hymnia | Recent discussion has made me curious...

Can I get a clarification? Do you mean how do I feel, now, about her in each book, or do you mean how did I feel about her when I read that book for the first time?

I originally phrased the questions in past tense, because I was thinking in terms of the first reading, but then I realized it may be hard for people to remember accurately, so I changed the questions to present tense. In most cases, I think it probably won't make major differences in people's answers. Anyway, if you *can* remember your original response to her in each book, I guess I prefer that.

Sorry Joie, I'm a little confused how I should be *thinking* when responding to the poll. I know you mentioned to peachespig that you worded each question in present tense but my question is more, "How do I feel about Ginny" - how? Do you mean her interactions with Harry? How much page-time Jo dedicated to her? Her actions/behavior? Her strengths/weaknesses?

I don't mean to make something simple sound more complicated but how one responds still seems pretty open-ended thus, I'd be curious what you make of the final results. I can also see this being a Ginny-haters dream post. "Hate" times 8. ;)

Hopefully you do get honest responses but knowing fandom...

I really just want a general impression. I didn't want to word it too specifically, because I'm kind of looking for people's gut reactions.

Okay. I'll try my best then. Thanks for your reply. :)

I have a really hard time separating my feelings about Ginny from my feelings about H/G. I loved H/G (snogging or foreshadowing, take your pick) in all seven books. But I didn't like the way Ginny was written in HBP (and in retrospect OotP, though it wasn't as glaring to me at the time). Also, I don't dislike her the way I dislike, say Rita Skeeter or Umbridge; my gut reaction to hearing her name isn't negative or anything. I actually think it's impossible for me to state an opinion of her because who she is supposed to be is so wildly different from the way she seemed to me as a reader. I love Ron and Hermione for all the reasons I'm supposed to love them, but I dislike Ginny for all the reasons I'm supposed to love her.

It's not even comparable to, say, Snape fans loving Snape in spite of what JKR's said about how unpleasant he is -- they (OK, I'm talking like

angua9 here, not the astral plane ladies) are drawn to him because he is supposed to be a complex and compelling character. My dislike of Ginny has absolutely no basis in JKR's intent -- so in a way, I don't take it seriously. I wouldn't say I hate Ginny at all; what I hate is that the Ginny I saw was so different from the Ginny Harry saw. And that's pretty much my only complaint with the entire series, so I'm not that fussed. ;)

(P.S. She was totally fine again in DH, but I said "like" instead of "love" because I haven't forgotten HBP!)

(OK, I'm talking like angua9 here, not the astral plane ladies)

Sorry

dianora, I just want to point out that even though most Snape fans in the fandom aren't as out there as the Snapewives, they, unlike

angua9, weren't really Snapefans until Alan Rickman.

I think that's an overgeneralization. I can name at least 5 Snapefen on my flist whose attraction to Snape had absolutely nothing to do with Alan Rickman. And I think I've only got 6 Snapefen on my flist, total.

... perhaps I should have qualified by saying most of the Snapefen I came accross as opposed to a generalised statement...

Haha, that may be true. Alan Rickman did boost Snape's appeal quite a bit (not least because he demonstrated the power of a "silky" voice).

Wasn't part of the wank that one of the Snape wives didn't actually like Alan Rickman? Or am I confusing my wanks? Ah, fandom.

I dislike Ginny for all the reasons I'm supposed to love her [...] My dislike of Ginny has absolutely no basis in JKR's intent

IAWTC. I know that I'm reading the books "wrong" when I don't like Ginny, same as my dislike for Hagrid. I just try not to think about her, and when I do, I mostly just remember that my reaction aside, she's supposed to be smart and funny and a nice person, so that's how I try to look her and her function in the books.

Unless I'm talking with my other Ginny-disliking friends, then we indulge in wildly delusional interpretations. ~_^

Yeah, this is kinda how I feel as well. :) I know I'm supposed to like her and I know Jo likes her but ... I really rather don't.

