In writing about Hermione Granger a few days ago, I got to thinking about the role of Exceptional Women in some of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy series.
Some history: The term “Exceptional Woman” refers to a woman, real or fictional, who is the best and awesomest at what she does, but she’s still the only woman who’s allowed to play the game reserved for boys. The first Exceptional Woman I took note of was Tatum O’Neal’s character from the original The Bad News Bears – the best player on the team, but still the only girl on the team. Princess Leia from Star Wars and Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings are great examples of Exceptional Women. Leia in particular stands out: she’s a good fighter and frequently the smartest person in the room. Leia’s great…and the only female character of note in the original Star Wars trilogy. Women are either AWESOME or nonexistent, and only men get to be average.
I feel similarly about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As much as I love the show (and I love it a LOT, especially because it has several well-developed female characters instead of one Exceptional Woman), I always felt bothered that Buffy was supernaturally strong, Willow was the brainy genius, and only Xander was allowed to be average. For once, I would like to see a trio where the girl took the Xander role – average fighter, average intelligence, but quick-witted and brave.
Anyway, I used to think that Hermione embodied the Exceptional Woman of the Harry Potter series: the smartest kid in the series who always got out of a scrape. Upon further reflection, however, I think that if any female character in the Harry Potter earns the Exceptional Woman title, it’s Ginny Weasley. Ginny fits the Exceptional Woman role in many ways, and I think her “exceptionality” is the reason I could never warm up to her when I instantly adored Hermione and Luna Lovegood.
Ginny doesn’t have much of a personality in the first four books of the Harry Potter series. She’s just Ron’s younger sister who has a hopeless crush on Famous Harry Potter. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, however, J.K. Rowling began rounding out Ginny, giving her qualities we had never seen before.
Suddenly, Ginny comes across as a pretty tough, capable young woman. She’s the only character who can break Harry from his self-pitying Wizard Angst. She capably takes over his role of Seeker when he’s kicked off the team, but acknowledges that she’s not as good as Harry. She refuses to be dominated by any of her older brothers. She seems to lose the hero worship of Harry, but still cares about him and offers a sympathetic ear when he needs to talk to someone.
This was all good character development, and yet, Ginny bothered me. I wanted to like her, but I thought Rowling was laying her on a little too thick. Of course her Bat-Bogey Hex is powerful enough that even Fred and George fear it. Of course she manages two spectacular saves at the end of the Quidditch matches. Of course she does such a perfect imitation of Umbridge that the other characters momentarily mistake her for Umbridge.
I tried to brush off these feelings and told myself that I was being nitpicky. I wanted to feel happy that Rowling was turning Ginny into a stronger character, and not annoyed that she suddenly became stronger out of nowhere and we, as the readers, never got to see a gradual development. After all, we were seeing Ginny from Harry’s point of view, and it made sense that Harry would be too preoccupied to notice Ginny’s gradual development. In typical teenage boy fashion, of course it would take a big obvious moment to make him wake up and smell the hottie.
But then I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and my annoyance with Ginny turned to actual dislike. Ginny became completely Exceptional and I was smacked over the head with her Awesomeness in every chapter.
Ginny’s Bat-Bogey Hex is so renowned that Slughorn invites her to the Slug Club! She’s the only one who stands up for poor picked-on Luna! She’s suddenly the BEST Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even better than Katie Bell, who had been playing on the team for six years! She’s so pretty that even the racist Slytherin boys think she’s hot! And best yet, one of the reasons Harry is so attracted to her is because she doesn’t get all girly and cry when she’s upset!
As you might expect, that last part is the part that really chaps my hide. Of course Harry’s girlfriend is perfect for him because she doesn’t ever plague him with her girly emotions and junk. I know I’m supposed to be moved and impressed when Ginny doesn’t shed tears as Harry breaks up with her, but I’m much more moved by Ron holding a crying Hermione as his own tears drip down his nose. (Awwwwwwwww. RON AND HERMIONE FOREVER!)
I also didn’t like that Ginny was obviously flawed but was never, ever called out for it. I don’t care that Ginny thought Ron’s crush on Fleur was stupid. That doesn’t give her a right to trip him so he falls flat on his face. Ron and Ginny are both occasionally mean to each other in the sixth book, but only Ron is ever called out on his behavior. (In case my meaning isn’t clear, my criticism isn’t that Ron is reprimanded for his jerkitude, but that Ginny isn’t.)
I know I hit my absolute limit with Ginny after she says about Fleur, “I guess I’m going to have to accept that [Bill’s] really going to marry her.” Oh, thanks, Ginny. How fucking gracious of you to “accept” that your brother is going to marry a woman who loves him. She doesn’t say, “Wow, I guess I misjudged Fleur,” just that she’ll have to deal with the fact that Fleur is marrying Bill. Like she expects a medal or something. Shut up, Ginny.
And that’s why I never warmed up to her. Hermione may be brilliant, but she shows jealousy and doesn’t handle her love life perfectly. She’s allowed to be wrong several times in the series – wrong in her initial method of freeing the house-elves, wrong about the Deathly Hallows – without the reader negatively judging her overall worth as a character or person. Luna, wise and insightful in her own way, is still wrong about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Ginny is…well…she’s just awesome! THE END.
When I finished Half-Blood Prince for the first time (and got over my initial reaction of “OMG SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE WTF WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOOOOOOK?!”), I went online and looked for other people who had the same initial impressions of Ginny. I didn’t like that I had a negative reaction to a female character that was meant to be strong and independent. I was hoping to find others who shared my opinion so I would feel less bad about that opinion.
Instead, to my horror, I discovered rants that were pages in length about the horrible WHORE that was Ginny Weasley because she dated Michael Corner and Dean Thomas before she dated Harry.
I was aghast. Ginny’s dating around, and her completely unapologetic attitude about dating, was one of the few things I liked about her. I liked that Rowling didn’t feel the need to keep Ginny “pure” before she ended up with Harry. I liked that Ginny dated boys that interested her and broke up with them when she found that they were no longer compatible with her. I liked that she told Ron to STFU when he implied that she would give herself a bad reputation. I especially liked that she boldly kissed Harry on his birthday “like she’d never kissed him before.” I fully believe she and Harry would’ve had special birthday sex if Ron hadn’t walked in on them. (Oh, Ron. What an epic cockblock.)
So, instead of finding common ground with like-minded folks who shared my irritation with this Exceptional Woman, I found a bunch of people who hated Ginny for no good reason. Ginny dated three boys in the same year? GOOD FOR HER.
Finding the “Ginny Weasley is a slut” comments made me sad and bitter. I shied away from criticizing Ginny, not wanting to be seen as one of THOSE people. But I was reading this message board one day and stumbled on what I thought was a perfect summary of my Ginny issues:
“I thought Ginny’s character development was coming along nicely in OotP and then in HBP, she became this aggravating brat whose praises were sung by all, even the bad guy Slytherins and rampaging Death Eaters. Was all that necessary for her to be an “acceptable” girlfriend for Harry? It almost feels like JKR had it plotted out long ago in the early stages of HP that Harry would get to date the prettiest, sportiest, feistiest girl at Hogwarts as a “reward” for all his troubles, and when the time came for JKR to actually write HBP, she would so make the characters fit into the roles she had slotted for them way back when, even if the Ginny she’d actually written in Books 1-5 had developed into a somewhat different character than the one envisioned in the original outline. “
That’s it. That’s exactly it. Ginny wasn’t written as the “prettiest, feistiest, sportiest girl at Hogwarts” because Rowling wanted to write a strong female character. It wasn’t about giving Ginny character development for her own sake. It was about writing the Perfect Girl For Harry.
And, really, there’s nothing wrong with that. Ginny’s characterization is never going to be as important as Harry’s. He’s the protagonist. But with all of Ginny’s sportiness and feistiness and being Harry’s Perfect Girl all over the place, we’re missing her motivation. What drives Ginny? What makes her tick? What are her goals and dreams? Why does she want Harry so badly? What attracts her to him other than his reputation as the famous Boy Who Lived?
I still don’t know the answer to those questions. I know what motivates Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I know what motivates Neville and Luna. I know the experiences in their lives that drive them to their actions. What motivates Ginny other than the outside motivation to make her Harry’s Perfect Girl?
Who knows? We only get brief glimpses. My favorite Ginny moment is when she forcefully reminds Harry that hey, she was actually possessed by Voldemort once and he should get his head out of his ass (my words, not hers). I also liked the brief moment of fear she shows when she finds out that Harry is doing something “a book told him to do.”
Is this what motivates Ginny? Did she become so incredibly feisty! and sporty! and independent!!! because she still remembers the trauma from being possessed by Voldemort? Did she so loathe feeling helpless that she swore to never show any weakness or vulnerability again?
I find that story a hell of a lot more interesting than “Ginny is perfect because Harry deserves a perfect girl.” I would’ve liked to see more of that story and less of the gratuitous, “By the way, did we mention that Ginny’s hot and a good athlete and FEISTY!?!” mentions in every chapter.
Alas, we didn’t get that. And while I adore the Harry Potter series and many of the characters (male and female) in the story, I’ll never be able to truly appreciate Ginny because her author tried too hard to make me love her.
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been waiting for this and yes to ron and hermione forever. I must say while I dislike ginny, I hate that many of the reasons are because she’s a slut. although I do think her reason for breaking up with dean was an odd one, but that’s just me.
I think my main issues with her is that she’s given little character development. like one minute she is this shy girl and the next she’s great at everything. wonderful at quiddich, all the boys love her, she’s smart and feisty. and okay I’ll admit another thing that made me dislike her is when she yelled at Hermione in the 6th book. I mean hermione can be pushy, but if I recall, the reason ginny yelled at hermione was not a very good one. I’ll have to re read the 6th book again, but I remember specifically not liking that moment. I happen to be a huge hermione fan.
I do like that she called out ron for basically insinuating she was a slut, but I don’t think I can ever warm up to ginny even after re reading the books 10 times. I still think she’s one of the weakest characters in the books.
and okay I’ll admit another thing that made me dislike her is when she yelled at Hermione in the 6th book. I mean hermione can be pushy, but if I recall, the reason ginny yelled at hermione was not a very good one.
