rantage

Reading Harry Potter fanfic has made me realise (for the umpteenth time) what a damned crappy writer Rowling actually is. OK, a lot of fanfic writers don't write well, but, lordy, the spaces they find in the canon manage to hopelessly show up Rowling's facile, plastic, stereotyped, psychologically unlikely characters and situations for the basic dreck that they are. (This makes, of course, a conversely pointed point about the very real charm, whimsy and appeal of the setting, since (a) even I find that Rowling manages to be fun and readable despite the lack of depth, and (b) there are huge scads of people out there who are invested enough in the setting to write scads of fanfic about it.) But, sheesh. Harry Potter, Boy Hero; cardboard cutout background, with Nasty Aunt&Uncle, TM, whose neglect of him, plus his Horrible Destiny, should traumatise him beyond belief. But doesn't, so he remains Nice, apart from occasional shouting and cardboard cutout angst. Voldemort: basically Sauron Lite, with definite problems in the motivation department, leading to Evil Overlord syndrome and elaborate, pointless plots. (Dumbledore seems to have the Good Guy version of the same thing, he's basically incomprehensible). I also have yet to read a fanfic that makes Voldemort sexy, which to me is a pretty fundamental villain flaw; he's a hairsbreadth away from being a figure of fun even in canon. Perhaps as a result, violence and threat are stylised, bloodless, often off-screen - Avada Kedavra, no mess, no fuss. Fanfic writers often go overboard with the dark battles, blood and entrails, but lordy, it rings truer than Rowlings plastic angst. Yes, she's supposedly writing symbolic literature, but her symbols are giant cliches tied losely together with string and plot holes. Aaargh. Why the hell is our entire bloody culture caught up in these books? They're cheesy, popcorn, marshmallow and probably other high-calorie foodstuffs that are bad for you. And the forthcoming one has a silly title. I am forcibly reminded of latter-day George Lucas.

I have to admit, as an aside, that the apparent preoccupation of a large segment of the HP fandom with (a) Draco Malfoy, silver-haired sex god, and (b) setting Harry up with him, probably doesn't point quite so strongly towards Rowling's flaws as a writer. I'm not sure quite what it points at. Draco in tight jeans, mostly. While drooling. And a certain helpless teenage Mills & Boone tendency to read electric antagonism as electric attraction. Sigh.

It almost rained today, but I'm still grumpy. Can you tell?