Amateur HP Psychology

[sistermagpie]

I am not getting any e-mail and I don't know why. They just started coming, but anything from today before the last ten minutes seems to be gone.

I've been reading this book on the Shadow as in Jung (kind of a theme lately) and I'm reading about how the Shadow is all the things you repress in yourself, so you're enraged when you see them in other people. So somebody else could be a terrible person but wouldn't bother you as much because you're not repressing those kinds of things too much. What's horrible about it is I'm reading and knowing that my shadow…

Is post-GoF Ginny Weasley.

She's not the only one, obviously, but oh my god she so is my shadow. When I hear anyone defending her--even reasonably--I am filled with rage. Of course, being who I am (what I repress) I have to try to listen objectively and even admit when the person has a point, because I always want to be accurate and blah blah. Sometimes even I have to defend her because something's off. But what I really want to do is hex the person so that they shut up. Or say something mean that's probably like, "Don't start talking about Quidditch, you'll only embarrass yourself." Or run into the person and put them in the infirmary. This is why it's so strange when people say one must hate Ginny because one wants Harry for herself, because when Harry is liking Ginny it's hard for me to just not see him as a jerk. Like I picture them in their 30s as some dreadful couple I'd avoid. Unfortunately this isn't exactly objective canon analysis, so I can't usually just say that.

The one good thing about this is Lupin is a lot like me in this way--I mean, the kind of stuff he swallows--so maybe he hates her too. I believe when Ginny is throwing her temper tantrum in OotP Lupin quietly shuts the door. For Lupin that's probably the equivalent of smacking her in the face. Poor guy has to live with her.

Oh, the other thing I just read in one essay in the book that we tend to notice and react to Shadow things more in our own gender than the opposite gender--we can ignore stuff when it's in the other gender. I guess that's where fandom's OMG U R JUS JELLUS AND U DON'T LIKE GIRLZ!!1!!1

I was thinking about this in my ballet class, mostly because I have another Shadow problem there, or maybe it's just a pet peeve. Okay, in a dance class you often split into groups to do combinations. There is this woman who always GOES WITH ALL THE GROUPS! In this case there's just the two groups, but it drives me up a tree. The point is to split up so there's room. Yes, she's just one more person, but why the hell does she get to decide that she's the person who gets to dance whenever she wants because everyone else is only going once? What if everybody just decided to do that? (And btw, we're talking about somebody who's in class with some professional dancers--not me--and is herself not even really on the level the class is at. Every time I see her doing it I start stewing. Also she always winds up standing near me so I'm wishing there wasn't somebody so close to me because I don't like people behind me and look--it's her!

Comments

[samaranth.livejournal.com]

I’m not familiar with Jung, but I’m familiar with the feeling of instant antipathy. One part of me castigates myself for intolerance, but the other part goes ‘yeah, but no, but yeah, but, look how aggravating that person is, I mean, really, you know, fair’s fair.’

One of the mother’s at J’s school has this effect on me, severely. Just to see her walking past me on the street sends my blood pressure up a couple of notches. Her clothes? Her attitude? Her obvious and blinding stupidity? I find it very puzzling. (And no doubt she finds me doing a puzzled wrinkly glare at her for no reason kind of alarming too.)

And I don’t think I’ve ever really spoken to her, which makes this all the more unreasonable. However, I may leave the question open as to whether she reflects some aspects of myself that I have repressed. I have enough of them that I do know about, I don’t need to be reminded of the repressed ones as well. :)

I think in HP, the character that I feel this most strongly about isn’t Ginny, it’s Molly. Rereading the final chapters of GoF, I keep having to restrain myself from throwing the book across the room.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

LOL! Now I'm all fascinated to know exactly what it is about her that speaks to you in such a grating way!

It's just so scary that the more I think about this the more I realize I am Ginny. It's very disheartening.

It's also kind of funny to think of you as Molly--to me in that book she's kind of lovably idiotic.:-)

[samaranth.livejournal.com]

There's just too much of Molly, from my point of view. And she seems to spread it all around willy-nilly, even when it's probably not the most sensitive, needed, wanted, useful thing to do.

(I do need to read a bit more about Shadows, though, because I'm not sure I understand it properly.)

It's just so scary that the more I think about this the more I realize I am Ginny. It's very disheartening.

There, there - *large, smothering hug*

I so cannot imagine me being your mother.:-) But I do wonder what the Mother/Daughter dynamic might be between Molly and Ginny ..Mrs W seems to be someone who focuses very strongly on her sons (or, at least, some of them) and doesn't pay much attention to Ginny. I guess Ginny compensates for that by becoming just another one of the lads.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

And yet I can easily see Ginny being the same way. This is the girl who smacks down Hermione with her Quidditch remark, imo, because Harry's already practically her boyfriend and she's defending him as such.

When I picture Hermione and Ginny in later years I just immediately see them as two women who bond over their husbands and when their husbands disagree they get into a much bigger fight with each other. Ginny seems like she'd be particularly bad, especially because she's probably be staking her territory with Harry, who has always been closer to Hermione.

I can easily see Ginny having a pack of sons and being very much like Molly. She might be a different type--more hard where Molly is soft--but I can see them being very much the same.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I'm dying to know what Molly does in the final chapters that annoys you?
Because I find her fairly obnoxious in most of her scenes, but I can't recall anything she did then that was particularly annoying, and wondering what it could be is killing me with curiosity! ;)

[samaranth.livejournal.com]

Apart from just being herself, it was this line:

"You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry,' Mrs Weasley said at last..."You have a nice long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while...think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!'

This solicitous statement really struck me by its complete absence of tact, and with its failure to recognise the actual situation (Harry, pain, return of Voldie, much in the way of Dark Things and Death). But, you know, all you have to do is think about money and what you can do with it, and you'll feel much better.

(I'll concede I may be over-reacting, but I don't think these kind of responses actually have to be rational :-) )

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's your OTT reaction that's important!