Hermione and Harry were having an argument about the Half-Blood Prince’s textbook right after Harry almost accidentally killed Draco using the Sectumsempra curse. Hermione thought Harry should get rid of the book, Harry disagreed, and Hermione made a comment about Harry getting an undeserved reputation for being great at Potions. Ginny then yelled at Hermione for coming down too hard on Harry.
I saw both Hermione and Harry’s points on the issue. Hermione was right that Sectumsempra was a bad curse, but if it hadn’t been for the book, Harry wouldn’t have won the Felix Felicis that led him to learning about Horcruxes. I think Ginny butting in was just supposed to be another “See? She’s awesome and perfect for Harry!” moment.
Oh, and I think she broke up with Dean because he was too protective of her and she was more independent than that. So naturally she loves Harry, he of the “saving-people thing.”
IDK, I took that more as the first evidence that she was still carrying a torch for him than as evidence that Harry was right and therefor naturally Ginny ought to prove her awesomeness by agreeing with him.
Well, that’s actually another problem I have. WHY is she carrying a torch for him? In the end of HBP she told Harry that she had never gotten over him since the time she first started crushing on him, and why, exactly, did she start crushing on him? Because he was famous. I still don’t know why she loves Harry. I know why he loves her, because Rowling tailor-made her personality to perfectly suit him, but I still don’t know why she loves him. I would’ve much, much preferred to hear Ginny say that she had gotten over him several years ago, but fell for him for real when she got to know him better.
Well, why do Ron and Hermione love him? Why does Hagrid, or Mrs. Weasley, or Sirius?
Honestly, I think a lot of it is down to whether or not you buy Ginny’s character development as natural. I did, but if it’s something that strikes the reader as artificial–if she reads as an idol created for Harry’s benefit rather than a character in her own right–the romance just isn’t going to work, because it’s inevitably one-sided; only one of the characters is fully developed.
I read it as her having a crush, getting to know her crush a bit better and learning about a few of his warts, becoming friends without ever really losing that little bit of a crush, and then eventually getting together.
Sirius loves him because he’s James and Lily’s son. Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid are big parental types who pretty much love all kids unless the kids give them a reason not to *cough* Draco *cough.* Ron loves him because he and Harry each filled one of the other’s needs when they met each other – Harry needed someone who talked to him like a normal person and not the Famous Harry Potter, and Ron needed someone who wasn’t going to compare him to one of his brothers. And Hermione loves him because “there are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them” (still one of my favorite lines from the series).
But you’re right – it works if you buy Ginny’s characterization and it doesn’t work if you don’t, and I just don’t. Even when people comment here about Ginny’s characterization, they preface it by saying, “I always assumed…” We shouldn’t have to assume. We shouldn’t have to do Rowling’s work for her. We don’t have to assume that Ron feels shitty about his place in the family because she puts it in the text. Ginny’s growth, however, largely takes place off the page, and I don’t think it’s earned.
I really like Ginny because she is actually more ‘normal’ then any of the other girls. Hermione is smarter then anyone else, Luna is really strange (though I love her), and Cho is portrayed as an over the top baby. Well when Ginny is portrayed as being awesome as you put it its because we see what Harry see’s but I think its really good that she fights with Ron etc. cos that’s what normal people do and yes people don’t always get the blame for doing something wrong, and yes sometimes people do shout for no reason when someone shouts at the guy they fancy. You don’t see her development because Harry is to interested in Cho for two years before Ginny comes into his spectrum (shall we say) all in all I think basically Ginny is strong and independent (as any girl would be with six brothers) and I think that people are prejudiced about her because they don’t think that anyone is worthy of the love of harry potter. I think that’s its great that Harry is happy with Ginny and that Ginny is basically my favourite character in the whole series!
Ginny is that way because she has to defend herself. Many people do it in many ways, and that is just Ginny’s way of doing things. Also the fact that many people call her “hot” is also a weakness shown when she dates so many boys. You see, so many of her strengths are also weakness’s. I think Ginny double sidedness is a very clever move.
Ginny is definitely caught up in boy troubles, witch may be why she tripped Ron. She probably felt bitter towards Ron for talking to Fred and George
Ginny isnt coldly cruel, or impossibly perfect, she just act that way to stay on top of her troubles. She didn’t cry when Harry left her because she probably trains herself not to. And she stole the sword of griffindor because she needs to feel in control of something, and acting rash comes naturally to her.
Please excuse any grammar, or spelling mistakes that I have made. And don’t think that I am contradicting you. Well maybe I am, but not in a pushy way. Just please take my ideas and facter them into your image of Ginny. Thanks
I don’t know if I agree. I’ve always assumed that Ginny’s transformation from ordinary to extraordinary was due to two factors. 1. She’s a Wesley and every Wesley is pretty extraordinary. Fred and George are amazing trouble-makers and start their own very successful business at 17. Bill and Charlie both have amazing careers and Bill gets the beautiful girl. Percy also is amazing- head boy, goes into government at a young age. Ron is the most ordinary and he’s Harry’s BFF and is pretty brave and cool. Of course Ginny’s going to be amazing- she’s got the genes and the family background. 2. Ginny underwent a confidence boost when she went through puberty. A lot can be inferred from that. Girls who were very awkward in middle school tend to change dramatically when their body stops being so wonky. I always assumed that her amazing genes kicked in, she got confident and so she became pretty extraordinary through those two things. No, we don’t see it but I could believe it.
Well, but that’s exactly my point. All of that has to be assumed because it’s not explicitly on the page. I need more than just “She’s a Weasley, and girls grow up through puberty” to go on.
I understand all of Ginny’s family members (except Charlie, who we rarely see) more than I understand her. I know what makes Arthur and Molly tick and what’s important to them. I understand Bill’s, Percy’s, Fred’s, George’s, and Ron’s motivations and dreams and needs more than I understand Ginny’s. Percy wasn’t nearly as important to the story or to Harry as Ginny was, and I still think I know him and understand him more than I know or understand Ginny. I understand his place in the family, why he wants what he wants, and what made him change. I don’t understand what made Ginny change except that one day she was a shy girl, and the next day she was awesome.
A writer doesn’t have to make everything explicit for the reader, and a writer should respect a reader’s intelligence and ability to draw conclusions, but there’s a difference between having to infer and having to assume/make stuff up, and I think Ginny’s characterization fell into the latter category.
I don’t know; I think I’m one of the only people I know who actually liked Ginny and enjoyed her character development–although that very well could have been that I was just mentally supplying the rationale for her behavior; I sort of assumed that because of her experience with the diary she’s become very touchy about letting herself be vulnerable, and since she’s fifteen (and under a lot of stress for other reasons) that comes out as abrasive and unkind.
I didn’t mind the antagonistic attitude toward Fleur, actually; it seemed reasonable to me that the youngest girl, who’s probably been a bit spoiled by all those older brothers, might not be delighted by her brother’s marriage, especially to a woman she doesn’t know and doesn’t seem to have much in common with. I don’t think we’re meant to take this as good behavior on her part, but it seems fairly understandable.
Ginny reminds me a lot of Fred and George, TBH. Funny, athletic and outgoing–as well as hot-headed and occasionally very insensitive. I can definitely see why people wouldn’t like her as a character, but I don’t think we’re meant to ignore her character flaws. I mean, Harry does, but he’s a fairly unreliable narrator under the best circumstances.
…although I may just be defensive because of the fairly appalling way she gets treated in some of the discussions I’ve seen.
I don’t think we’re meant to take this as good behavior on her part, but it seems fairly understandable.
I don’t think we’re meant to take her initial behavior as good, but to me, she really comes across as “I have now maturely accepted my future sister-in-law, now give me a cookie,” during that conversation.
but I don’t think we’re meant to ignore her character flaws.
Maybe not, but no other character ever calls her out on being a brat. If anyone dislikes Ginny, it’s because the person is jealous of her looks, or resents her for being part of a blood traitor family. Harry and Ron and Hermione all have characters (often each other) who regularly call each other out on their shit, and in a book where all three of them had some of their lowest, most immature moments of the series, no one ever tells Ginny that she’s being rather rude.
That kind of behavior is exemplified when she trips Ron and he falls flat on his face. So unnecessarily mean – especially considering that, as Ron is both older and male, there’s no way he can retaliate without getting into trouble. For all her defensiveness about being vulnerable (and I do think you’re onto something there), she’s certainly willing to use those cultural norms to her advantage when she wants to.
Admittedly, I’m a big fan of Ron and his position in the family is unenviable. The youngest son but not the youngest child, he gets teased by the twins from above him and teased by Ginny from below. She can (rightly) yell in his face when he treats her unfairly, but if she treats him unfairly he can’t do anything about it.
…although I may just be defensive because of the fairly appalling way she gets treated in some of the discussions I’ve seen.
Ugh, I know. Legitimate criticism I can take, but straight up hating on a character like that is just gross.
I do see your point about people calling her out on her behavior. I think Rowling kind of wrote herself into a corner with that, less because I don’t buy Ginny’s character development (to a very great degree, I do), but because the books are told so narrowly from Harry’s POV and Ginny isn’t really in his circle of friends until much later.
It would have been nice to have Luna give her a bit of a talking-to, for example. It wouldn’t occur to Harry, she wouldn’t listen to Ron, and Hermione spends enough time talking down the boys, but Luna was well-placed for it. Or possibly Neville…
Yeah, Luna was probably the best person to do that, though she probably wouldn’t do it as directly as Ginny confronted Ron. I can see Luna mentioning it casually the same way she commented about Ron, “He says very funny things, but he can be unkind.” I think Ginny would probably get defensive if confronted directly, but a comment like that from Luna would probably bring her up short.
There are a few people who Ginny would listen to if they gave her a talking to, Bill being one of them or her father. She’d probably listen to Harry as well.
