# J.K. Rowling



## Ben from England (Jul 17, 2011)

Wandered over to J.K. Rowling's site today and buried amidst Potter stuff was a very cool little rant she felt compelled to write a while ago. 

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For Girls Only, Probably...

Being thin. Probably not a subject that you ever expected to read about on this website, but my recent trip to London got me thinking...

It started in the car on the way to Leavesden film studios. I whiled away part of the journey reading a magazine that featured several glossy photographs of a very young woman who is either seriously ill or suffering from an eating disorder (which is, of course, the same thing); anyway, there is no other explanation for the shape of her body. She can talk about eating absolutely loads, being terribly busy and having the world's fastest metabolism until her tongue drops off (hooray! Another couple of ounces gone!), but her concave stomach, protruding ribs and stick-like arms tell a different story. This girl needs help, but, the world being what it is, they're sticking her on magazine covers instead. All this passed through my mind as I read the interview, then I threw the horrible thing aside.

But blow me down if the subject of girls and thinness didn't crop up shortly after I got out of the car. I was talking to one of the actors and, somehow or other, we got onto the subject of a girl he knows (not any of the Potter actresses  somebody from his life beyond the films) who had been dubbed 'fat' by certain charming classmates. (Could they possibly be jealous that she knows the boy in question? Surely not!)

'But,' said the actor, in honest perplexity, 'she is really not fat.'

'"Fat" is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her,' I said; I could remember it happening when I was at school, and witnessing it among the teenagers I used to teach. Nevertheless, I could see that to him, a well-adjusted male, it was utterly bizarre behaviour, like yelling 'thicko!' at Stephen Hawking. 

His bemusement at this everyday feature of female existence reminded me how strange and sick the 'fat' insult is. I mean, is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I'm not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain...

I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? 'You've lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!'

'Well,' I said, slightly nonplussed, 'the last time you saw me I'd just had a baby.'

What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren't either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no  my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

So the issue of size and women was (ha, ha) weighing on my mind as I flew home to Edinburgh the next day. Once up in the air, I opened a newspaper and my eyes fell, immediately, on an article about the pop star Pink. 

Her latest single, 'Stupid Girls', is the antidote-anthem for everything I had been thinking about women and thinness. 'Stupid Girls' satirises the talking toothpicks held up to girls as role models: those celebrities whose greatest achievement is un-chipped nail polish, whose only aspiration seems to be getting photographed in a different outfit nine times a day, whose only function in the world appears to be supporting the trade in overpriced handbags and rat-sized dogs. 

Maybe all this seems funny, or trivial, but it's really not. It's about what girls want to be, what they're told they should be, and how they feel about who they are. I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny  a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls. Rant over.

-

Like the books or not (I do), it's good to know that a person who has made such a substantial impact on so many kids has her head screwed on right.


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## spiritangel (Jul 17, 2011)

its been some time since I read that and I agree Id rather be a hermione than a pansy or stupid girl anyday


thanks for posting it and reminding me


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## BitsySpider (Jul 17, 2011)

Ironic seeing as Emma Watson is used as "thinspiration" for many girls, greatly boostering the character Hermione's popularity over her slender looks rather than her brains and courage.


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## MissHoney (Jul 17, 2011)

Loved it. Thank you for sharing.


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## ConnieLynn (Jul 17, 2011)

Thanks for sharing


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## CarlaSixx (Jul 17, 2011)

BitsySpider said:


> Ironic seeing as Emma Watson is used as "thinspiration" for many girls, greatly boostering the character Hermione's popularity over her slender looks rather than her brains and courage.



It was never planned for Emma to be so thin. And she has frequently said that she doesn't buy into the Hollywood concept of thin being the best, and that dieting or anything similar is something she would never do. I'm in the belief that she is naturally thin. She doesn't look sickly so I'm encouraged to keep my belief. But people don't pay enough attention to what their "idols" are saying these days. They see the image and want to look like that. I think it's better to listen and want to have the same frame of mind.


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## Lamia (Jul 17, 2011)

interesting coming from her...


