I could have written this secret. Some of what Granny does is straight up bullying. And it makes her occasional genuinely cool moments curdle for me, because I keep feeling like 'why are you trying to make me like this person who takes so much pride in being bitter and unkind?' Yeah, sugary-sweet/polite 'nice' is not enough to be good, but being actually kind to the people around you - especially your student! - is in fact a big part of it! I'm a teacher myself and the way Granny treats Magrat in the early books really bugs me. And then she's a hypocrite who acts like other people being vaguely rude in her direction (like calling her and nanny Old Bats or whatever) warrants humiliation and magical punishment, and clearly we're supposed to think she's so cool for it. And I just don't.
It sucks. Of the three things that bothers me about discworld, it's probably the one with the biggest impact on my enjoyment.
no subject
I could have written this secret. Some of what Granny does is straight up bullying. And it makes her occasional genuinely cool moments curdle for me, because I keep feeling like 'why are you trying to make me like this person who takes so much pride in being bitter and unkind?' Yeah, sugary-sweet/polite 'nice' is not enough to be good, but being actually kind to the people around you - especially your student! - is in fact a big part of it! I'm a teacher myself and the way Granny treats Magrat in the early books really bugs me. And then she's a hypocrite who acts like other people being vaguely rude in her direction (like calling her and nanny Old Bats or whatever) warrants humiliation and magical punishment, and clearly we're supposed to think she's so cool for it. And I just don't.
It sucks. Of the three things that bothers me about discworld, it's probably the one with the biggest impact on my enjoyment.