I don’t know, I think in general not even the trio get called out on their shit much to be honest. Ron’s an ass to Ginny various times during the series and no one calls him out on it. Like when he mocks her crush on Harry as she’s rescued from the chamber. Or when he tells her to get lost on the train in PoA. And I won’t say Ron can’t do anything about it if she treats him unfairly, he tried hexing her during their infamous argument in HBP. Molly on the other hand tells Ginny to stop calling Fleur names. Then, no one calls Luna on her blatant rudeness like when she makes that comment about Ron – instead it’s presented as her being straight forwardly honest or something. The twins are obnoxious to many people but no one says anything. Harry himself can be a brat and again …. not much is said. No one calls Hermione out on her vindictive streak or how she used a guy just to get Ron’s attention. Yes Ginny tells Hermione to shut up in HBP when Hermione is going “I told you so” about the book and trying to use Quidditch to bring Ginny onto her side while insulting both Ron and Ginny in the process but no one once reprimands her for the canaries or the streak on Marietta’s face. And no one even says anything to her when she tells Ron Ginny’s secret of dating Micheal but then fandom is outraged when Ginny mentions that both Harry/Cho and Viktor/Hermione kissed because … I don’t know they seem to think she’s betraying a confidence when I think she was just sating facts. How did she know Harry and Cho kissed? Who told her? No where in the series does it indicate that anyone but Harry thought Ron and Hermione liked each other.
Also, since it was mentioned – can you please tell me what you feel are Neville and Luna’s motivations? Because for the life of me I can’t see them and as characters I just don’t like them much but would like to. Neville’s development is much like Ginny’s – you see patches and so you get a sense with him but with Luna I have a hard time feeling her character as I find her to be a vastly overrated one dimensional character who has one nice conversation with Harry in OoTP but then is just comic relief who I could really have done without.
I think Neville is motivated by a need to live up to the legacy of his parents, particularly his father, and held back by the conviction that he’ll never be good enough. (Of course, he develops over the course of the series). I think Luna is motivated by a desire to acquire knowledge, much like Hermione – it’s just that her definition of knowledge and truth is much, much different from Hermione’s.
Thanks for the reply. I can somewhat see where you feel that’s Neville’s motivation but again he doesn’t spend much time with the trio and we see him in patches so I still don’t feel him as a real character. And with Luna, I don’t really agree actually. No where in the books that I can remember, does she actually seem like she wants knowledge to me. Like I said, she’s never felt real even though strangely her childishness and love for animals reminds me of Hagrid, whom I love. I can’t tell what she wants and why she’d go paint a mural of the trio’s faces when they practically ignore her and aren’t the nicest to her and she can be quite rude herself. I just don’t feel her come across live though I do like the idea of someone who marches to her own tune and doesn’t care what others think but she just says one liners here or there. But thank you, it was interesting to see what you thought her motivations are.
Luna strikes me as raised by an eccentric father without much contact with others- particularly her own age. She doesn’t seem to realize what she says is rude, or really know how to interact with people. Even though she starts school at 11, it’s hard to catch up with those who’ve been socialized with other kids their whole lives. I imagine everyone had been teasing her from the moment she stepped on the train, and she doesn’t seem to have any friends until she’s 15 or so. Societal rules are very difficult to learn, as anyone who doesn’t pick them up naturally can attest, especially when you’re trying to learn them from 11-17 year olds, a group that has a tendency to be merciless with those who don’t fit in.
I also think we have different definitions of rude, I don’t consider “He says very funny things, but he can be unkind.” to be rude- she isn’t saying he’s cruel, but Ron can be unkind at times (everyone can). Unless Ron is Mother Theresa, it’s not inaccurate to say someone can be unkind.
Yeah, I think Lady T’s points are valid, but I still have a
massive crushsoft spot for book!Ginny. And she’s certainly an ass about Fleur, but I have a big brother who I think is the greatest thing out, and if he married a woman I disliked I would be a total ass about it too.Heh. I did find Fleur to be pretty annoying until the end of the book, actually, so I was on Ginny’s side for awhile. But when Fleur said, “What do I care what he looks like? I am good-looking enough for the both of us, I think!” she totally won me over.
I’m not so much offended that Ginny didn’t warm up to Fleur. Otherwise, Fleur would’ve been just another character that everyone loved for no reason, other than the fact that she’s flawlessly beautiful and has a French accent. Even though everyone seems to like Ginny, it’d be a little ridiculous to have TWO underdeveloped characters that everyone likes for seemingly no good reason.
I definitely agree that Ginny could’ve used an in-world character to call her out when she was behaving badly, and Luna would have served that role perfectly.
However, I don’t agree that Ginny has no motivation for fancying Harry. In fact, I’m pretty sure she explicitly explains that she’s always liked him due to his kind heart and bravery? I can’t remember the exact quote and I’m at work so I don’t have the book to look at (lol!) but it’s at the end of the 6th book when they split up (and yes, Harry liking her because she doesn’t cry is TOTALLY barftastic. Yergh. I agree about that).
I don’t think that Ginny is the exceptional woman though. She fits the title in a lot of ways, it’s true, but she actually isn’t perfect at everything (as you have pointed out) and can be cruel and mean at times. In fact, she can be quite bullish and childish in ways that I think are very similar to Ron. There was a serious lack of in-world calling out of her bad behaviour, yes, but I always think that the exceptional woman has to be exceptional in all aspects: to the in-world characters and to the audience. And it’s pretty clear that the audience is well aware of Ginny’s flaws. So either she’s a failed exceptional woman (i.e. Rowling didn’t think the audience would view these actions as flaws) or she’s a full character, good at a number of things, but she just didn’t get called out for her bad behaviour by any of the in-world characters. I tend to lean toward the latter.
But then again, I really like Ginny. Her ultimate takedown of Ron for the slutshaming made her a real role model to teenage-me. Plus, she goes on to head a sports team and be a journalist! Also things that are dear to my heart 🙂
In fact, I’m pretty sure she explicitly explains that she’s always liked him due to his kind heart and bravery?
You’re right, and I totally forgot about that as I was writing this. She says she knows he’ll never be happy unless he’s hunting down Voldemort, and that’s probably why she likes him so much. I’ve got to give her props there.
So either she’s a failed exceptional woman (i.e. Rowling didn’t think the audience would view these actions as flaws) or she’s a full character, good at a number of things, but she just didn’t get called out for her bad behaviour by any of the in-world characters.
It’s hard to say. I think we really are supposed to think that her tripping Ron is so funny, and that her impersonation of Fleur is hilarious (it’s described as being a very good impersonation, at least), and that her comment about Ron’s kissing skills as he macks on Lavender is so witty. (I totally think she has a right to make fun of him after what he said to her, but I’m bothered that she’s too busy being witty to be a good friend to Hermione, who’s obviously devastated.)
But I could be wrong. Maybe we are meant to see them as flaws, and an opportunity never comes up in an organic way for a character to say, “Ginny? Stop being mean.” I’m reconsidering my stance on this issue given the comments of this nature.
I never got on with Ginny: always felt as though she was too elastic so JK could stretch her to fill whatever gaps she needed to. She ends up being fleshed out specifically to be Harry’s girlfriend rather than being developed as a character in her own right, which to my mind makes her a bit tepid: there’s nothing particularly individual about her and she’s more like an overview of what The Girl For The Boy Who Lived should be like. She ticks all the boxes without ever fully coming alive. For me, like you, the fact that she embarked on her own love life pre-Harry was a positive. But it was one of only a few.
Really good post, by the way – one of the few worth reading since the final film came out and it all got a bit too hysterical for my liking!
she’s more like an overview of what The Girl For The Boy Who Lived should be like. She ticks all the boxes without ever fully coming alive.
Yes, exactly. The other major characters come alive for me but the Harry/Ginny romance and Ginny’s development just seemed too calculated, like, “Harry deserves an awesome girl and thus Ginny will be that girl.” By the end of Order of the Phoenix, I was really hoping Harry would end up with Luna. I was very moved by the scene where she makes him feel better about Sirius, and I felt like I knew and understood Luna after one book while I still didn’t get who Ginny was after five books.
And thanks! I did like the final movie for the most part but I didn’t feel compelled to write a review about it here.
I don’t know. I always like Ginny alright. She wasn’t a favorite character, but mostly because she wasn’t a main character. Like someone said earlier, the reason we don’t notice her until book 5 is because Harry doesn’t really notice her until book 5, and it’s all from his point of view.
I do think that her being His Perfect Girl has a few explanations, too. I’m not saying that they’re perfect explanations, but I think they make some sense.
You see, you tend to like people who a, have the same interests as you and, b, are similar to the most important influences in your life (NOT always, but mostly.) For Harry, the first influence in the wizarding world for him is Ron and the Weasleys. Ron and the Weasleys continue to be an enormous good influence for the rest of his life. Ginny didn’t stray too far from the pack; she’s actually an awful lot like her brothers nearest in age. It would make sense that Harry was attracted to someone like him, especially if it just so happened to mean he’d be related to his best friend’s family.
Now, making Ginny the pretiest girl mentioned without veela blood… I don’t know how I feel about that. It wasn’t necessary, the Weasleys weren’t known for their good looks. But I guess, as a reader, I’m willing to overlook a few things with the thought of, “It’s plausible.” It might not’ve been the best thing for the situation, but it could reasonably happen.
As for Ginny not getting called out on her behaviour… I think it would’ve done her good, and been a good thing for the reader, but I can see why most characters wouldn’t do it. Harry wouldn’t because by the time he noticed her/she became like this, he was well on his way to crush-land. That tends to fade out faults. Her family was probably trained not to be mean to Ginny, including calling her out for being mean. It’s clearly stated that Molly always wanted a daughter, I have no doubt Ginny was spoiled as far as a Weasley could be. Hermione could’ve, but was usually too busy calling out the boys or being extremely clever.
And just by the way, talking about the reader noticing Ginny’s faults, I always thought she was supposed to come across as sarcastic and a little abrasive, not super witty or anything. Even her impressions were clearly making fun of the person, therefore being abrasive.