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## BitsySpider (Jul 17, 2011)

CarlaSixx said:


> It was never planned for Emma to be so thin. And she has frequently said that she doesn't buy into the Hollywood concept of thin being the best, and that dieting or anything similar is something she would never do. I'm in the belief that she is naturally thin. She doesn't look sickly so I'm encouraged to keep my belief. But people don't pay enough attention to what their "idols" are saying these days. They see the image and want to look like that. I think it's better to listen and want to have the same frame of mind.



Oh, I also believe that Emma likely doesn't have an eating disorder and such. I just think it's ironic that a huge reason so many girls idolize her is because she's so thin, not because she has a strong personality (either in real life or as her character).


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## AmazingAmy (Jul 17, 2011)

Lamia said:


> interesting coming from her...



What do you mean? :huh:


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## softcupcake (Jul 18, 2011)

Loved it. Thank you for sharing this!


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## Chubosaurus (Jul 18, 2011)

The only problem with it is its a bit contradictory considering the majority of her fat characters in Harry Potter are mean or stupid or both, the Dursley Dad and Son, and Crabbe and Goyle for example.


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## penguin (Jul 18, 2011)

Chubosaurus said:


> The only problem with it is its a bit contradictory considering the majority of her fat characters in Harry Potter are mean or stupid or both, the Dursley Dad and Son, and Crabbe and Goyle for example.



Slughorn is fat too, and he's not portrayed as nasty or stupid. She also has thin characters that are nasty too. 

I figure Crabbe and Goyle have stayed fat and stupid because they didn't want to climb all those stairs, so they were probably missing a lot of classes. If you're going live in a castle that is seven stories high (and for the Slytherins eight, as they live in the dungeon), then you're doing a _lot_ of walking every day. Makes it hard to stay fat that way, I'm sure.


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## BitsySpider (Jul 18, 2011)

If I recall, wasn't Neville described as being chubby when he was first introduced? True, in the movies he slimmed down but I think that's more attributed to the actual actor and how he grew up, I don't think Neville was ever actually pointed out as having lost weight within the books themselves.


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## Forgotten_Futures (Jul 18, 2011)

BitsySpider said:


> Ironic seeing as Emma Watson is used as "thinspiration" for many girls, greatly boostering the character Hermione's popularity over her slender looks rather than her brains and courage.



Yeah, but Hermione (and therefore Emma) are a 'healthy' thin, a thin with curves, and thus I happily apply the term slender to her, as that's the word I think of when a girl/woman is "healthy thin but still somewhat curvy". If people choose to use her as "thinspiration", that's all well and good, so long as they acknowledge that she is not unhealthy thin and most likely doesn't go to obscene lengths to be thin. Holding her up as an icon for good, healthy eating and exercise is fine, though. (And I'm going to try and beat out the negative replies to that last sentence by emphasizing (pun not intended) the point that 'fat' people can also eat healthy and exercise, and be healthy, and not be thin, and therefore size is not the important part. Emma's just a short girl with a small frame.)


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## CarlaSixx (Jul 18, 2011)

What about Hagrid? He's a big lovable character. Definitely not mean, and I wouldn't consider him stupid.


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## Skye23 (Jul 19, 2011)

CarlaSixx said:


> What about Hagrid? He's a big lovable character. Definitely not mean, and I wouldn't consider him stupid.



If I got lost wandering around the forests outside school and nearly froze my big butt off, I wouldn't mind warming up in his cottage with a snuggle and a nice pot of tea  Then again I've got a thing for guys with big shoulders who are a bit bashful, married one after all.


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## bmann0413 (Jul 19, 2011)

Sweet, Ms. Rowling is really down-to-earth and intellectual. She's awesome.


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## joswitch (Jul 22, 2011)

penguin said:


> Slughorn is fat too, and he's not portrayed as nasty or stupid. She also has thin characters that are nasty too.



Not to mention that ?Molly? Weasley (the Mum) is consistently described as chubby / plump, as I recall. And she's pretty heroic in the end.



> I figure Crabbe and Goyle have stayed fat and stupid because they didn't want to climb all those stairs, so they were probably missing a lot of classes. If you're going live in a castle that is seven stories high (and for the Slytherins eight, as they live in the dungeon), then you're doing a _lot_ of walking every day. Makes it hard to stay fat that way, I'm sure.


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## joswitch (Jul 22, 2011)

Chubosaurus said:


> The only problem with it is its a bit contradictory considering the majority of her fat characters in Harry Potter are mean or stupid or both, the Dursley Dad and Son, and Crabbe and Goyle for example.



Hagrid and Madame Whatsername from the French school are chunky half-giants. They're good guys.


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## disconnectedsmile (Jul 22, 2011)

CarlaSixx said:


> What about Hagrid? He's a big lovable character. Definitely not mean, and I wouldn't consider him stupid.



Hagrid is the best


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## penguin (Jul 22, 2011)

joswitch said:


> Not to mention that ?Molly? Weasley (the Mum) is consistently described as chubby / plump, as I recall. And she's pretty heroic in the end.



Yup, Molly is "pleasantly plump" and quite amazing. She's Molly Fucking Weasley, Man!


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## EMH1701 (Jul 26, 2011)

I <3 JK Rowling even more now. Thanks for sharing this.


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## Lamia (Jul 26, 2011)

AmazingAmy said:


> What do you mean? :huh:



I mean it's interesting that she's seems to be senstive to the plight of fat, yet I assumed she detested fat people based on her characterizations of Dudley and his father, Dudley's rude aunt etc.


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## penguin (Jul 27, 2011)

Lamia said:


> I mean it's interesting that she's seems to be senstive to the plight of fat, yet I assumed she detested fat people based on her characterizations of Dudley and his father, Dudley's rude aunt etc.



Aunt Petunia was stick thin, though. Other nasty people were also thin, like Draco and his family, the Blacks, etc. Just because some of the characters are fat and nasty or fat and stupid isn't enough of a correlation to assume that she dislikes fat people.


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## MadLordOfMilk (Jul 29, 2011)

In case anyone else wanted a link to the post itself, it's here: http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=22

Pretty interesting post! I sent it along to a few of my friends. I found the following part stood out the most to me:


> What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren't either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no  my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!


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## Lamia (Jul 31, 2011)

penguin said:


> Aunt Petunia was stick thin, though. Other nasty people were also thin, like Draco and his family, the Blacks, etc. Just because some of the characters are fat and nasty or fat and stupid isn't enough of a correlation to assume that she dislikes fat people.





The difference to me is no one is equating Petunia's body type with her personality. Dudley pigging out on Harry's cake and getting a pig's tail because he's a fat greedy pig is offensive. 

Harry being the poor Dicksensian orphan under the stairs has always bothered me, but luckily it's a small part. 

I love the books and I am glad the she wrote that piece.


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## penguin (Jul 31, 2011)

Lamia said:


> The difference to me is no one is equating Petunia's body type with her personality. Dudley pigging out on Harry's cake and getting a pig's tail because he's a fat greedy pig is offensive.



Well, he _was_ behaving like a pig. I didn't see that scene as offensive at all. He was a spoilt brat who was always given everything he wanted, much to his detriment. 



> Harry being the poor Dicksensian orphan under the stairs has always bothered me, but luckily it's a small part.



You're not meant to like that. It shows how much of an afterthought Harry is to the Dursleys. Dudley had a second bedroom just for his numerous toys. They could have raised Harry equally and let him have a bedroom, but they didn't. They overindulged Dudley and gave Harry the absolute bare minimum.


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## Lamia (Jul 31, 2011)

penguin said:


> Well, he _was_ behaving like a pig. I didn't see that scene as offensive at all. He was a spoilt brat who was always given everything he wanted, much to his detriment.
> 
> 
> 
> You're not meant to like that. It shows how much of an afterthought Harry is to the Dursleys. Dudley had a second bedroom just for his numerous toys. They could have raised Harry equally and let him have a bedroom, but they didn't. They overindulged Dudley and gave Harry the absolute bare minimum.




