burn book | character rants

Ginny Weasley (ii)

Some quick notes:

1 - I am not one of those people who thinks Bonnie Wright is "ugly".

2 - Nor am I jealous of Ginny, or angry that Harry didn't shack up with Hermione - or even Luna. For the record, I hated Ginny long before I shipped H/Hr.

3 - Ginny Weasley is the only character I hate in the Harry Potter books. Notice that word there - books - When it comes to the films, I am utterly bored or indifferent to her.

If you're an active part of the Harry Potter fandom, or know how to google, then you probably already know that that Ginny is one of "the biggest polarizing characters in the series" (along with Snape, and to a far lesser extent, Draco).

For a long while, Ginny was a character that I quite enjoyed in the series. I even named my cat after her (because Hermione just seemed too long for a little kitten). However, the change in Ginny's character in books 5/6 (most noticeably 6) was just downright infuriating. Hopefully, I will be able to focus my points into a well-flowing structure; and not some wayward rant. So, bear with me.

For a lot of reasons, I think Ginny Weasley is a Mary-Sue. Now, someone has taken the liberty to do the Mary-Sue Litmus test for Ginny, and results were negative. I beg to differ:

From the get-go, she is set up to be the long-term romantic interest for the series hero.

She is beautiful. I mean, beautiful enough for a Slytherin (Blaise Zabini) to think so.

She is overly skilled, from Quidditch to Jinxes.

She is popular, and not just in her own house.

Her only flaw is her temper, but even then she is never pulled up for being a bitch.

Now, I know that R*wling always intended for Ginny to be that sort of character. It is even hinted in early books:
- Chamber of Secrets Ron says that Ginny "never shuts up, normally." And we are constantly reminded that Ginny is a loud and confident girl - when Harry is not around.
- We are fed tidbits of information about Ginny, namely that she is quite popular amongst her year level.
- Finally, when Harry breaks up with her during Dumbledore's funeral, Ginny says something along the lines of "Hermione told me to be more like myself around you."

The thing is R*wling knew that Ginny was Harry's soul mate right from the beginning. And therein lies a big problem. When it came to Half Blood Prince, R*wling just tried waaaayyy too hard for us to love Ginny, and have us accept her as being worthy enough for our hero, Harry, to love.

Out of nowhere, BAM, Ginny is just "awesome." She is pretty, popular, allegedly funny (I say allegedly, because her humor is always at the expense of others), great at Quidditch, and a strong witch (I mean... she joined the Slug Club, because of a Bat-Bogey hex... seriously?). She is just too perfect. At least Hermione and Ron's relationship had flaws - which made them real.

Which brings up another point: Ginny is not a fleshed out character. She is eternally one-sided. She is either Ron's shy and awkward sister; or this perfect girl that everybody adores. Where is the realism in that? Ginny's development is not gradual or subtle. We start a book (Chamber of Secrets or Half Blood Prince), are bombarded with how to perceive Ginny as a character, and that's how she remains until the last page.

Truth is, we don't know Ginny. All we know of her is how Harry sees her. Which is, at first, just Ron's sister (she is easily glanced over in early books), or someone that Harry wants to bang (apologies for not being able to convey that more eloquently). If we look beyond the way Harry, and apparently everyone else at Hogwarts who adores this demi-bitch, Ginny is nothing more than a mean girl. Some may argue that this is due to Harry's changing perception of her - which really only tells us that Harry sees her as a insolent, violent and passive-aggressive girl. As PK has pointed out in the comments: