edit: cereal:

She really blossomed in the third movie, and... well, I'm sure the producers of the films are not overly lamenting the fact that Watson is turning into a knockout.

Heh. Good point.

And, psst, Debet, you are pretty! So wanting Hermione to be not pretty because you identify with her is not of the sense-making

Heee. That's funny, because "Debet, you're pretty!" was my immediate reaction to her complaint for some reason. I have no idea why. Maybe I think telling a girl she's pretty solves all problems.

Daniel Radcliff? Such a cutie-pie.

Hands off! Once he's legal, he's mine!! Heehee.

Allow me to jump on the "let's make Debet blush" train by chiming in with Raq and P-C.

Oh, it's not me-now so much as me-in-school that identifies with Hermione. Me-in-school wore blue jeans and an over-sized t-shirt everyday, and never did anything more than put her hair in a pony-tail. (Me-in-school very much did the "where did that come from?" when I dressed up for prom-n-stuff.)

And, yes, that's definately influencing my reading of the character.

But it's all kind of cumulative. She's less of a demonstrated stick in the mud (with school work, rules following, eye-rolling-ness at the boys, etc), and more of a Veronica Mars/Buffy/etc etc type of character (with the active interest in pretty, and the focus on take-charge-ness-as-cool (rather than being viewed as vaguely annoying/bitchy, which was much more the sense I remember from the book), and the "bloody brilliance" of slugging Draco). It's a perfectly legitimate character type, and one I like, even. But it's not Hermione. Hermione is, as JKR said, a very specific type, who actually exists in the world, and isn't so represented in fiction (especially modern fiction), as the MovieHermione type.

And, given how much I felt like the movies have been made largely because it seemed like a good idea to the studio (as opposed to, LotR, which seemed like a good idea to the Director), and so were done now, rather than a generation from now, it seems like a rejection of world of Book (which Hermione is very tied to, in a broader sense) in favor of the world of Film (which is where a lot of the changes to MovieHermione's geneology lie, IMO).

Yeah, I'm invested because it feels like they're actively smacking down the heroification of that type of girl, rather than passively ignoring her/us like they normally do. But I think it's a legitimate gripe.

Sounds like a legitimate gripe -- I don't have a horse in that race -- but a hopeless one. There is no heroic shlub of novel fame who has not been de-shlubified for the movies. For varying values of de-shlubification, if that's a comfort, but, yeah.

For historical/comparative purposes, I should disclose that I did not understand what people meant by "awkward stage" until Chelsea Clinton was in the media eye. I was just enough older than she to see that her awkwardness was indeed temporary, and that people being cruel about her looks (as many were, in 1996) were doing the equivalent of begrudging the rain its right to fall.

And, given how much I felt like the movies have been made largely because it seemed like a good idea to the studio (as opposed to, LotR, which seemed like a good idea to the Director), and so were done now, rather than a generation from now, it seems like a rejection of world of Book (which Hermione is very tied to, in a broader sense) in favor of the world of Film (which is where a lot of the changes to MovieHermione's geneology lie, IMO).

This is really well put.

Another friend just watched the trailer and commented that Hermione was prettier than Fleur.

And I hate to say it, but I think they made Ron uglier. And the hair in GoF isn't helping.

Oh, totally hopeless. Well, apart from that, in a generation or so, a kid who grew up with the books will say "Dude! We can do better! We must make Harry Potter into a tv series! Straight from the books!"

Another friend just watched the trailer and commented that Hermione was prettier than Fleur.

Pre-zactly.

But sometimes that happens, right? People get to be friends and they get roles. And maybe Hermione's role is "Good thing she's smart, because she's not pretty."(I didn't have this, uh, "my friend" did.) And no matter what, you can see yourself as that forever, despite the changes you(or nature) have given your appearance.

And I hate to say it, but I think they made Ron uglier.

If by "they," you mean puberty. (Not that the hair is helping.)

I'm unable to have any feelings on Hermione because right now all of my did-they-even-read-the-book female casting rage is directed at the new Pride and Prejudice. I have liked Kiera Knightly in many of her films. She is not, however, an actress one looks at and immediately thinks "Well, maybe she has a great personality."