius Black, etc. People's hostile reactions to Ginny's development, in my opinion, has more to do with their preconceptions and wishes than with Rowling's writing.
4 - J.K. Rowling's interview answers are sincere, informative, consistent, easy to understand, and very reliable for predicting future book events.
5 - The Harry Potter series is simple and conventional as literature goes. It is rich but not deep, elaborate but not particularly challenging. These are not faults.
6 - The Harry Potter books are, indeed, children's books. This is not a fault.
7 - On the other hand, the Harry Potter books are chock-ful of sexual overtones and (possibly unconscious) sexual symbolism and references. This is not a fault. In fact, I think it is a virtue.
8 - Albus Dumbledore is a wise, powerful, and effective wizard, and Harry still trusts him and depends on him. There is a difference between discovering that adults have flaws and throwing away all respect and dependence you may have on those adults. Harry knows the difference.
9 - Most friendships are platonic. Rowling, more than many authors, is extremely interested in close platonic friendships and delineates them richly.
10 - However, Remus and Sirius may be "more than friends." They also may not. We will probably never find out, because Remus is unlikely to be given a romance in these books.
11 - Though there will be more deaths in these books, we have already experienced the worst one. Harry will not die (permanently, anyway), nor will anyone as close to Harry as Sirius is. In other words, Ron and Hermione are safe.
12 - The romantic subplot between Ron and Hermione is already well underway and Rowling will continue to pursue it. It is hard to imagine how anyone could have failed to pick up on this at this point.
12 and a half - Steve Kloves has done a mediocre job at adapting these movies for the screen. Better than many screenwriters would have done - especially at translating the humor - but lacking in subtlety and brilliance. It could have been a lot worse, though.
*prepares for avalanche of de-friending. :p
Ten...
Whoops, no. Ahem. Finally giving into peer pressure (as always), I give you the Twelve Unpopular Fandom Opinions meme:
1 - "Sexy" in literature has little to nothing to do with looks. Severus Snape is sexy because he is smart, competent, passionate, self-controlled (usually), courageous, and complex. Draco Malfoy is not sexy because he is a lame whiny loser.
2 - Nearly everyone in the fandom is way too interested in fanfiction. Most fanfiction, definitely including mine, is really not very good. Anyone who says any fanfic is "better than canon" needs to develop better judgment and critical thinking skills.
3 - Ginny Weasley's character as revealed in Book 5 was organic, well-foreshadowed, and reasonably well-handled. Although it is true that Rowling used "telling" rather than "showing" for some aspects of Ginny, this is also true of characters such as Dumbledore, Sirius Black, etc. People's hostile reactions to Ginny's development, in my opinion, has more to do with their preconceptions and wishes than with Rowling's writing.
4 - J.K. Rowling's interview answers are sincere, informative, consistent, easy to understand, and very reliable for predicting future book events.
5 - The Harry Potter series is simple and conventional as literature goes. It is rich but not deep, elaborate but not particularly challenging. These are not faults.
6 - The Harry Potter books are, indeed, children's books. This is not a fault.
7 - On the other hand, the Harry Potter books are chock-ful of sexual overtones and (possibly unconscious) sexual symbolism and references. This is not a fault. In fact, I think it is a virtue.
8 - Albus Dumbledore is a wise, powerful, and effective wizard, and Harry still trusts him and depends on him. There is a difference between discovering that adults have flaws and throwing away all respect and dependence you may have on those adults. Harry knows the difference.
9 - Most friendships are platonic. Rowling, more than many authors, is extremely interested in close platonic friendships and delineates them richly.
10 - However, Remus and Sirius may be "more than friends." They also may not. We will probably never find out, because Remus is unlikely to be given a romance in these books.
11 - Though there will be more deaths in these books, we have already experienced the worst one. Harry will not die (permanently, anyway), nor will anyone as close to Harry as Sirius is. In other words, Ron and Hermione are safe.
12 - The romantic subplot between Ron and Hermione is already well underway and Rowling will continue to pursue it. It is hard to imagine how anyone could have failed to pick up on this at this point.
12 and a half - Steve Kloves has done a mediocre job at adapting these movies for the screen. Better than many screenwriters would have done - especially at translating the humor - but lacking in subtlety and brilliance. It could have been a lot worse, though.
*prepares for avalanche of de-friending. :p