I actually think it's impossible for me to state an opinion of her because who she is supposed to be is so wildly different from the way she seemed to me as a reader.

This is exactly how I feel about Ginny. This sounds harsh, but...I just can't think of her as a *character*. That is, I cannot think of her as a person who walks and talks and exists independently in the Harry Potter universe, because it always seems like the author is intruding on the text.

entrenous88 said it best:

even her Quidditch playing and standing up to Harry has the feel of "sassiness needed here -- use Ginny to supply" than a real sense of her character engaging in those situations, and reacting with a way that we either anticipate or are surprised by, because we know something of her. She's a function for now, and perhaps won't get a chance to be much more than that.

So when I responded to the poll, I just gave my gut reaction about the way JKR wrote Ginny, rather than Ginny herself.

Here via

daily_snitch.

the Ginny I saw was so different from the Ginny Harry saw

For me, I think the words "the Ginny Harry saw" are the crucial ones there. The books are written more-or-less from Harry's POV - and he's a teenager, with teenage emotions and a major crush. His perceptions of Ginny are therefore tinted, and thus so are the readers'.

Personally, I love Ginny. She's so fiery. I really wish Rowling had done more with her though - I mean, after what she went through in CoS she must have all kinds of issues that were never really dealt with in the books.

I love Ginny in all the books, so I responded as such.

I'm now wondering, do you mean was I satisfied with Ginny (or her page time, or character growth, etc) in each of these books?

I'm really just looking for your gut feelings, not literary analysis. :)

Hmm...I decided to answer, even though I'm not done with DH yet, but I'm thinking my opinion won't change significantly...if it does, I'll let you know!

Anyway, from start to finish, I've liked Ginny...just slightly more than neutral, though...I might have put that as my answer, except that I like the fact that she ended up with Harry!

As far as the Snape conversation that's been going on...it's hard to say whether I would have appreciated him as fast if it weren't for Alan Rickman, but since I pretty much discovered the actor and the character simultaneously, it doesn't really matter...I'd like to think I'd have recognized Snape's complexity and his pathos, which after my AR obsession toned down, I believe has lasted for me...pity JKR doesn't always seem to know what she did when she created him!

I also wanted to add: if you don't mind being inundated with more responders to your poll, you might consider pimping this at the

daily_snitch--it would probably give a more accurate picture of the fandom's response to Ginny.

My thoughts about Ginny are very similar to

dianora's, I loved Ginny from the beginning but something about how she was written in OotP and HBP struck me as odd. I did still like her, just slightly less than what I did in the first four books.

Livejournal ate a much longer post but if you want more details, I will provide. I was the one who vote they hated Ginny in PS/SS. I thought she was a total brat both times at the train station and I saw a parallel between the way she wanted to treat Harry and the snake at the zoo in the earlier chapter. Molly admonished her for that but there she was at the end, popping up at the end doing that exact behavior.

I did not do as one person above suggested the some people might and just vote "hate" straight though (since as of this post, no one has voted that they hated her in PoA). I only voted hate one other time and that was for HBP. I actually liked Ginny in CoS and OOTP, was neutral towards her in PoA (if you blink you miss her in that book) and GoF (her positive action balanced out a negative [or at the very least non] action, IMO). DH and overall, I voted dislike.

What people have said above far more articulately then I could manage, I think more of my hate/dislike for her in the last two books has more to do with the way JKR tried to force her down my throat and I did not appreciate that at all. Again, I had calmed down from my earlier hate of her brattiness in PS/SS and I even like in her in OOTP but HBP was just too way in my face to be ignored. I feel it's such a shame too. At the end of the day, I am glad Harry got his happy ending, but I just wish that Ginny had been developed better and more evenly.

This...

I actually think it's impossible for me to state an opinion of her because who she is supposed to be is so wildly different from the way she seemed to me as a reader.

