This is a post for yesterday, since I was too busy having fun to post. ^_^ Went out with Jess yesterday, late afternoon, to just hang out and catch up. It’s been a while, so it was great just to see her. We went to Chili’s and had lunch. I got that supremely awesome, but oh-so-evilly-hot Boneless Habenaro Chicken Wings, which were just as amazing as they were before. And they hurt just as much. Mmm, evil-spicy. We each had a drink and just relaxed, catching up on the news and what’s going on in both our lives.
Then we headed over to Cinemagic, where we discovered that The Other Boelyn Girl was still playing, so we decided to check that out. I’ve always thought it looked interesting, and I knew I’d never get Andy to go to it, so it was the perfect chick-night-out movie to see. Jess has read the book, so she was very interested in seeing how they’d pull it off, since she says the book is excellent.
Coming from the perspective of one who has not yet read the book, I was pleasantly surprised. Recently, I’ve been getting into a terrible trend of seeing movies I think look good, only to find out that they are–in fact–not. But this was fun. The plot was relatively smooth, the characters were interesting, and once I got over my history-lapse and realized that the Anne Boelyn I was thinking of was indeed Henry the Eighth’s Anne Boelyn (don’t ask me why I didn’t realize that sooner, it’s embarrassing enough as is), then I was extra excited to see how this would all end. Truth be told, it was much better than the ending of Marie Antoinette, which was sad, because the only reason Andy and I even went to see that movie (yes, I dragged him to it) was to see correction: Kristen Dunst’s head chopped off. We were both gravely disappointed. I realize this may be a slight spoiler for The Other Boelyn Girl, but I figure hey–if you know the basic story of King Henry the Eighth, you should pretty much be able to guess something like this might happen. Anyway, I’m here to tell you that you won’t be disappointed. It was fun.
Naturally, that’s coming from me, who has not read the book. Apparently, the movie is not at all like the book, so just FYI. Sure, there’s always a lot cut out from the original story, but apparently there were a lot of changes, too. So if you’ve read the book and really liked it, you’ve been warned. For those who haven’t read the book, it’s a fun movie that was much better than I expected it to be.
Then we headed back here and hung out for a little longer before Jess headed home. It was a great night, which I ended by polishing off yet another chapter of Deathly Hallows. Here’s where my mini-rant begins. If you would prefer not to hear about it, please feel free to avoid the cut.
Okay, so in my opinion Ginny Weasley has no personality. I’m sorry. I’ve tried to like her, I really have, but there’s just nothing interesting about her at all. In this particular chapter that I was reading, Harry says one of the many things he likes about her is that she isn’t “weepy.” That’s fine, but I couldn’t help asking what any of those other “many things” were, because I haven’t liked or cared about Ginny since book 2. She’s boring, that’s all I’m saying. I also found Cho boring. For the two girls selected to be Harry’s main female co-stars, I find them both terribly flat. It makes me think Harry must just be a shallow guy. Which is perhaps true, but I expected–because most of the other characters are really quite entertaining and fun, and because I truly do (I don’t care about you other people who hate them), I truly do love the whole Weasley gang–I expected Rowling not to drop the ball on Ginny. There are so many things she could have done with her, too!
Okay, here’s my thought. Ginny should have been a squib. You know–the kids born to wizarding parents, but have no magical power? Either she could have been born without magical power, OR somehow through the whole fiasco with Tom Riddle, she could have lost the ability to perform magic. I’ll give you two reasons for why this would have been better. 1) In all the books, I have not once witnessed a situation in which she was remotely useful with magic. There is no point in even having her in any of the later books except as a love interest for Harry (and a dull one at that). 2) She would be in the perfect position to be a squibb. For one thing, her dad loves Muggle stuff, so it would be totally natural for him to try to be encouraging of her as she goes to school at a Muggle school, gets a Muggle part-time job, etc. Plus, and this is the big one for me, it would make her interesting. Instead of just being yet another dull witch Harry adores for what I can only determine must be either because he’s shallow or because he’s secretly in love with Ron/the Weasley Family and can’t have him, Ginny would actually have character conflict. For one thing, what would it be like to grow up in a house in which EVERYONE can do magic, but you? What would it be like if you used to be able to do magic, but can’t anymore? What would it be like, THEN, to like probably one of the most powerful wizards-to-be (Harry) and yet worry that he might not ever give you a second look, now that you don’t go to Hogwarts, and now that you can’t even do a simple charm?
That, I think, would be interesting. The way she is now, Ginny doesn’t have any character development. She’s generally happy and dull. Not to mention, it doesn’t make me like Harry any better for liking her. There’s nothing interesting there at all. But if Harry just couldn’t stop thinking about Ginny, Ginny who had to leave Hogwarts because she isn’t really a witch anymore, Ginny who lives in the Muggle world, who can’t do magic anymore, yet who he just can’t get out of his head? THAT’D be CUTE. At least, I think so. It would make him seem less self-centered if he loved a girl who both understood the wizarding stuff, but couldn’t participate in it. PLUS, it would justify all his worrying about her safety from Voldemort, considering that she really COULDN’T protect herself with magic. Can’t you just imagine Harry having to help her wash dishes, by hand, because she can’t do a charm to get it done? Or perhaps because deep down, it probably does bug her that she can’t, so he tries to accommodate by doing things the old-fashioned way? Hey, he grew up in a Muggle household. It’d be perfect! And you know he’d occasionally cheat (when they’re married, because though I haven’t finished the book, I’m pretty sure something like that is going to happen) at the dishes while she’s taking care of their infant spawn, and just use a little clean-up charm; which you know she’d be able to tell when she came back in a few minutes later, takes one look at those sparkling dishes, and says, “You cheated. You never get them this clean when you do them by hand.” *giggle-snort*
Way better. Anyway, that’s my little rant. Most people who have heard me talk about Harry Potter–the little talking I do on the subject–know that I’ve always thought Harry should marry a Muggle. This would be the best of both worlds, and in some way would make Ginny a character worth relating to; I mean, as far as I know, all of us readers are Muggles with no chance of admittance to Hogwarts anytime soon. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cool ex-witch who knows the wizarding world like we do, yet–like us–can’t really participate? I think so, but then, that’s just my opinion.
Yes, I’m a bit of a dork. And yes, I’m done ranting now, I promise. ^_-
Maggie Slater 