You know I don't have a problem with people debating an issue with me, but it's really annoying when they tell you why you shouldn't feel something. I was offended it didn't keep me from buying all the books and movies and being a fan. 

As to the second part of your statement. I fully understand the dynamic between Harry and the Dursleys. When I said it bothered me I meant as a plot device not because it was sad. 

It was brilliant though that she wrote it that way and it's probably why kids are so drawn to it. The majority of a kid's life is spent thinking about what is fair and unfair. They could identify with poor Harry because everyone has their little inner Harry Potter that lives under the stairs and is picked on and no one loves. 

Also, there are real Harry Potters that do live in much worse conditions that identify with Harry as well and wish that Hagrid would come take them away.

I would have loved this story even more if I had read it as a child, but as a fat kid I would have felt bad about myself because of Dudley's character.


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## penguin (Aug 1, 2011)

Lamia said:


> I would have loved this story even more if I had read it as a child, but as a fat kid I would have felt bad about myself because of Dudley's character.



I don't think his weight or pigtail would have bothered me as a child, and I was a fat child too. I think his weight was the least bothersome of his traits. As mentioned previously, there are other fat characters who weren't nasty and their descriptions showed that. Even Professor Slughorn, who was known to indulge himself and whose jackets barely buttoned up. Dudley behaved like a gluttonous pig, so the tail was fitting of his behaviour. Slughorn had his vices (crystallised pineapple, anyone?), and he was a vain and proud man, but he was still a good person at heart. 

*shrug* sometimes I think we read into these characterisations far too much and try to project our assumptions onto the characters.


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## Lamia (Aug 1, 2011)

penguin said:


> I don't think his weight or pigtail would have bothered me as a child, and I was a fat child too. I think his weight was the least bothersome of his traits. As mentioned previously, there are other fat characters who weren't nasty and their descriptions showed that. Even Professor Slughorn, who was known to indulge himself and whose jackets barely buttoned up. Dudley behaved like a gluttonous pig, so the tail was fitting of his behaviour. Slughorn had his vices (crystallised pineapple, anyone?), and he was a vain and proud man, but he was still a good person at heart.
> 
> *shrug* sometimes I think we read into these characterisations far too much and try to project our assumptions onto the characters.



That's great that it wouldn't bother you, but it did bother me. People react to things differently. Just because I didn't respond the same way you did doesn't invalidate my opinion or experience. 

Art is subjective you bring to it your own experiences.


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## penguin (Aug 1, 2011)

Lamia said:


> That's great that it wouldn't bother you, but it did bother me. People react to things differently. Just because I didn't respond the same way you did doesn't invalidate my opinion or experience.



I never said it did. I was merely discussing it.


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## NancyGirl74 (Aug 1, 2011)

I love Harry Potter! I read the books with no eyes towards "who was fat/who was thin." I was reading a story and if the character happened to be fat and mean (Dudley) then that was who they were as a character. If they were chubby and shy (Neville), big and loud (Hagrid), dumpy and snively (Peter) those were the descriptions of their character, both the physical and the personality. Sometimes you can read you own angst into things...Like other people's posts, for example. If you read what is there and take your emotion out of it you might find that NOT every "bad guy" character was fat _and_ mean. In fact, the meanest meanies were not fat at all. Lucius, Belletrix, Draco, and the badest of the bad ol' Voldy himself...all thin. Perhaps J.K. has a thing against thin meanies. All the thin meanies out there should be outraged!


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## penguin (Aug 1, 2011)

NancyGirl74 said:


> Perhaps J.K. has a thing against thin meanies. All the thin meanies out there should be outraged!



And blondes! I mean, the Malfoys were all blonde and nasty. Though Snape and Bellatrix were black haired and nasty. Brunettes and red heads were okay, I guess. And guys with long beards were fine too.


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## joswitch (Aug 1, 2011)

Lamia said:


> The difference to me is no one is equating Petunia's body type with her personality.