...more or less sums up how I feel as well.
So much of who Ginny is is given to us secondhand.
For example, Fred and George mentioning the Bat Bogey Hex or Slughorn mentioning it. I think that it gets mentioned quite a bit though we never actually see it. We continually hear about how strong she is without seeing much on scene proof.
JKR spent most of the series writing her as this person who was shy and subjugating her true self b/c she had a crush on Harry. So then when we do see what is supposed to be her true self, it is rather off-putting and feels forced.
Rather than seeing her as lively, she seems contradictory and/or obnoxious. I suppose ..knowing people in real life at that age...I just don't buy that after being in the same House that Ginny would not have developed some coping mechanisms that while not perfect would have functioned sufficiently for her not to swallow her own words or blush to the roots of her red hair every time that he entered the room (that is before she got herself a b/f o_O). Her characterization just feels wrong to me.

I've always either liked or loved her :)

Here from

hpgw_otp.

I tried to do my initial impressions because I noticed you said that was what you wanted in the comments. I think the only difference between how I felt about her then and how I think about her now might be "neutral" getting upped to "like" in a book or two.

For the first four books, I didn't really pay enough attention to Ginny to feel about her either way, but I'm sure that if someone had asked me back then I would have said she was nice enough.

I found this poll very fascinating, thank you for creating it! It is interesting to see how the mood towards Ginny changed over time.

Personally I'd love to see the last four questions (OotP, HBP, DH and the series over all) asked again and taking whether the voter supports/likes the Ginny/Harry relationship into account. While some people do have the knee-jerk reaction to liking Ginny based on the G/H ship (from BOTH fans and those that dislike the ship) it would be interesting to see how people swing on their take on Ginny's character.

*nods* It would be interesting to see how much level of support for H/G affects feelings toward Ginny overall. I used to think it was probably the biggest factor in whether or not people like Ginny, but now I suspect a lot of the reactions to Ginny (both ways) are more complex than that.

Definitely, I don't like the Ginny/Harry relationship as it works in canon, but I'd still say Ginny (at least pre-DH) was a character I "liked" or "loved". DH has made me reconsider what I thought I did like/love about Ginny's character (mostly that things I considered important about her didn't seem to ...happen.

But I do think the Ginny/Harry relationship often has a knee-jerk reaction from most of fandom when they think of (particularly) Ginny. Not so much Harry *rolls eyes at fandom*

I should also say to you, I liked this poll idea so much I had a friend do a poll for Luna (http://ladyknyght.livejournal.com/25685.html) based on it - hope you don't mind! <3

Now I want more like it. One for Hermione! Ron! Harry! ooh, NEVILLE! I just want to see the huge surge in Neville love in DH XD

I'll admit that for the most part I'm really Neutral about Ginny as a whole. I liked her (bordered on love, too) in OotP, but that turned back into Neutrality when (and no offense is meant to those who hold other opinions) it felt like we weren't being shown enough of her to believe all that other characters said...as in, if she's going to be this really powerful witch, then I'd like to see it, like we did with Hermione, and to some extent (due to the book presence ratio) Luna. But I certainly don't hate Ginny, since I don't feel I could ever hate a character I portrayed in an RPG, and I portrayed Ginny between OotP and HBP, so never with any HBP plot devices. Perhaps that's why I reverted so much back to neutral after HBP...because I liked my Ginny better than HBP!Ginny.

Interesting poll, though!

I stand by the firsm belief that Ginny is a good character and sometimes bad writers happen to good Characters. HBP Ginny Sue was shyte, but I'm going to just say that she was going through some issues.

I like my anon!Ginny--- the kind, understanding lesbian girl that will grow up to either be in a Bike gang with Pansy until she's 31 and steals Lavender Brown from her husband (while Lavender's pregnant!)

Or the girl who will accompany her brother Ron to meetings of the Wizard Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered alliance.

Recent discussion has made me curious...

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