Should we hate Harry?

[grinninfoole]

I saw the following link in NepentheO1's LJ, and I think that this is a fascinating article. I warn you, however, that this might sour you on the Harry Potter books forever, so read no further if the idea that Snape and the others might be right to see Harry as essentially a fraud will upset you.

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2073627

There has already been some discussion in Nepenthe's LJ, so I post a link to her post here:
http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=nepenthe01&itemid=484139&view=11970 99#t1197099

Comments

[-solstyce-.livejournal.com]

personally, i've always hated harry. he reminds me so much of the ridiculous little frat boys i had to put up with in college. i identify with professor snape the most. well, that and i have a terrible crush on him. :) he's been abused, taunted, tormented at the hands of the 'popular' crowd. his look is eccentric, he's brilliant, and he's bitter as hell. what's not to love? i think he has every right to hate harry's father and everyone associated with him, including his snot-nosed son whose only major accomplishment in life was that he didn't die as an infant. wah.

it's all about snape.
*swoon*

Re:

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

I like Harry, but I suspect that if we were to see him from another's eyes, he wouldn't be as sympathetic. I hope that Rowling moves more in that direction.

[airneail.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with Mensa?

*ponder*

Mensa

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Membership in Mensa is predicated on one's IQ, on supposedly possessing an innate intelligence that is sufficiently above average. Innate intelligence is a slippery concept, but the idea that it is one single thing that can be measured with a few questions is dangerously stupid. I suspect that the origins of Mensa are in a sort of eugenicists view of humanity, and that the point of the entry requirement (and membership in the organization) is to weed out 'inferior' candidates, while allowing the superior, gifted elite to meet, mingle and socialize (which is what Mensa is, a social organization) with their own 'sort', and probably hopefully breed better people. It is the worst, most evil sort of elitism, as it lends itself to mass murder, and is based on nothing.

Re: Mensa

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

I should add that my thinking on this matter has been heavily influenced by the late Stephen Jay Gould's excellent book, The Mismeasure of a Man. I recommend it highly.