Errr, I thought her extreme thinness matched her brittleness of personality.... And the fear / envy / guilt that was all twisted up inside her re. her sister... For some people those kind of feelings stop them eating... That's how I read it...

Her neglect of Harry = urge to push the past out of mind.

Attention lavished on Dudly = overcompensation / projection operating in unconflicted emotional territory.




> Dudley pigging out on Harry's cake and getting a pig's tail because he's a fat greedy pig is offensive.
> 
> Harry being the poor Dicksensian orphan under the stairs has always bothered me, but luckily it's a small part.
> 
> I love the books and I am glad the she wrote that piece.



Also, at least Dudley has a bit of a revelation after Harry saves his life, and he overcomes a lifetime of parental indoctrination to at least offer a gesture of affection to Harry at the start of the last book.
Showing that he's human too....


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## Lamia (Aug 1, 2011)

joswitch said:


> Errr, I thought her extreme thinness matched her brittleness of personality.... And the fear / envy / guilt that was all twisted up inside her re. her sister... For some people those kind of feelings stop them eating... That's how I read it...
> 
> Her neglect of Harry = urge to push the past out of mind.
> 
> ...



I am glad Dudley had some growth as a character. I was sad they left that out of the film.


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## CarlaSixx (Aug 1, 2011)

Lamia said:


> I am glad Dudley had some growth as a character. I was sad they left that out of the film.



Same here. It was a scene I was itching to see, but it only made it to the "deleted scenes" section of the DVD  I was very upset at that.


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## superodalisque (Aug 1, 2011)

great post. its wonderful but not so unusual that there are many thin women who understand and relate just as she does. i think that comes from having the strength and intellect of an evolved woman. as a woman its a problem no matter what the size are if you spend all your time competing with other women and assessing yourself based only on body size rather than actual human content and achievement. thin folk don't have a lock on that but and they aren't all insensitive either.


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## Bananaspills (Aug 2, 2011)

I loved that and I hadn't read it before... Thanks for posting it Ben!


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## fat hiker (Aug 2, 2011)

Lamia said:


> I've met some fat kids whose take was quite different: they idolised Hagrid, wanted to grow up like him, and saw Dudley as the stupid brat of the class, not the fat kid - i.e., they didn't see them themselves as like Dudley, but as like Hagrid. After all, Dudley's overiding characteristic is not fatness - in the later books he's no longer fat (having become a boxer, and riding a bike) but just big and mean.
> 
> Perhaps one of the marvels of Rowling's books is that, like Tolkien, there are enough characters for all points of view to find one to latch onto.


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## joswitch (Aug 2, 2011)

Lamia said:


> I am glad Dudley had some growth as a character. I was sad they left that out of the film.



Ah, I didn't know that. I didn't watch the films. I have auto-visualization. So the movie I see in my head when I read a book is generally better than the film.


I did go and watch LoTR, tho' and generally liked it. Except, I was HUGELY annoyed that they left out the whole return-to-the-now-ruled-by-Boss-Sharky Shire! (I know they killed Saruman early, which also sucked) The whole evil-can-sprout-anywhere theme was such a powerful point, not to mention the transformative effect of struggle changing you / making you better able to confront evil wherever. 

Instead we got HALF an HOUR of weeping pseudo-homoerotic hobbits. Arse. That bit was about two paragraphs in the book. And rightly so.

Sorry, digression!


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## NancyGirl74 (Aug 2, 2011)

Jos...It worries me that you nerd out about the same books/movies I do. Seriously, cut it out or I will be forced to have a crush on you. Now, if you claim to be Team Alcide vs Team Eric and/or Team Bill I may have to marry you...and we know how you feel about that.


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## joswitch (Aug 2, 2011)

NancyGirl74 said:


> Jos...It worries me that you nerd out about the same books/movies I do. Seriously, cut it out or I will be forced to have a crush on you. Now, if you claim to be Team Alcide vs Team Eric and/or Team Bill I may have to marry you...and we know how you feel about that.