But, when all’s said and done, I like Ginny’s feisty attitude. It didn’t make her the nicest, but it made her interesting. (To me.) And I always thought it made her more of a Weasley.
Yeah, I understand why Ginny’s characterization works for people. I just felt too much of the author’s presence in books 5 and 6. Very much “I see what you’re doing here, Rowling.” I get taken out of the story.
I do, however, think her characterization in book seven works. We don’t see her as much, but she seems more real to me.
Thank you for putting this into words. I’ve never been a fan of Ginny–I just couldn’t get her–and now I know why. I have never been able to understand what Harry saw in her. She seems so shallow and lifeless to me. Glad to know I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Again, I feel like many of us wanted for Ginny to be a perfect addition to the group, but the bottom line is that she’s Ron’s kid sister – the only girl of the Weasley clan and undoubtedly spoiled. It wasn’t until MUCH later in my life (early 20’s at least) that I my friends and I became close to my younger sibling. It was clear to me that Ginny had to have a few traits that marked her as being younger and therefore a bit more immature than the rest of the group.
There were a few things of note that gave a strong basis to Ginny’s character development. Like in her first year, when she started to confide in Tom Riddle’s diary, writing about how her brothers teased her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books, and how she thought that Harry would never like her. She poured her heart out to the diary and told Tom’s memory all about Harry’s story. Doing something like that, and almost dying for it can be a pretty traumatizing experience, but it was also a bonding experience because Harry did, in fact, save her life. If you have a crush on someone and they do something that drastic, that’s definitely a crush-for-life type situation.
Aware of her interest in Harry, Hermione once advised Ginny to relax around him more and show him what she was really like, since she could barely talk if he was in the same room as her (which definitely didn’t help her “shy” persona). She even suggested that Ginny start going out with other people. Although she was still shy around Harry, who was also staying at the Burrow, Ginny took Hermione’s advice and was much more relaxed and spent time with him. This was definitely the beginning of Ginny’s transformation from shy to spunky.
Also, her “all of the sudden” becoming an awesome Quidditch player had MUCH to do with the fact that she broke into her brother’s shed as a little girl and practiced flying unbeknownst to the family – we can’t forget that little detail. If it weren’t important, it wouldn’t have been mentioned in the book.
When Ginny learned that Harry had convinced himself that he had been possessed by Lord Voldemort and attacked her father, Ginny railed on him for not seeking advice from the one person who had definitely been possessed by the Dark Lord. She quieted his fears by relaying her experiences to him and admitted that she had never truly gotten over it. This happened during the fifth book, therefore providing another bond between OLDER Ginny and Harry.
During a quidditch match in Harry’s 6th year, Cormac McLaggen took one of the Beater’s bats and pelted a bludger directly at Harry. Harry was knocked unconscious and suffered a fractured skull. Dean, who had been playing as reserve Chaser in place of Katie Bell, laughed about the incident, causing him and Ginny to have a fight. Ginny subsequently visited Harry in the hospital wing. She had already felt distant from Dean upon return from Christmas break, and after that she was just looking for an excuse to end the unstable relationship – even if the excuse was a stupid one.
It’s really difficult to get a feel for why Harry chooses the women that he does. He had no real reason for liking Cho Chang, he just did. But with all that I mentioned above, and with the person that Ginny became once she let her guard down, it’s easy to see why Harry became so enticed with her. She was brutally honest, a bit pretentious, with a flare for playing a mean game of quidditch – yet feisty, red headed, bubbly, lovable, caring, and kindhearted with a hint of shyness… now, what characters do those traits constitute? *cough* James and Lily Potter *cough*. Harry had no choice but to love her, how could he not?
You really don’t need to summarize the books for me. I know what happened in the books. I read them.
…That sounds really rude, and I promise I don’t mean to be, but I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. Most of this comment doesn’t really contradict what I said. It’s just a long summary of the books from Ginny’s point of view. What point are you trying to prove?
Also, her “all of the sudden” becoming an awesome Quidditch player had MUCH to do with the fact that she broke into her brother’s shed as a little girl and practiced flying unbeknownst to the family – we can’t forget that little detail. If it weren’t important, it wouldn’t have been mentioned in the book.
And my point is that this feistiness of Ginny, this spunkiness that inspires her to break into the shed and steal her brothers’ brooms to practice Quidditch, doesn’t jive at all with the Ginny the readers saw in books 1-4. J.K. Rowling and the other characters can TELL us that Ginny was really spunky this whole time and she was just shy because she crushed on Harry, but she did a poor job showing it. And that is the crux of my problem. A lot of Ginny’s development is TOLD to us, but not SHOWN. And that’s usually the opposite of what you’re supposed to do as a writer.
I guess my point is that there are plenty of indicators of why Ginny is Ginny, even if these indicators aren’t in depth, which can’t be said for a few of the other subcharacters in the story. There are many fundamental parts behind most of the characters that were left out, and that had to be inferred on the reader’s behalf, or had to be filled in with the imagination. Why is Luna strange? We can assume it’s because of her zaney father, or because of her mother’s bizarre death, but we don’t get a whole lot of insight into her quirky background, we just take it for what it is. And why does Neville spend a majority of the time being unsure of his capabilities and all of the sudden shine in the final book? Was it to avenge what happened to his folks, has he always been nervous and shell-shocked because he knows why they died? It’s never made clear, we’re just left to assume. I just think it’s unfair to pick on Ginny when one has to use just as much imagination to fill in her story as much as many other characters in the book.
As far is Ginny’s development not being SHOWN, it’s always been clear that J.K. was better at dialect than depicting action. She’s a great writer, I love her, I love the series, but bringing the reader into the scene of goings-on (other than what’s easy to get caught up in) has never been her strong point. Not just with Ginny, but with many other instances in the story as well.
And why does Neville spend a majority of the time being unsure of his capabilities and all of the sudden shine in the final book? Was it to avenge what happened to his folks, has he always been nervous and shell-shocked because he knows why they died?
First of all, they didn’t die. And I don’t think Neville’s development is comparable to Ginny’s. I bought Neville’s development every step of the way. It’s pretty clear in the first book that Neville was a clumsy, awkward child from the very beginning, and being compared unfavorably to his father only continued to decrease his confidence. And he doesn’t “all of a sudden” shine in the final book. Earlier books show that he discovers a great talent for Herbology, which helps his confidence, and his determination to improve increased when his parents’ attackers escaped from Azkaban.
Obviously your mileage may vary and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but I’m not “picking on” Ginny for the sake of picking on Ginny. Too much of her important development happens off of the page, which means I can never fully invest in her story or her character.
Oops, I meant tortured by the Cruciatus curse. But yeah, it can be inferred that his confidence is improved by his gift for Herbology, and it can also be inferred that his motivations increased after the Azkaban escape. But inferences to Ginny can be made too, and there were actual moments from the book where she admitted that she never really got over the whole Voldemort-possessing-her thing, which in turn led to her lack of vulnerability.
I’m not saying I totally disagree, I can see how it’s easier to invest in characters when they seem more lovable. Ginny’s abrasiveness is off-putting for many, but seeing past that, I’ve grown to love her. I feel like her development also had to be a little hastier, due to the fact that there wasn’t much room for her character when we were getting to know the main characters and the main group of friends in the beginning (like many said, it was told from Harry’s perspective and Ginny wasn’t too noticeable in the first books aside from her role in the Chamber of Secrets). Then again, I have somewhat of a personal attachment to her. I was painfully shy for most of my adolescent life and almost in the blink of an eye, I opened myself up and became a seemingly new person. Another inference, but I like to believe that Ginny was always that way deep down, and didn’t begin to blossom until the story was almost finished.
But we can’t forget, Pottermore is opening soon. J.K. has promised many juicy bits of backstory on the characters, and I assume it’s because she realized that she omitted (or missed completely) some important information. I’m looking forward to a little explanation.
I’m not saying I totally disagree, I can see how it’s easier to invest in characters when they seem more lovable.
That’s not what I’m arguing, though. I somewhat appreciate Ginny’s abrasiveness, and I definitely appreciate that Rowling didn’t have Harry end up with a perfect little princess with no flaws. My problem, as I’ve said several times in other comments on this post, is that she gets away with it when she shouldn’t.
I appreciate that Ginny’s development really worked for some people, and that’s great. It just didn’t work for me.
I realise this was posted a good while ago, but I came across it on Google and wanted to comment. I think you’ve done a really good job of analysing why Ginny doesn’t come across so well – it’s something that I’ve felt, but haven’t always been able to put into words.
I felt her characterisation changed very suddenly from the first four books to OotP, but I could accept that as her growing up and maturing; in fact I liked that she was developing into her own character – but I still always got the impression that Harry viewed her as his best friend’s little sister, and pretty much as a surrogate little sister.
What really frustrated me was when she abruptly shifted to ‘romantic interest’ in HBP. I never felt any romantic interest in her on Harry’s side (I mean, he doesn’t even register that she’s talking to him properly until Hermione points it out to him!) and it all seemed to come out of the blue. And suddenly Ginny’s development wasn’t for her own sake, but to her make her fit with Harry. And that just didn’t sit right with me.
I didn’t feel their relationship really resonated either. Other than her calling him out on the possession thing I never felt like there was any fully developed interaction between them, and I never understood what their relationship was founded on other than her longtime crush on The Boy Who Lived (and the boy who saved her life) and his suddenly realisation that Ginny is, in fact, hot.
Admittedly, for most of HBP and DH I was living in my little Harry/Luna bubble, hoping they’d end up together because I think they’d work really well. I adore the scene at the end of OotP where she comforts him after Sirius’ death, and all the little bits between them in HBP and DH.
And I do agree with you that one of the characters should have told Ginny off for being an unpleasant brat. Hermione lectures both Ron and Harry on their failings throughout the books so I don’t see why she wouldn’t say anything to Ginny, and I definitely think Luna would notice and make some sort of offhand remark as she did with Ron. Plus, personally, I don’t really care for the way Harry comes across; he’s willing to overlook Ginny being cruel to his friends because he’s lusting after her.
