...to all fanfic authors in my f-list. How often do you get new reviews for fanfics that have been up for a while? Apart, I mean, from wholly new work?
I became fascinated by Pansy pre-DH, and the funny thing is is that if you actually just take the passages when Pansy appears in the first six books and look at them carefully, there's a lot to be intrigued about. You can guess what kind of upbringing she's had, and she does nothing unusual for that upbringing--except that she never uses the term mudblood in canon. Given the amount of insults she flings at Hermione, I would have thought that JKR would have wanted her to immediately go for the throat. I took a different interpretation, that she was not virulently racist like Draco and the Malfoys. Instead she was merely house loyal and with Slytherin priorities.
It's the way that she acts when Draco is injured that made me like her so much--I have a soft spot for "even bad men love their mamas" type scenes. In that scene, she doesn't care that her school enemies see her crying and upset--all she knows is that Draco is badly injured, and she cries like the little girl she is and runs to help him.
The problem is, I think that a lot of people, nay, most readers, also have that "bad men love their mamas" soft spot. And I do not excuse JKR herself from this. Why do the Malfoys get away more or less without consequence in the end, according to JKR's post DH interviews? Because they had "redeemed" themselves by showing familial love and loyalty. Ok. I think this is damn stupid, that Lucius Malfoy, who is a murderer many times over, gets away free simply because his wife lied and said Harry was dead, but whatever JKR, as long as you're consistent.
Except she is not consistent. In her post-DH interview about Pansy and Draco, JKR is practically dumbfounded by the idea that anyone would think Pansy was good enough for Draco, or that anyone would like Pansy. Pansy's sins? 1. Being a mean girl in high school. Never mind that her head of house and all her friends (including Draco) encouraged her to be so. 2. In the face of a battle that pretty much no one, at that time, thinks is winnable, she wants to sacrifice one person to save everyone.
Neither of which are good things! But the idea that Pansy is RUINED OMG FOREVER for these two things, whereas Draco, who has been deeply involved with the Death Eaters and has assaulted Harry Potter and others many times, is completely redeemable. It's a double standard.
Narcissa vs. Pansy is another double standard, this time showing JKR's fawning adoration for motherhood. Narcissa, recall, is the key player in Kreacher's betrayal of Sirius; Narcissa knowingly participates in the whole DoM fiasco, but this can be excused by JKR because Narcissa is a mother. Never mind that Draco was in no danger at all in that book.
I decided to like Pansy before DH, and none of the characterization in DH makes me dislike her, but JKR's post-DH interviews make me very protective of her, simply because I think the character is falling victim to two double standards. 1. Bad boys are sexy, bad girls are disgusting. (Pansy falls victim to this more from fans than from JKR herself. JKR, to her credit, never wanted fans to love Draco. Yet she still redeems Draco and doesn't redeem any bad female character, except for...) 2. Maternal love excuses all. (This is why Narcissa's role in murder is glossed over, but Pansy's taking points away from another house is a sin that cries out to heaven for justice.)
I don't pretend that Pansy is a wonderful person. If she were real I'm sure I'd want to give her a verbal smackdown. But neither do I think that, as written, the character deserves the vitriol that both the creator and the readers have spewed upon her. I'm not a strict "death of the author" adherent, but I don't like it when creators tell you a a character is the worst ever when they haven't written them that way, and I certainly don't like it when a character is being used as a pawn for sexist attitudes.
Technically, I should not be recommending this because the author has taken her fics off the internet and everything, but have you read Maya's fics? I think her characterisation of Pansy tends to be quite good: she's definitely bitchy, but she's also very likable and even sometimes incredibly touching.
And yes, on the whole I agree with what you say about JK Rowling's double standards and worship of motherhood. Mind you it's part of the charm of the books that they have billions of fascinating ideas, but are a bit rough around the edges: Rowling's morals are about as consistent as her timetables or the gallon rate (or the number of Hogwarts students compared with the number of the whole population, etc)
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Date: 2009-01-17 10:36 pm (UTC)It's the way that she acts when Draco is injured that made me like her so much--I have a soft spot for "even bad men love their mamas" type scenes. In that scene, she doesn't care that her school enemies see her crying and upset--all she knows is that Draco is badly injured, and she cries like the little girl she is and runs to help him.
The problem is, I think that a lot of people, nay, most readers, also have that "bad men love their mamas" soft spot. And I do not excuse JKR herself from this. Why do the Malfoys get away more or less without consequence in the end, according to JKR's post DH interviews? Because they had "redeemed" themselves by showing familial love and loyalty. Ok. I think this is damn stupid, that Lucius Malfoy, who is a murderer many times over, gets away free simply because his wife lied and said Harry was dead, but whatever JKR, as long as you're consistent.
Except she is not consistent. In her post-DH interview about Pansy and Draco, JKR is practically dumbfounded by the idea that anyone would think Pansy was good enough for Draco, or that anyone would like Pansy. Pansy's sins?
1. Being a mean girl in high school. Never mind that her head of house and all her friends (including Draco) encouraged her to be so.
2. In the face of a battle that pretty much no one, at that time, thinks is winnable, she wants to sacrifice one person to save everyone.
Neither of which are good things! But the idea that Pansy is RUINED OMG FOREVER for these two things, whereas Draco, who has been deeply involved with the Death Eaters and has assaulted Harry Potter and others many times, is completely redeemable. It's a double standard.
Narcissa vs. Pansy is another double standard, this time showing JKR's fawning adoration for motherhood. Narcissa, recall, is the key player in Kreacher's betrayal of Sirius; Narcissa knowingly participates in the whole DoM fiasco, but this can be excused by JKR because Narcissa is a mother. Never mind that Draco was in no danger at all in that book.
I decided to like Pansy before DH, and none of the characterization in DH makes me dislike her, but JKR's post-DH interviews make me very protective of her, simply because I think the character is falling victim to two double standards.
1. Bad boys are sexy, bad girls are disgusting. (Pansy falls victim to this more from fans than from JKR herself. JKR, to her credit, never wanted fans to love Draco. Yet she still redeems Draco and doesn't redeem any bad female character, except for...)
2. Maternal love excuses all. (This is why Narcissa's role in murder is glossed over, but Pansy's taking points away from another house is a sin that cries out to heaven for justice.)
I don't pretend that Pansy is a wonderful person. If she were real I'm sure I'd want to give her a verbal smackdown. But neither do I think that, as written, the character deserves the vitriol that both the creator and the readers have spewed upon her. I'm not a strict "death of the author" adherent, but I don't like it when creators tell you a a character is the worst ever when they haven't written them that way, and I certainly don't like it when a character is being used as a pawn for sexist attitudes.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-18 01:09 pm (UTC)And yes, on the whole I agree with what you say about JK Rowling's double standards and worship of motherhood. Mind you it's part of the charm of the books that they have billions of fascinating ideas, but are a bit rough around the edges: Rowling's morals are about as consistent as her timetables or the gallon rate (or the number of Hogwarts students compared with the number of the whole population, etc)