30 Days of HP Meme -- Day 6
Jul. 29th, 2010 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kelly_chamblissDay 1. Discuss how you got into Harry Potter.
Day 2. Your favorite book
Day 3. Least favorite book.
Day 4. Favorite female character.
Day 5 Favorite male character.
Day 6 Least favorite female character.
Each time I answer one of these "favorite/least favorite character" questions, I have a pleasant time debating with myself over the definition of "favorite." Person I'd most/least like to meet? Resemble? Be friends with? Sleep with? That I most/least admire? See as most morally-flawed? Just find boring and/or exciting or hot? Or should I consider things in literary terms -- characters I think are most interestingly- or skillfully-written, best/worst developed, etc.?
Problem is, the "favorite" often changes depending on which definition I'm using. And that's the case with "least-favorite female character." There are the ones I find boring, like Cho Chang; she doesn't seem individualized much at all; she's just mostly a generic "girlfriend." She has Asian background, but aside from her name, her Asian-ness doesn't inform her character. There are the ones whose characterizations I find problematic, like Molly Weasley. And would I like to be friends with someone like Dolores Umbridge? Certainly not, but she's not an "unfavorite" character at all.
So I thought I might as well just throw out all these definitions and go with a personal one: my least favorite female character is Sybill Trelawney, because she reminds me far too much of a person I know, someone who drives me batshit crazy. As far as I know, this woman isn't into cooking sherry, but otherwise, she could be Sybill -- fey, breathy, affected, scattered, given to trailing scarves, convinced of her own genius, dying to be seen as a charming, gifted eccentric, an artist who just can't be expected to see the world the way ordinary mortals do. But like Sybill, she loses a lot of the dreamy eccentricity when crossed and goes straight for the jugular.
Now it's very possible that I'm unfair to poor canon!Sybill, projecting onto her characteristics that belong only to the person I actually know, but it's too late now. Sybill Trelawney is officially my least favorite female character.
Day 7 Least favorite male Character.
Day 8 Thoughts on fanfic.
Day 9 Favorite Hogwarts Professor.
Day 10 Dead character you want to bring back most.
Day 11 House you would be in.
Day 12 Hogwarts subject you would most like to take.
Day 13 Spell you wish you could work without a wand.
Day 14 Thoughts on fanart (+ A favorite fanart).
Day 15 Favorite movie.
Day 16 Least favorite movie.
Day 17 Books vs. films.
Day 18 A part of the books/movies that makes you cry.
Day 19 Favorite 'ship(s).
Day 20 Your favorite villain.
Day 21 Favorite location.
Day 22 Thoughts on wizard rock.
Day 23 Character you think you are most like.
Day 24 Horcruxes vs. Hallows?
Day 25 Something you wish JKR had written about more.
Day 26 Marauders vs. Snape.
Day 27 The Invisibility Cloak, The Resurrection Stone or The Elder Wand.
Day 28 The Next Generation.
Day 29 How have you participated in the fandom over the years?
Day 30 In general, the effects of Harry Potter on your life..
Day 2. Your favorite book
Day 3. Least favorite book.
Day 4. Favorite female character.
Day 5 Favorite male character.
Day 6 Least favorite female character.
Each time I answer one of these "favorite/least favorite character" questions, I have a pleasant time debating with myself over the definition of "favorite." Person I'd most/least like to meet? Resemble? Be friends with? Sleep with? That I most/least admire? See as most morally-flawed? Just find boring and/or exciting or hot? Or should I consider things in literary terms -- characters I think are most interestingly- or skillfully-written, best/worst developed, etc.?
Problem is, the "favorite" often changes depending on which definition I'm using. And that's the case with "least-favorite female character." There are the ones I find boring, like Cho Chang; she doesn't seem individualized much at all; she's just mostly a generic "girlfriend." She has Asian background, but aside from her name, her Asian-ness doesn't inform her character. There are the ones whose characterizations I find problematic, like Molly Weasley. And would I like to be friends with someone like Dolores Umbridge? Certainly not, but she's not an "unfavorite" character at all.
So I thought I might as well just throw out all these definitions and go with a personal one: my least favorite female character is Sybill Trelawney, because she reminds me far too much of a person I know, someone who drives me batshit crazy. As far as I know, this woman isn't into cooking sherry, but otherwise, she could be Sybill -- fey, breathy, affected, scattered, given to trailing scarves, convinced of her own genius, dying to be seen as a charming, gifted eccentric, an artist who just can't be expected to see the world the way ordinary mortals do. But like Sybill, she loses a lot of the dreamy eccentricity when crossed and goes straight for the jugular.
Now it's very possible that I'm unfair to poor canon!Sybill, projecting onto her characteristics that belong only to the person I actually know, but it's too late now. Sybill Trelawney is officially my least favorite female character.
Day 7 Least favorite male Character.
Day 8 Thoughts on fanfic.
Day 9 Favorite Hogwarts Professor.
Day 10 Dead character you want to bring back most.
Day 11 House you would be in.
Day 12 Hogwarts subject you would most like to take.
Day 13 Spell you wish you could work without a wand.
Day 14 Thoughts on fanart (+ A favorite fanart).
Day 15 Favorite movie.
Day 16 Least favorite movie.
Day 17 Books vs. films.
Day 18 A part of the books/movies that makes you cry.
Day 19 Favorite 'ship(s).
Day 20 Your favorite villain.
Day 21 Favorite location.
Day 22 Thoughts on wizard rock.
Day 23 Character you think you are most like.
Day 24 Horcruxes vs. Hallows?
Day 25 Something you wish JKR had written about more.
Day 26 Marauders vs. Snape.
Day 27 The Invisibility Cloak, The Resurrection Stone or The Elder Wand.
Day 28 The Next Generation.
Day 29 How have you participated in the fandom over the years?
Day 30 In general, the effects of Harry Potter on your life..