fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3183 ]

[ SECRET POST #3183 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3183 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Harry fell for Ginny because he has an Oedipus complex. The reasoning behind this idea? "GINNY AND LILY ARE BOTH REDHEADS, DURR HURR HURR."

Look, I cringe at JKR's awkward attempts to write romance as much as the next HP fan, but that "explanation" is ridiculous and says a lot more about the fans who believe it than it does about the characters involved.

I…kind of hold this view.

I don't see it as an Oedipus complex but it does bother me how both Lily and Ginny seem to be put on a pedestal. James most certainly is not on one but Lily definitely is.

I really liked Ginny in Book 5.

But by book 6 it seemed like JKR was constantly going on and on about how smart and talented and popular and good-looking Ginny was and what a good Quidditch player she is too.

AYRT

I'd argue James actually was put on a pedestal up until Harry found out about his teenage acts of dickishness. It makes sense for Harry to idolize his parents to an extent since all the adults he knows constantly talk them up as the Greatest People Ever, and having never met them, it would be comforting for him to imagine them being the Greatest People Ever. Harry gets a rude awakening when Snape's memory contradicts what he'd been led to believe about James, thus pushing James off the pedestal he'd been put on. Harry has no such rude awakening regarding Lily, who for all we know could have also done dickish things when she was a teenager that Harry (and by extension, the readers) never found out about.

As for Ginny being put on a pedestal, I suspect that has more to do with JKR being overly fond of her than anything else. (There's a phenomenon TV Tropes calls the "Creator's Pet", formerly known as "The Wesley" after Wesley Crusher from Star Trek TNG. I think Ginny is a good example of this trope.)

I think you're right.

But given that Lily stays on her pedestal and that Harry also seems to build one for Ginny, that combined with similarities in their appearances can't help but to have me be reminded of Lily whenever Harry talks about Ginny.

I do think Ginny is an odd character though -- she seems to have been created specifically as a reward for Harry. The only girl in the Weasley family so that Harry could officially become part of their family. And she's beautiful, intelligent, spunky, great at Quidditch, etc.

I just miss Book 5 Ginny. A lot of people found the transition jarring but I liked it. Ginny had grown up but hadn't been put on the pedestal yet.

AYRT

I can understand why you'd find Ginny's treatment in the narrative reminiscent of Lily's (they are both definitely idealized characters), but nothing will convince me that any similarities between the two of them are sufficient evidence to claim that Harry canonically has an Oedipus complex.

I do agree that Book 5 Ginny is the best Ginny, though!

I'll give you Lily.

But honestly, for Ginny, she's being seen through Harry's eyes, so there's a "Harry filter" there. Plenty of other characters also disagree with or dis her, and even in book 6 we've seen how Ginny herself can get downright nasty.

I like Ginny having plenty of friendships and boyfriends other than Harry. To me it just showed that she had a life outside of Harry.

I guess I just feel like it's an overreaction /reminiscent of the whole 'Mary Sue suspicion. Ginny grew up in a family full of brothers, and a family that was very into Qudditch, many of her brothers were Quddicth players, and to me Ginny always seemed like the kind of girl who wanted to go out and play with the boys, while her mother tended to overprotect her for being the only daughter. So....her being good at Quidditch isn't surprising.

The Harry filter is what kept me from liking Ron/Hermione. I know people complain about how that pairing was written in the movies, but I actually came out of the last two movies shipping them for the first time ever because it wasn't "man those two fight a lot. Anyway, about Voldemort..."

To be fair, Lily's faults were less likely to come to life seeing as the only non-friend POV Harry ever gained of his parents was through Snape who was in love with her.

I'm sure she had faults, but they were unlikely to come to light. And of course Harry wasn't going to go specifically looking for them.

I've long thought Hermione was closer to a Lily parallel anyway...

Uh, I doubt it. Red hair is pretty common in the UK.

Besides, Ginny is obviously a substitute for Ron.

:duck and run:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3183 ]

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