Besides going to a lot of shitty kids’ movies this summer, I finished the Harry Potter series. That actually happened at the beginning of the summer, but I’ve avoided blogging about it. Part of the reason is I needed to work on my own book instead of blogging. But, also, I pretty much feel like I’ve said everything about Harry Potter that I have to say. Still, I promised to check in once I was finished, so I’m doing that now.
My favorite book in the series is Book 6, probably because Dumbledore is my favorite character, and Half-Blood Prince is all Harry and Dumbledore. Also, I really liked hearing about Voldemort’s childhood and witnessing how he became so evil. And I mean witnessing. J.K. Rowling doesn’t just do a flashback. She has you go into a magical pensieve where memories are stored, and then she leads you through the actual events. She’s a truly masterful story teller.
I initially thought that the most feminist of the books was 5, because Hermione has a big part, and there is, finally, a female teacher of the Dark Arts, Dolores Umbridge, who’s a great villain. But, unfortunately, after posting my views, I received quite a few comments about the alleged rape of Umbridge. You can look those posts up, if you want. The links to most everything I’ve written on Reel Girl about the Harry Potter series is cut and pasted below, most recent first. This sentence from one of my posts pretty much sums up my views:
If Harry Potter, a series with a male protagonist, titled for that male, where the author was told by her publisher to use initials to hide her gender, is considered feminist because a third of the characters in power positions are female, we have a long way to go before achieving gender equality in the fantasy world.
Reel Girl rates the Harry Potter series ***H***
Why is Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes magical store as sexist as Target? #NotBuyingIt
The Rape of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter?
In Harry Potter 5, female characters move closer to center
My daughters get inspired by Harry Potter
Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter, and the gender matrix
Prisoner of Azkaban and the subtle patriarchy of Harry Potter
More fat-shaming in Harry Potter, the inflating of Aunt Marge
Fat-shaming, Harry Potter, and kidlit
Finally, Reel Girl devours Harry Potter