But, I am still equipped with my imagination. So when I read the epilogue I insert the name Luna instead of Ginny and pretend Harry came to his senses 😛
I’d argue against the Buffy example. Sure, Buffy and Willow were both super strong and “the best” in their fields. Even Faith could arguably be an “exceptional woman” on that show. But you also have Dawn who was teetering on “nothing special.” As well as Cordelia, who never even reached her full potential in Angel. Also Tara, Amy, Anya, etc. There were plenty of non-exceptional women in that show haha. I think it was pretty evenly matched in the way of average VS exceptional. Because the men had Angel and Spike and Riley, but also still had Xander and Andrew and Wesley.
I think it’s very much a case of YMMV. I think after the trio and some of the other main players, Ginny and Neville have some of the most development. Luna, Draco, the twins have like none whatsoever or very, very little. Yet strangely, people seem to love them and vastly compensate for their lack of development.
I don’t think Ginny’s that well-developed. You do. But you don’t see me trying to dismiss your opinion as “vastly overcompensating for her lack of development,” so I’d appreciate the same courtesy in return.
All the Weasley boys get a lot of female attention and a few of them are called good looking. Hermione gets a lot of male attention towards the end and is also called pretty a few times. I don’t get why it is a bad thing or a stretch for Ginny to be good looking? And I’m just thankful, JKR didn’t make Ginny draw a creepy painting of people that don’t really interact much with her on her wall in a way to forcefully say – this girl is endearing, love her please.
It’s fine that people think she’s good-looking. I just roll my eyes when she’s a mostly off-the-page character for the whole series and then all of a sudden people can’t stop talking about how pretty she is. I don’t need to know that even the Slytherins think she’s hot.
Thank you for posting this! Ginny frustrated me as a character once she was spotted by Harry’s rose-tinted gaze. The shy, vulnerable girl we were introduced to as readers from the very beginning who harbored a crush for the boy-who-lived is someone young girls can relate to–comparable to my little cousin who’s obsessed with Justin Beiber, I’m sure if she ever met him her jaw would resemble a guppy under water–soundless and awe-struck.
The confident, sassy, athletic babe we meet in the sixth book, however seems like an uncharacteristic jump from the previous girl. She didn’t bloom like a delicate flower into the woman of harry’s dreams, she freakin burst, slapping readers in the face with “look how great Ginny is” from Harry’s one-sided teenage boy perspective. Frankly, she was also kind of a snob about it too, instead of being uncertain about her suddenly hott persona, she relished in it, skipping around Hogwarts like she owned it!
…Okay she actually didn’t do that, but speaking as someone who used to be shy, when guys started giving me attention in high school I wasn’t suddenly super-confident or spunky, charming everyone with my wits and demeanor. I was awkward, fumbling over myself a bit and had to grow into who I was becoming. I would have much preferred to see Ginny in this light, because I think that story is much more relatable than the ugly duckling (replace ugly with shy) who suddenly became a swan and got everyone’s attention and admiration. She should have become a goose, not quite the perfect swan but better than a duck. Okay I don’t know where I’m going with this metaphor.
Anyway, I think you perfectly captured why Ginny just doesn’t work as a character–we never learn her motivations (I really liked your idea about how being possessed by Voldemort could have been a motivator, too bad we’ll never know) nor did we witness her gradual character development. All we know is what we’re told: that she’s a skilled witch not only with spells, but with quidditch, and she’s so kind hearted being nice to loony luna, and everyone thinks she’s megafoxyawesomehot, and she’s not a stupid emotional girly-girl who cries. She’s so perfect for Harry and we should just be happy he found someone so swell! And look now he can actually be part of the Weasley family! Convenient!
I also have to add that I really don’t like how she’s never reprimanded for being an a-hole. The part when she called Hermione, the girl who has only ever been supportive of Ginny and Harry’s relationship and for the most part been a genuine friend, out for being concerned with the potion’s book and insulted her about not understanding quidditch made me want to slap her. She’s got the same jerkish behavior Ron sometimes demonstrates but he’s been repeatedly reprimanded for it which has brought him down a few notches and made him more human, whereas Ginny remains on her shiny pedestal. She’s not quite a mary-sue Bella Swan type princess, but she certainly isn’t someone I am going to admire nor completely accept as a well-rounded character. I’m glad she was not able to invade the golden trio, even if she did marry Harry. In my eyes and I hope many of the fan’s eyes, it will always be Harry, Ron and Hermione, until the very end.
megafoxyawesomehot
Win.
I agree with what you said about Ginny and the trio by the series’ end. At the end of HBP I was getting very worried that the Trio was going to become a foursome. Ginny’s relative lack of page-time in Deathly Hallows made me like her a little more.
It would have been hard for Rowling to develop a character off screen so much.
This is just an idea:
After Ginny’s traumatic experience with Voldemort – where she poured her heart out to this thing, that she trusted more than anything in the world that turned out to be the arch enemy of the dude she had a crush on (see “His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad” and file it under first humiliation) and the most evil wizard to ever have lived, Ginny feared showing her emotions. That’s why she didn’t cry when she and Harry broke up. She probably did cry later in her room but we didn’t hear about it. It’s possible, and this is not taking things out of canon, that Ginny had major trust issues, and, having grown up with Fred and George for brothers, knew how to hide the emotions that would cause her to suffer ridicule.
This may explain her feisty attitude, and her willingness to act brave.
It doesn’t explain a lot of the other stuff.
and, having grown up with Fred and George for brothers, knew how to hide the emotions that would cause her to suffer ridicule.
Good point. I hadn’t considered that aspect of it before.
This was an interesting read.
I don’t recall much of the books despite reading them all, but I totally did not expect that Ginny would end up with Harry.
I don’t remember any of the details where the author mentioned she came out too perfect, and oddly even if there were am okay with that.
What I did find weird was of all the people in the book to end up with, why her? Sure we can scratch out Hermione and say that Harry found her more of a sister and Ron seemed to like her more, but there’s Luna who Harry has had more conversations with and who Harry accepted despite what people said about her. There’s Katie from the Quidditch team who he spent a lot of time with, and there’s Cho Chang, who he had a big crush on and suddenly…did not.
I don’t know what JK Rowling’s reasons were to pair him up with her, but if she was trying to make Ginny the “perfect” girlfriend then I find that unnecessary. Other than being the Chosen One what’s so special about Harry that he deserves “the smartest, prettiest, etc” girl in the school? I’m not saying Harry isn’t special, but I think it’s unfair to put him on a pedestal.
But this is just my take on the thought.
Saw this doing the rounds on twitter and honestly, not sure I agree. Ginny was just so realistic for me, reminding me of so many girls I teach and in fact even one of my best friends. She’s exactly how I’d imagine the youngest of 7 to be, especially when the others are all boys. Of course she won’t cry much, especially when some of those brothers are Fred and George. Of course she’ll be standing up for herself when her brothers try to slut shame her. She was always brave, sending Harry a valentine at the age of 11, a get well card when she was 12, standing up for him in front of Draco CoS, being snipy at Ron in PoA when he told her to get lost on the train and shutting both Harry and Ron up in GoF when they were being dicks. She was loyal to Neville and Hermione and I don’t know, her characterization didn’t jar me at all – she’s off page quite a bit like Neville and the twins and Draco and yet unlike most of them you see her in patches and it’s actually more believable that you have these moments of BAMFness each book unlike Neville on the other hand doesn’t get such moments much and so it’s more of a surprise. She’s pretty yes, as are Hermione and the Weasley boys and it’s mentioned quite a few times for each of those characters. Greyback calls Hermione pretty in DH which I thought was pretty ridiculous. She’s friends with the unpopular kids which is great and One of my favourite moments of hers are actually when she is the only one to stand up to Harry in OoTP when he’s in his moods and when she’s the only one out there on the battlefield comforting the wounded when her brother has died. I quite admire that she’s been through something so horrific and is normal and can maintain relationships of all sorts especially since she was so young and we’ve seen how so many wizards just can’t recover from stuff like that. I think for me Ginny is perfect for Harry but not perfect. Which I believe was JKR’s intention all along.
Thanks for the read.
I thought this article had a lot of good points but I really appreciate your response as it reminded me of a lot of the great things about Ginny that the author overlooked.
Also, just an added though – now that I think about it. It’s pretty interesting how all of the Weasley’s are such standouts in so many things as are Hermione and Harry. The Malfoys – not so much. Hmmm maybe a bias on JKR’s part?
How are all of the Weasley’s “stand outs”? How are the Malfoys not? The Weasleys are poor, Arthur has a mediocre job, Ron gets average grades, Molly is a stay-at-home mum. By normal standards that’s an average family. Yes some of them are standouts – the twins run a successful business at a young age, Percy gets a government job at quite a young age (though not a terribly important one), Bill is a curse-breaker for Gringotts. Even Ginny isn’t really that much of a stand-out by normal social standards, except she’s pretty and good at quidditch.
As for the Malfoys, Draco and Narcissa individually might not be especially outstanding, but they are insanely rich and Lucius ranked quite highly in Voldemort’s inner circle for several years.
I guess what I am saying is that both families have standout qualities but I actually feel like there’s a lot about the Weasleys which is quite average. But of course JK makes the Weasleys ‘better’… it would have been counter-productive not to. They’re the good guys. But she shows that normal people can be exceptional good guys.
Thank you. This just…captured it so well. Especially the part where the moment I actually started to like Ginny was when she started dating other boys. That aspect of her character took me by surprise and I was very much, “maybe I have misjudged you, Miss Weasley.” She suddenly wasn’t the little sister with the hero-worship-crush-to-end-all-crushes on Harry Potter. Of course, everything went to pieces after that. I was just aghast when Ginny admitted to having loved Harry all of the time, blah blah blah. Of all of the characters (male and female), Ginny was the character I could never wrap my mind around or understand.
Let me add my two cents on the whole debate- although it’s been sometime since your original post. I wonder why no one commented on the whole resemblance between James-Lily and Harry-Ginny pair as their main beef. Call me cynic or whatever, but it strikes me funny in uncomfortable way that Harry- James lookalike- ends up with Ginny- who seems to be Lily’s incarnation if you consider their red hair, appearances and awesomeness. Or in Ginny’s case, assumed awesomeness because it seems the whole Wizard world put her on the high pedestal as their Beauty Queen Pageant winner.
