In fact, I knew plenty of snotty little brats who made my life miserable around 11-13 years old, horrible little rich girls who would pick on me relentlessly and screech such things as "nice shirt, where did you buy it, WALMART?".
I can literally hear her even now. LOL!
I read a book called "Odd Girl Out" last year that talked about how girls are horrible to each other--not something that anybody who actually was a girl needs to read about since we have to live through it. But what you're saying is exactly true--it's I think more rare to have the same enemy at 11 as you do when you're older.
I also remember once watching Montel Williams (while I was unemployed!) and he had people confronting their bullies. There was a guy who used to be very fat in high school and this jock picked on him. Once he mooned the fat kid's mother when she came to pick him up for something. So this guy had spent the last 20 years working out and was now the kind of guy who looks like he lives at the gym and they brought on the bully, who was now a normal looking guy with a belly and a receding hairline who owned a couple of restaurants and had a family. He was actually pretty likeable.
So at first the bully couldn't even remember who this guy was. Then he finally did and when he heard the mooning story he was embarassed but laughing because it is a ridiculous story. And he genuinely apologized and said he was an idiot and what else could he say. So the other guy really wanted more satisfaction and kept going on about how he'd won and all, and Montel said to the bully, "So, who's the loser NOW?"
And the bully kind of smiled and shrugged and pointed to the other guy and said, "He is." AND HE WAS RIGHT! The other guy and Montel of course protested but the ex-bully just said, "Dude, you've been thinking of me for 20 years everyday? Because I teased you in high school? Get over it! I haven't given you a moment's thought!" It wasn't even just that this guy really was kind of pathetic for focusing on this for 20 years, but that seeing the guy in purpose you could immediately tell that this was not the evil man he had described.
Now, with Harry and Draco at least there is real bad blood between them...it's not just a case of one being an all-purpose bully who picked on everyone and the other just being a face in the crowd. But still given that they both seem to be leaders in the school it's odd they have no relationship whatsoever, and can't ever see any other sides to each other. Or at least Harry doesn't so far--Draco may very well be paying more attention to Harry and see other things.
And most of all I hate the idea that because Draco Malfoy was a rotten little eleven year old brat from the moment we saw him, with a rotten family, and a rotten attitude, that he is just a throw-away child and there is no reason to show an interest in his character.
Yes, and as you said, there's such a potential for change. Not a big fanfic angst drama, necessarily, but a surprise. As I said to ljash earlier, what's fascinating about Snape is that he seems to be one of the only characters who started out with the wrong ideas and had to learn through experience that this was wrong. It could be far more interesting and satisfying, maybe, if this was the kid that had to be the "new Malfoy," rather than the world rejoicing at the Malfoys disappearing from the face of the earth.
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Date: 2004-03-10 08:16 pm (UTC)I can literally hear her even now. LOL!
I read a book called "Odd Girl Out" last year that talked about how girls are horrible to each other--not something that anybody who actually was a girl needs to read about since we have to live through it. But what you're saying is exactly true--it's I think more rare to have the same enemy at 11 as you do when you're older.
I also remember once watching Montel Williams (while I was unemployed!) and he had people confronting their bullies. There was a guy who used to be very fat in high school and this jock picked on him. Once he mooned the fat kid's mother when she came to pick him up for something. So this guy had spent the last 20 years working out and was now the kind of guy who looks like he lives at the gym and they brought on the bully, who was now a normal looking guy with a belly and a receding hairline who owned a couple of restaurants and had a family. He was actually pretty likeable.
So at first the bully couldn't even remember who this guy was. Then he finally did and when he heard the mooning story he was embarassed but laughing because it is a ridiculous story. And he genuinely apologized and said he was an idiot and what else could he say. So the other guy really wanted more satisfaction and kept going on about how he'd won and all, and Montel said to the bully, "So, who's the loser NOW?"
And the bully kind of smiled and shrugged and pointed to the other guy and said, "He is." AND HE WAS RIGHT! The other guy and Montel of course protested but the ex-bully just said, "Dude, you've been thinking of me for 20 years everyday? Because I teased you in high school? Get over it! I haven't given you a moment's thought!" It wasn't even just that this guy really was kind of pathetic for focusing on this for 20 years, but that seeing the guy in purpose you could immediately tell that this was not the evil man he had described.
Now, with Harry and Draco at least there is real bad blood between them...it's not just a case of one being an all-purpose bully who picked on everyone and the other just being a face in the crowd. But still given that they both seem to be leaders in the school it's odd they have no relationship whatsoever, and can't ever see any other sides to each other. Or at least Harry doesn't so far--Draco may very well be paying more attention to Harry and see other things.
And most of all I hate the idea that because Draco Malfoy was a rotten little eleven year old brat from the moment we saw him, with a rotten family, and a rotten attitude, that he is just a throw-away child and there is no reason to show an interest in his character.
Yes, and as you said, there's such a potential for change. Not a big fanfic angst drama, necessarily, but a surprise. As I said to ljash earlier, what's fascinating about Snape is that he seems to be one of the only characters who started out with the wrong ideas and had to learn through experience that this was wrong. It could be far more interesting and satisfying, maybe, if this was the kid that had to be the "new Malfoy," rather than the world rejoicing at the Malfoys disappearing from the face of the earth.