And honestly, I'm not sure that Harry Potter isn't gay enough.
It's possible that he's in the land of perpetual Wednesday, or the crazy melty land, or you know, the world without shrimp.
Anya ,'Showtime'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Volans - Jul 29, 2004 3:41:33 pm PDT #5418 of 10002
move out and draw fire
Trudy Booth - Jul 29, 2004 4:01:08 pm PDT #5419 of 10002
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I love Hagrid.
I enjoy how his relationships to the other characters scream "this story is not American".
And I think he's a woobie.
§ ita § - Jul 29, 2004 4:47:56 pm PDT #5420 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I enjoy how his relationships to the other characters scream "this story is not American".
Can you explain further? I think he's almost the Magical Retarded/Differently Raced. Nothing particularly unAmerican about him at all.
erikaj - Jul 29, 2004 4:50:24 pm PDT #5421 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
I like Hagrid, too, but I'm pretty outside Potter Fandom except for Am and Pandarus.
Trudy Booth - Jul 29, 2004 4:52:25 pm PDT #5422 of 10002
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I think there is a lot of classism in Hagrid's relationship to Dumbledore particularly. It's a sort of obsequiousness that I noticed in England that is distinct and yet not necessarily offensive. I can't think of a parallel in contemporary American culture.
And they're all magical. In fact, he's the least magical character at Hogwarts.
§ ita § - Jul 29, 2004 4:54:42 pm PDT #5423 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
If Hagrid were not dumb or a half-breed, I might agree with it.
As is, he seems to be the touchstone -- all the good guys like him, the bad guys hate him, and it's that simple, because he's simple.
I don't see anything British about that -- American fiction will do that with someone pejoratively other too.
eta: Trudy -- you are familiar with the Magical Negro trope, right? That's what I was referring to.
Trudy Booth - Jul 29, 2004 5:00:00 pm PDT #5424 of 10002
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I am familiar with and similarly annoyed by the Magical Negro.
Hagrid is a modern version of the faithful retainer, the loyal servant who is respected and honored by his social betters. He makes me think of all those Masterpiece Theatre films with the lord and his butler who went to war with him and they really love each other but they are very much defined by their positions-- and it's somehow more, well, ok than it could be in any contemporary American context.
§ ita § - Jul 29, 2004 5:10:36 pm PDT #5425 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Sorry -- I thought you were interpreting my usage of "magical" in a Hogwarts context, not as a trope.
I know what you're referring to, Trudy. But at least when I was reading UK kiddie lit -- that faithful retainer was not simple the way Hagrid is, nor as polarising. Things may have swung around since I was a teenager there -- but the bulk of the YA I've read has been English, and it's just not familiar to me -- do you have cites, or is it a callback to earlier (simpler) times?
eta: And really, shift the timeline back 50 years or so, make Hagrid a black woman, and you have the same thing.
Connie Neil - Jul 29, 2004 7:10:26 pm PDT #5426 of 10002
brillig
Hagrid is a modern Samwise Gamgee.
§ ita § - Jul 29, 2004 7:24:02 pm PDT #5427 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Except Sam doesn't need anyone to make excuses for him.