I tried to analyze my thoughts about this- and one is very clearly for Rowling: can’t you be creative more? It seems creepy that Harry and Ginny seems to be the next-gen version of James- Lily. Does she have the original pair as the perfect ideal relationship, that in the end it was to be created perfectly by the next gen?
And I just can’t warm up to Ginny no matter what. For various kind of reasons, I don’t see her as a character that would end up with Harry Potter- and the last chapters of DH whether in book or movie is a nightmare. It read like fanfic, written by a dreamy teenage girl who probably also deadly fan of Bella Swan from another series which is just another extreme pole of Mary Sues. and the whole thing leaves me with the impression of a too-sweet fruitcake aftertaste. At least it’s not tangy lemon or bitter coffee aftertaste, but I feel like losing my front-set teeth due to the whole sugary things I read on the 5th book up to the 7th.
Ginny is written after Lily Potter’s image, upgraded/downgraded in such cheapo ways as if dossing fruitcakes with tons of wines or pouring gold leaves upon gold leaves upon it would make better fruitcake, while we know a fruit cake is a fruitcake. Because Harry can’t marry his dead mom, then Rowling gives him a copycat image. A worse, mary-sue version of the ideal Virgin Mary of Hp world, but she will do.
And that’s why I’m convinced that in my own fantasy world- Harry and Ginny never ends up together. Period.
I recently found this–probably a link from tumblr, idk–but I wanted to say “thank you” for putting into words some of the reasons why I dislike Ginny, but more explicitly, the Harry/Ginny OTP (and its related mindset).
I think a lot of fans felt like Luna and/or Hermione would have been a better (het) match for Harry, largely because they were people who “got on” with Harry and moved in his circles–which Ginny didn’t. (And when she does, it feels somewhat shoehorned in.)
I am also one of those who feel it is a bit creepy that Ginny (seemingly) seamlessly moves from “surrogate little sister” into “yay! romantic love interest” with minimal thought on Harry’s part. I don’t necessarily think that it is something Harry should have considered, but his lack of thought would seem to indicate that he hadn’t really considered Ginny at all, before she became, in Andrea’s words, “megafoxyawesomehot”. I don’t see that being a good foundation for a strong future relationship, but I guess ymmv? (I’m firmly in the camp of “friends, then lovers”. But I understand that not everyone feels this way.)
Coming from fandom, and the largely slash camp, I have noticed a big thing that seems to be missing from certain discussions about the Harry/Ginny relationship: Ginny largely hero-worships Harry, and while this certainly isn’t a “bad” thing, it’s nothing that Harry wants. All he ever seems to want is “a normal life”, without being “The Boy Who Lived”–he’s “just Harry”. I don’t see how Ginny can possibly play ino “normal life”, and I feel like this is partly because JKR doesn’t show her character development from “hero-worshipping little sister” into “kick-ass everything-Harry-is-but-better-and-therefore-his-ideal-match”. (Sorry. I guess better word for that might be “female version of Harry and/or Lily Potter”.)
She certainly does come across as Mary Sue-ish, especially without the awkward transition that some of the other commenters have mentioned.
I’m not going to push a pairing (or two!) on people who aren’t interested, but a lot of the fic that I have read has dealt with these issues more adroitly than JKR manages in-series.
(Also, as an aside, thank you, Lady T, for being so kind and respectful to people who don’t share your opinion. It’s refreshing to read. 🙂 )
This was amazing to read! I wish I could read more and more. It’s fantastic! Seriously. You put my thoughts on page in a much classy and orderly fashion 😛
Can you point me to others that state as such? Or even better, more about exceptional women?
Anyways, amazing read. Thank you!
I really enjoyed your analysis! Now that you point it out I definitely agree, but in contrast, at the time I chalked up the ambiguous change in Ginny to just the fact that Harry was the protagonist and showing the innermost workings of Ginny’s mind would be a bit out of place. Because I think she really changed after being possessed by Voldemort and afterword her own musings about dealing with that and other teenage girl factors just really developed her personality and I can understand how that would be hard to verbalize.
But even if it was hard to verbalize it should have been done because Ginny is a pretty important character.
I appreciate the interesting read! : )
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You have contradicted yourself in this. The biggest one is how you complain about Ginny being too perfect but then list all her flaws, then say how Hermione and Luna are ‘allowed’ to have flaws and be wrong but “Ginny is…well…she’s just awesome! THE END.” Huh? Ginny is, as you say yourself, flawed as well. We don’t see her called out on it because, realistically, we don’t see her much at all. Hermione and Harry feel far more comfortable calling Ron out on his behaviour because he is their friend. They would feel more awkward calling Ginny out on her behaviour. And to be honest I think Hermione is actually on Ginny’s side most of the time when Ginny is misbehaving.
Do you know why we didn’t see Ginny’s feistiness and sportiness before OOTP? Because the books *aren’t about her*. We know far more about Harry and his best friends because the books are about them. Ginny’s not even around in the first book because she’s not even at school. We don’t see much of her in book 2 because JK is trying to keep her out of the picture and as a side character so we don’t guess she’s the one essentially setting the basilisk free. We don’t see her quidditch prowess because, seriously, in the earlier books she’s only, like, 12 years old. There are older and better quidditch players. By OOTP she’s 14 and a more realistic choice for the quidditch team. Harry’s young selection makes him a freak of nature to a degree and Ginny is never painted as that (like you imply). Rather, she is one who has developed her quidditch skills with age.
I also don’t know why people feel like Ginny moved from a ‘little sister’ position to ‘girlfriend’ position with Harry. He hardly knew her before she actually started hanging out with them as friends in OOTP. When she was younger she was so in awe of him that she totally avoided him, and when she was older and over her little-girl crush she had her own friends to hang out with. (She might not have gotten over Harry entirely, but I do believe she had come to a position where she realised it probably wasn’t going to happen and had set it aside. In fact it got to the point when he was pursuing her and she didn’t notice!) And when he visited the Weasleys he spent far more time with Ron and the twins. I don’t think she was ever a surrogate sister to him.
I don’t think we saw all this attitude and talent come out of Ginny in OOTP onwards because “Rowling wanted to write a strong female character” or because “it was about writing the Perfect Girl For Harry”. I think it was because JK knew Ginny was going to start becoming a more prominent character (which, yes, includes her role as Harry’s girlfriend) and we needed her character developed more for that. Especially as she becomes one of those leading the rebellion against the Death Eaters running Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows. It would have seemed super weird and out of character if this girl who was originally shy and reclusive becomes so smart-ass and strong that she’s rebelling against Death Eaters. At least by that point we’ve had a few books of character development for her.
To me, Ginny essentially disappeared for a few books there. We saw bits and pieces of her, but only as scenery really. She went from being a star-struck shy 11 year old to being a sporty, pretty, smart-ass 14 year old who doesn’t take crap from her brothers. To be honest I know several girls who went through that transformation. Just because we don’t get to see what happened in the interim doesn’t make it invalid.
Really, you seem to dislike Ginny just because you don’t know enough of her story. That doesn’t seem fair to me. You say “I need more than just “She’s a Weasley, and girls grow up through puberty” to go on” and that you need it to be “explicitly on the page”. That’s nuts. The books would be absurdly long if JK was to explicitly put on the page the full character development of every single character who eventually ends up a significant character. When I read it I thought the reasons for her personality development were obvious: She has six older brothers, she has parents who have taught her to stand up for what she believes in, she’s gone through puberty, she’s been traumatised and fighting to eliminate vulnerability as a result (Riddle’s diary), and, well, she’s a Weasley. I also felt like she was the female version of the twins. It doesn’t surprise me she might grow up to be like that, with brothers like that! I actually liked the fact that a character who I felt had been neglected for a few books and was obviously going to be important at some point (come on, she’s a Weasley – not to mention I picked her and Harry in, like, Chamber of Secrets) was finally being fleshed out. And I didn’t think she was being fleshed out to be super-awesome and perfect because I thought it was blatantly obvious she wasn’t perfect for all the reasons you mentioned.
Of course you have all these questions about Ginny – “What drives Ginny? What makes her tick? What are her goals and dreams?” But why does that make her a bad character? We have similar questions about Draco and Neville and Luna, even other members of the Order. Where are the criticisms of them? Especially Neville who went from dorky, scared, and shy to kick-ass and so strong he’ll stand up even to Voldemort. At least with Ginny there’s a gap of a few years where we don’t know really what’s happening in her life. We see more of Neville and I think there’s a lot less to explain his transformation. (I will say here I like Neville and am not hating on him. I’m just saying if you’re going to hate on Ginny for these reasons, Neville qualifies under those reasons too). What about the other strong kick-ass characters whose backgrounds we don’t know? Tonks? McGonagall? Mad-Eye? Do they annoy you too because nobody could be that cool without a proper backstory?
Not to mention people adore Draco because of what his story *might* be (which also seems lame to me).
By the way, a lot of girls don’t approve of their brother’s choice in bride. It doesn’t make Ginny a bitch, it makes her overprotective of her brother and it means she just doesn’t like Fleur. And for crying out loud, her mother didn’t like Fleur for a long time either. What motivation or incentive does she have to get to know and like her future sister-in-law if her mother doesn’t? And be honest, nobody liked Fleur for a long time. Neither did Hermione.
I also find it ironic that half the fandom seems to hate Ginny for being lame, weak and 2D because of her terrible transformation onto the movie screen, but then half seems to hate her for being awesome and strong in the books. She can’t win apparently.
Do you know why we didn’t see Ginny’s feistiness and sportiness before OOTP? Because the books *aren’t about her*.
Wait. WHAT? You mean these copies of Ginny Weasley and the Sorcerer’s Stone were bootleg ripoffs? Damn that bookseller to heck!
Not to mention people adore Draco because of what his story *might* be (which also seems lame to me).
