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

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

I like Lucius. He bitches out Arthur, tells Harry to stop expecting special treatment from the rest of the world and nearly got Ginny killed. Oh, and he beat up the ultra-annoying Dobby. What's not to like?

(I don't like him when he's mean to Draco, but I guess I might be over-identifying with the little woobie here, because I'm mostly just shocked/cringing at him. I wouldn't want a parent like that.)

[saturniia.livejournal.com]

See, I can't stand Lucius's beating up of Dobby, no matter how annoying the little elf is. That's more because Dobby's in a position of subserviance than because I actually like the character, though. To abuse someone who serves you and looks to you for protection is inexcusable, whether that person is a child or a servant (and when I say "abuse... a child", I don't mean most of the smacks he gives Draco, which can go overboard, yes, but are often just physical reminders of "Behave in public" and "Don't touch that, boy, we're in Borgin & Burkes!". I rather mean the emotional abuse he gives Draco and Dobby, the "Try a little harder and maybe I'll be proud of you" tone his conversations with Draco about schoolwork have, and the way it's obviously him who compels Dobby to engage in self-harm when the house-elf does something that goes against the Malfoys' wishes).

That said, he does have redeeming characteristics that keep him from being a villan in the same pod as Voldemort. First, horrid as he is, he does have some honest points: Harry can't go around expecting special treatment in the wizarding world. He doesn't get it in the Muggle world, so why should people with his ability be any different? Also, the Weasleys aren't as shiny and pretty as they appear, nor is Dumbledore. Yes, these characters are "better" than Lucius, since they don't seem to have fallen in with Voldemort, but they still abuse our protagonist in a way Lucius does not.

Okay, to sum up: Lucius is a bad guy, but he's a good character. He's the one who acts as a chorus counterpoint to Hermione and Dumbledore's narrative, know-it-all voice when neccessary and when Snape isn't around or simply isn't appropriate. Draco doesn't need to be coddled, because Lucius's "on-camera" smacks never cross into the realm of abuse, but Lucius is an emotionally abusive character.

[cleverthylacine]

Lucius is so much like my dad it would be funny if it weren't true.