Nah, I don't really have a True Blood team... I do enjoy that the writers stretch their imagination for their Big Bads... I thought the Maenad was awesome, really interesting, and the whole end of that series was epically creeptastic in a Wicker Man way (not the remake)... Russel Edginton was a great pantomime bad guy... I was feeling let down about new witchy woman, but she's shaping up pretty well now. 

It also helps that we don't have Bill going "SOOKIE!" and "Sookie is MINE!" every five seconds, now they've split up... that was getting pret-tay old.


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## NancyGirl74 (Aug 6, 2011)

joswitch said:


> Nah, I don't really have a True Blood team... I do enjoy that the writers stretch their imagination for their Big Bads... I thought the Maenad was awesome, really interesting, and the whole end of that series was epically creeptastic in a Wicker Man way (not the remake)... Russel Edginton was a great pantomime bad guy... I was feeling let down about new witchy woman, but she's shaping up pretty well now.
> 
> It also helps that we don't have Bill going "SOOKIE!" and "Sookie is MINE!" every five seconds, now they've split up... that was getting pret-tay old.



Now you're just being a tease!

Actually, I meant the books as I haven't even seen Season 3 yet. However, from what I've seen of the guy who plays Alcide...He's still my team captain. 


PS...The Maenad was awesome on the show. Way cooler than in the book. But then I love Michelle Forbes. Totally under-rated and under-used as an actress. Frankly, I think she made that role. Totally owned it. Best part of Season 2.


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## joswitch (Aug 6, 2011)

NancyGirl74 said:


> Now you're just being a tease!
> 
> Actually, I meant the books as I haven't even seen Season 3 yet. However, from what I've seen of the guy who plays Alcide...He's still my team captain.
> 
> ...



Absolutely agree, and the Maenad's last scene with the great white bull was truly epic. It had to be given the build up, and I was impressed that the writers rose to the ocassion. 

I did think the death of the Queen was a bit rubbish, by contrast. She could've just vampire-fast-run-away-smashing-through-the-window, given that all the gun wielders were humans (as far as I could tell), but then I enjoyed her character aaaand I have a thing for cute redheads.

Bill as the tortured King is great though.


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## NancyGirl74 (Aug 6, 2011)

Ugh, Jos! I haven't seen it yet! Stop giving stuff away *hands over eyes* I don't see it! I don't see it!

Ok, I saw it. I liked how the show took what was in the books and gave it greater depth and detail in Season 1 & 2...Now, it sounds like they are just freely changing things willy-nilly. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm going to have to watch soon to see for myself. 

PS...For now the wedding is on hold for the spoiler dropping. I need to catch up with the show and then we _might_ book the reception hall.


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## joswitch (Aug 6, 2011)

The less the show has to depend on Anna Pacquin's acting the better it gets, IMNVHO.

By contrast: That fella who plays Sam is a damn good actor, as are Tara, Lafayette and Eric (Skaarsgard ?spelling?)

The business with creepy-British-vampire-rapist (?name?) and Tara last season was so well acted and soooo close to standard human-abusive it was waaay more distressing than all of the supernatural, unreal horror. Almost painful to watch those scenes at times.


Ooops, sorry for season 3 spoliers!


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## bettylulu (Aug 9, 2011)

fat hiker said:


> I've met some fat kids whose take was quite different: they idolised Hagrid, wanted to grow up like him, and saw Dudley as the stupid brat of the class, not the fat kid - i.e., they didn't see them themselves as like Dudley, but as like Hagrid. After all, Dudley's overiding characteristic is not fatness - in the later books he's no longer fat (having become a boxer, and riding a bike) but just big and mean.
> 
> Perhaps one of the marvels of Rowling's books is that, like Tolkien, there are enough characters for all points of view to find one to latch onto.



That is kind of what I was thinking, too. I was a fat kid, but I don't think I would have identified with Dudley at all. In the early books he's just a complete jag with no redeeming qualities at all. If anything, I would have identified with Neville who was also pudgy, but sweet and shy and underestimates his own capabilities at first.


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