I also find it ironic that half the fandom seems to hate Ginny for being lame, weak and 2D because of her terrible transformation onto the movie screen, but then half seems to hate her for being awesome and strong in the books. She can’t win apparently.
Quick question: are you commenting on this post because you want to discuss and debate Ginny with me, or are you commenting because you’re sick of Ginny-hate in fandom and are using this post as a place to rant about it?
If it’s the first, I’d be happy to discuss it further with you, but if it’s the latter, I’m not interested and won’t be engaging from now on. I don’t know why you brought up Draco at all since I didn’t mention his name once in the original post.
I did not write this post to “hate on” Ginny. (I don’t actually hate her; I’m ambivalent.) I wrote this post to explain why Ginny’s characterization did not work for me. If you can’t tell the difference between these two things, I think we’re done. If you can, I’d be happy to know more about what you think.
Totally random and off topic but I think a relationship with Parvati would have worked out better.When they were actually alone I fashioned her to be annoying…giggly and love struck like Lavender was with Ron but she wasn’t. If Harry wasn’t so caught up with Cho I think they would have kicked it off.
Cho Chang:
Hmm….I think this would have worked out if the poor girl’s boyfriend didn’t DIE! Anyone would be an emotional wreck if their loved ones passed away. Prior to even being with Cedric I thought that Cho was actually a lot similar to Ginny-less haughty and mean though.She was popular, well liked amongst her peers, athletic and obviously smart for landing in the Ravenclaw house.
Ginny
Most of you SOB (LOL) took the words right out of my mouth which is why I brought…something new to the table? One reason why I did not like Ginny was mainly because she reminded me of..me. We are both bitches; assertive. Erm…excuse me
However, being assertive and strong willed has yield negative judgment of character from people I don’t know, simply because they don’t know me. The same could be said for Ginny- Rollowing failed to provide the gradual progession of her character. Whenever we did it was through the lens of a boy LOL It has been said many times before that Harry is a bit “thick.” He’s a boy… ’nuff said
No one is able to answer this question: what drives Ginny Weasley?
-Could it be that she’s the youngest of 7?
-The only girl at that
-Let’s forget about the twins and Ron, with a strong willed, hot tempered mother like Molly I think would leave an impression on anyone! Let alone her baby girl…
– Would these factors contribute to have to be strong and keep a firm hand on her brothers even if it means being a bit mean and bullish?
-Wouldn’t these traits reflect themselves with how she treats her friends?
– Could it be derived from the traumatic experience she dealt with at the hands of Voldemort?
– Or is it a simple ambition: to keep her family united? Or simply be there for them? I cant really elaborate on this point and I’m to tired to go find my book to find a quote that could explain what Im talking about.
Like someone stated earlier, Harry is her childhood crush. She probably listened to bedtime stories about “The Boy Who Lived.” She, like many other girls probably deemed harry as some prince charming and drooled over him when they were younger. At the tendor age of 11 she not only makes a fool of herself in front of her crush but is at a vulnerable moment in her life and here comes prince charming and saves her life. Wouldn’t you grow genuine feelings for that person? To know Harry is to love him. I guess the same applied to Ginny; makes sense actually. She might not have been within his scope but he certainly was in her.
With Hermione’s advice she moves on, two years later…to date Michael and still didn’t loose hope for Harry Things didn’t work out with him and she moved on to Dean and later on to Harry. Even when Harry broke up with her for whatever reason she was “really cut up about it,” said Ron after he and Hermione caught them snogging like two wacked out garden gnomes in her bedroom.
I genuinly believe the part of her sneaking and breaking into the broom shed and teaching herself how to fly esp with the twins at Hogwarts already and if any of the Weasley’s were going to catch her it would be them……there’s that factor and the fact that this sneaky streak shows up later on in the book.
I particularly don’t like Ginny but I am an actress and I have played certain people whom beliefs i completely disagreed with or I did not like at all and essentially learned how to potray my character to the best of my ability w simply looking at what drives them, whats their motive and why they do/say the things they do rather judge them.
With Ginny…I’m lost. I’m confused. What happened in books 3, 4 and beggining of 5? Did one pep talk with Hermione really break her out of her shell? Or did she simply grow up? Was it her brother’s that brought out that vivacious, cheeky Ginnny? Was it her experiences w Micheal and Dean? Was it overcoming her intial awe for Harry as she realized he was just an ave bloke w a shit load of problems? Was it finally over powering her internal battle w Voldemort? Was it being recognized for being superb at Quidditch? Something she was good at that had to be kept a secret? Or was it finally being able to play Quidditch that gave her the confidence boost she needed? She did become a Quidditch player after all. Or was it when Harry notice her did she finally become herself?
I think ginny is actually a very strong character in the story, she’s not weak or lame at all (she’s popular, duh..). She just seem that way because she is not often mentioned in the story. but the fact that she is popular, smart, sporty and perfect gets on my nerve. 🙂
people might think differently but that’s what I think. 🙂
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Totally random and off topic but I think a relationship with Parvati would have worked out better.When they were actually alone I fashioned her to be annoying…giggly and love struck like Lavender was with Ron but she wasn’t. If Harry wasn’t so caught up with Cho I think they would have kicked it off.
Cho Chang:
Hmm….I think this would have worked out if the poor girl’s boyfriend didn’t DIE! Anyone would be an emotional wreck if their loved ones passed away. Prior to even being with Cedric I thought that Cho was actually a lot similar to Ginny-less haughty and mean though.She was popular, well liked amongst her peers, athletic and obviously smart for landing in the Ravenclaw house.
Ginny
Most of you SOB (LOL) took the words right out of my mouth which is why I brought…something new to the table? One reason why I did not like Ginny was mainly because she reminded me of..me. We are both bitches; assertive. Erm…excuse me 😉
However, being assertive and strong willed has yield negative judgment of character from people I don’t know, simply because they don’t know me. The same could be said for Ginny- Rollowing failed to provide the gradual progession of her character. Whenever we did it was through the lens of a boy LOL It has been said many times before that Harry is a bit “thick.” He’s a boy… ’nuff said 😛
No one is able to answer this question: what drives Ginny Weasley?
-Could it be that she’s the youngest of 7?
-The only girl at that
-Let’s forget about the twins and Ron, with a strong willed, hot tempered mother like Molly I think would leave an impression on anyone! Let alone her baby girl…
– Would these factors contribute to have to be strong and keep a firm hand on her brothers even if it means being a bit mean and bullish?
-Wouldn’t these traits reflect themselves with how she treats her friends?
– Could it be derived from the traumatic experience she dealt with at the hands of Voldemort?
– Or is it a simple ambition: to keep her family united? Or simply be there for them? I cant really elaborate on this point and I’m to tired to go find my book to find a quote that could explain what Im talking about.
Like someone stated earlier, Harry is her childhood crush. She probably listened to bedtime stories about “The Boy Who Lived.” She, like many other girls probably deemed harry as some prince charming and drooled over him when they were younger. At the tendor age of 11 she not only makes a fool of herself in front of her crush but is at a vulnerable moment in her life and here comes prince charming and saves her life. Wouldn’t you grow genuine feelings for that person? To know Harry is to love him. I guess the same applied to Ginny; makes sense actually. She might not have been within his scope but he certainly was in her.
With Hermione’s advice she moves on, two years later…to date Michael and still didn’t loose hope for Harry 🙂 Things didn’t work out with him and she moved on to Dean and later on to Harry. Even when Harry broke up with her for whatever reason she was “really cut up about it,” said Ron after he and Hermione caught them snogging like two wacked out garden gnomes in her bedroom.
I genuinly believe the part of her sneaking and breaking into the broom shed and teaching herself how to fly esp with the twins at Hogwarts already and if any of the Weasley’s were going to catch her it would be them……there’s that factor and the fact that this sneaky streak shows up later on in the book.
I particularly don’t like Ginny but I am an actress and I have played certain people whom beliefs i completely disagreed with or I did not like at all and essentially learned how to potray my character to the best of my ability w simply looking at what drives them, whats their motive and why they do/say the things they do rather judge them.
With Ginny…I’m lost. I’m confused. What happened in books 3, 4 and beggining of 5? Did one pep talk with Hermione really break her out of her shell? Or did she simply grow up? Was it her brother’s that brought out that vivacious, cheeky Ginnny? Was it her experiences w Micheal and Dean? Was it overcoming her intial awe for Harry as she realized he was just an ave bloke w a shit load of problems? Was it finally over powering her internal battle w Voldemort? Was it being recognized for being superb at Quidditch? Something she was good at that had to be kept a secret? Or was it finally being able to play Quidditch that gave her the confidence boost she needed? She did become a Quidditch player after all. Or was it when Harry notice her did she finally become herself?
I might have found this article a bit late, but I would like to say that JK Rowling did kind of ellude to Ginny’s character. Ron mentioned, “She never shuts up usually,” and she shares a laugh with Harry over Percy & Penelope. I didn’t like that JK Rowling didn’t include her more often in the books, however. I mean, the only time Ginny’s really mentioned and recognized in the PRISONER OF AZKABAN, just a few months after the whole TMR incident, during the first few chapters. I think that fueled what you thought, about her fear to appear helpless. I also think that the Carrows in the DH couldn’t only be cruel to Neville. I’m willing to bet that Ginny has many, many scars, but won’t tell Harry due to her fear of appearing helpless. Do you think she’s insecure about Harry’s feelings about her at times- she’s a girl too, you know.
This is very late, but well-said — right on the nose. It helps that Rowling outright said it in an interview; that Ginny was meant to be Harry’s ideal girl, and the sad thing is that as a result she never steps beyond that as a character. That is pretty much the entirety of her, that “role”.
I hate to say, but I agree with very few of your points. I happen to like Ginny very much, in fact she’s my favorite character (along with Hermione of course) She is very strong and independant.(I totally spelled that wrong) I think what happened bbetween her and Voldemort is what keeps her going, I will agree with that. But I don’t think she was being laid on thick at all. I will never agree with that. You see her at least once in every book(minus prisoner of azkaban…I think) and can see her character development. Although I read between the lines, my brother doesn’t and he noticed that. Although I’m not quite sure what attracts Ginny to Harry, I’m absolutely sure what happened in her first year drives her the whole rest of the series. Whatever happened in that chamber was pretty terrifying. I know for a fact that Ginny really hated Fleur and did NOT want her to be her sister in law (I think that’s what she becomes…) Even if she had to “accept” the fact that her brother was marrying Fleur at least she didn’t say “I’m never going to talk to my brother again because he’s marrying Fleur” or “Bill is a jerk to marry Fleur” because she totally could have said that! I guess different people have different options. Hope I didn’t waste your time by reading this.
I’m not saying I hate ginny but in my opinion she is just too perfect. although ginny is very kind, friendly, the fact that she is smart, pretty, sporty and that she got harry (the hero) even tho she doesn’t know him much at that time annoys me. The thing that makes Harry Potter girls stand out between other girls in other story books is the fact that they all have flaws and are unique in their own way, and that they contributed to all the book’s purpose (the prophecy – prof. Trelawney) because of their uniqueness. but Ginevra Weasley does not appear to have any (flaw).
ex: Hermione:
Flaws: she corrects other people a lot (that gets annoying), she likes reading and she’s always trying to get others to read (especially ron), she’s actually insecure and she tries to appear smart to hide her insecurity, she’s got large front teeth and bushy hair (not so good physical appearance).
Why I love her: she’s complex, she’s loyal, she knows when to give up, she has self-respect, she has a love for leaning and she went back to school after the war (I think education is very important but it can be subjective), hermione can be trusting but skeptical at the same time, she can look at the big picture and put together pieces when no one else can (AWESOME!), she can be a leader but also respect that others would be better suited for the job than she is (another flaw: she’s not that good of a leader), she’s resourceful, she is nearly always right but can also accept that she is not, she can use difficult moments to build character.
But I guess all this is probably because of the fact that she doesn’t come up on the book as much as the trio, which is why her personal problems don’t really show in the book (except for what happened in the chamber of secrets), which is also why she does not seem as interesting as others and seem very much invisible. 🙂
But that’s just what I think.
I’m not going to lie, Ginny is one of my favorite characters and has been for awhile now. She reminds me a lot of myself, and when I say that, I put a large emphasis on the sarcastic, bitchy-esque behavior.
I do agree with you on the fact that I wish we saw more of her. I think she could have played an even bigger role in the books, and I find her to be so witty and honest that I wish she could’ve slapped Harry back to reality a few more times (The moment in OOTP when she pretty much tells him to take his head out of his ass is one of my favorites).
That being said, I’ve spent awhile trying to figure Ginny out, and, being a teenage girl myself, I’ve gained a bit more insight into Ginny’s character.
Firstly, Ginny has always been at least talkative, that we know. In CoS, Ron mentions to Harry that it’s strange for Ginny to be all shut up in her room and quiet, because “she never shuts up, normally”, or something like that. To me, this sounds like a classic case of a girl getting tongue tied around her crush. Hell, I’m eighteen years old, and I STILL get tongue tied around the guy I like. It’s that awkward feeling where everything you say feels stupid, and your face gets all hot, and you don’t know what to say so you blush and do stupid things you hate yourself for later. Voila, early book Ginny.
Now, this is what I’m thinking may be her “long time crush on Boy Who Lived” thing here. Bear with me, I’m just kind of spitting stuff out here. I think at the beginning, it was a complete rock god crush on Harry (like the kind I had on Nick Jonas and Zac Efron when i was 12-13). She was completely star struck at this boy who was all of a sudden her brother’s best friend and part of the family. So she’s super shy and awkward, and she doesn’t know what to do about this, and then when she might have been able to get comfortable, she starts going through puberty so she’s all confused with new feelings and whatnot, etc. So, having six brothers and exactly zero sisters, she turns to the stand in sister, Hermione. After she completely spills her guts to Hermione about this longstanding crush and her frustration with her inability to be in the same room with Harry without her face turning approximately the same color as her hair, Hermione is pretty much left with the worst job in the world. She knows Harry doesn’t see Ginny in that way, and she knows he likes Cho (Whenever that super crush kicks in, I forget), but she can’t bring herself to break poor Ginny’s heart. So, she gives her the best advice she can: just be yourself, and everything will work out. Try to move on, date other guys. I believe Hermione honestly thought there was no chance for them.
Now, I can tell you I’ve “carried a torch” for the same guy since the eighth grade. It was super embarrassing when I was fourteen and followed him around like a lost puppy. And I realized it was hopeless. So I tried moving on and I’ve had a few relationships, one pretty serious. But I can tell you this, as soon as I was single and back in the “dating mindframe”, my feelings always went right back to this one person.
When I think of Ginny, that’s what I think of. You try to take your mind off of it, you try your hardest to move on, but at the end of the day, he just sticks in your mind for some reason.
When “spunky Ginny” came out, it was the Ginny that Ron referred to way back in the CoS, only now she was mature enough and able to at least pretend well enough that she was over Harry so she was able to function normally and not do things like stick her elbow in the butter dish anymore.
That’s what I think it means when she says she never got over him. It was always just there, lurking beneath the surface.
Personally, I adore Ginny. I find her to be the right amount of tough and gutsy that I imagine comes from having six brothers, but also have her own hint of femininity that comes with being a girl and going through puberty. I love the fact that she worked her ass off to be a good Quidditch player, but has to wait for her turn to play on the team, and even admits herself she’s not a great Seeker. I love her wit, and I love the way she is completely, brutally honest and will stand up for what she believes in.
Maybe it’s because I relate to her very well, but Ginny has been my favorite for awhile.
I’m interested to hear everyone’s opinions, that is just mine. I hope some of these late night ramblings and metaphors and whatever else make sense, as it’s about 3 AM and quite frankly, I’m not sure if everything I was thinking came out correctly. 🙂
Nice article there and i agreed with you almost on everything except when you said and i quote
“So, instead of finding common ground with like-minded folks who shared my irritation with this Exceptional Woman, I found a bunch of people who hated Ginny for no good reason.”
I think that is unfair. What you might consider ‘no good reasons’ so actually mean ‘good reasons’ to others.
I didnt like the fact that every guy was scrambling to get her nor the fact that she let them go just because she wanted to. I know it wasnt ever written that way but that is what I felt was portrayed.
Just saying that just as you though this ,this and this was wrong about Ginny ,some will obviously people have different opinions and values than you and her acting that way is actually a good enough reason for me to not like her further 🙂
Thanks
nor the fact that she let them go just because she wanted to.
I’m not sure what you mean by this. Breaking up with someone because you no longer want to be with that person seems, to me, the best reason for breaking up. But maybe I’m misinterpreting what you meant?
Its called Destiny. Harry and Ginny were meant to be together…just like Ron and Hermione were meant to be together. In the beginning, I think Ginny had a school girl crush but because of Hermione’s advice…to loosen up and date other people, I think it made Ginny realize what was lacking in the other boys she dated. She didn’t break-up with Dean because he was too protective. She broke up with him because he wasn’t Harry.
No offense TDM, but that’s VERY weak reasoning.
I’m reading some of the comments concerning Ginny’s flaws and what people don’t like about her, but… OK, I like Ginny for some of her warmer qualities. Like when Ron made a fool of himself asking Fleur to the ball, she conforted him in his embarrassment. She always defended Luna when people mocked her and called her Loony, she went to the Yule Ball with Neville when he otherwise would have been a loner, she was able to talk Harry out of all of his moods in Order of the Phoenix, she comforted girl in Deathly Hallows who wanted her mother… and lastly and fair play to her, she was able to lead a distraught Harry away from Dumbledore when Hagrid couldn’t. Is that enough?
She was one of those less interesting characters in the series. I’m not buying her love for Harry, and I thought she could be a better character even without her undying love for him. It’s weird to see her who used to have some insignificance part of the story, she mostly stayed in the background when suddenly we’re given a butterfly version of her latter, and shoved with the fact that she’s gonna be an item with Harry. It felt rather shallow, and she has a competitor which is Hermione who had far more believable development with Harry as a friend.
It’s like Rowling is saying: “see girls? If you too have a crush on someone for superficial reasons, pretend you’ve given up on him and fake it till you make it and oh I don’t know, suddenly become beautiful and good at the sport he likes and show you’re fiery by making jokes at your brother’s expense and maybe yoyr crush will notice yoy. But mostly just get hot otherwise don’t bother with the other stuff.” And it’s not like she’s beautiful to Harry and he likes her looks because he’s grown to like her personality, oh no no! JK makes it a point to tell us that everyone ceom every house is after her… sigh… why JK? Why did your work turn in to a fanfic of itself.
Also, the worst part of Ginny snapping at Hermione about not understanding Quidditch is that Hermione has to bite her tongue and not tell her that she in fact does care to the point that she breaks the rules (as a prefect) and confunds someone at tryouts so Ron could be keeper…Just because her life’s happiness doesn’t depend on Quidditch, Ginny and Harry give themselves license to dismiss her? Ginny’s behavior especially after Hermione consoles her about her unrequited love for Harry and giving her life changing advice, is unacceptable. And the fact that it comforts Harry makes me disassociate with Harry’s POV. Rowling doesn’t miss a single opportunity to tell (rather than show) us how beautiful and popular and accomplished and athletic she is… does she think the reader gives two shits if she is a hot jock? Does she think the average HP fan is enamoured by someone who’s “humor” is at the expense of others? Feels like she’s selling Ginny a little too hard because the character doesn’t have enough merit. It’s easy to just tell the reader: “she’s hot and popular and good at sports and she’s sooooo funny and smart get over it!”… personally I don’t think Harry needs a love interest. Little bit of romance is nice but the reader isn’t the kind of simpleton who would stop reading u less Harry ends up with the most popular mary sue of a character in school. JK doesn’t give her readers enough credit or… she’s trying to perpetuate this kind of female character as an ideal… eother way it really shows her flaws that have come to more relief post cursed child and dumb tweets.