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[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
Guess Elliot will start filming for Merlin soon?
Given the title and mythology of 5×3, makes sense. I suspect we’ll get a glimpse of him in 503 and then a full on Merlin centric in 504
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Apparently, Harry Potter was born in 1980, with the majority of the series taking place between 1991-1997, based on various clues form the books. Here’s one site explaining it: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/main/timeline_1990s.html
That explains how the Dursleys got away with how they treated Harry.
Oh I don’t know. You’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to suspect that something was going on at the Dursley home. He’s incredibly skinny, his glasses are tapped up, he obviously has no friends, he is wearing clothing that is far too big while his cousin seems to have the best of everything, I doubt Petunia and Vernon were going to parent/teacher conferences. Even if Harry has no physical bruises showing signs of abuse, there are a lot of indicators that something isn’t quite right at home. Like Jo said, the system is complicated and reporting suspected abuse is a lot more than just picking up the telephone. Even in today’s age of 2015, it still constantly go unreported by teachers who have too many students and not enough time on their hands. Whether it’s 1980 or 2015…it happens. A lot.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Also something that might be worth considering is when does the story of Harry Potter take place? It is timeless in the sense that it doesn’t feel dated, however, times do change so what might’ve been acceptable then might not be considered acceptable now. Example: People are more aware of the signs of abuse now than they were back in the day.
Universal constructs are universal and timeless for a reason. They can speak to us at any stage of history. The lyrics change, but the song remains the same. The lonely hero who is alone until he is called off to adventure is old. Like. OLD.
However the reason why a lot of modern readers take HP as an allegory for, say, LGBTQ rights is because it’s probably the social justice issue that we’re talking about right now. Had this series been written, say, back in the 1950s and 60s, the racism and disenfranchisement of a non-white race would probably be the first allegory to spring to mind. Neither is, strictly speaking, wrong. And I don’t know that JKR intended for one to be held up above the other. I think JKR is a big believer in BBTTR–books belong to their readers–the question I posed a few pages back
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Another passing note, but Harry dreams of a flying motorbike. Infants don’t exactly retain memories at that young of age. I think the general consensus is that we start to form lasting memories around 3? Either JKR is using literary license or Harry’s abilities have manifested way earlier because of his trauma.
If Hagrid kept buzzing the house for years trying to check up on Harry, it would explain a lot about the Dursleys’ attitude. The memory might come from Harry riding his toy broomstick when he was very young. Or maybe it’s the Other Guy who is remembering the motorcycle ride.
The first image made me laugh way more than it should.
However, your secondary point inside tags makes a lot of sense.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Good morning. Are we still emotionally traumatized? I blame Slurpeez.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Poldark 1×07 and 1×08
Or: There is much in this world which is monstrous
Cause and effect. Action and consequences. Or, here endth the first season of Poldark. And we’re all a little bit more damaged because of it.
Obviously there is a lot about this episode that bears careful thought and consideration. To heck if I am able to provide that. I must say, on the whole, I’ve enjoyed this series. I think it’s far darker and gritter than most other literature and adaptations of that literature of its ilk. The closest I can draw a comparison to is North and South which likewise deals with the conditions of the poor and the great class struggles.
But North and South didn’t kill a baby so there’s that.
Is there justice in this world? I think that’s the main question Poldark as a whole is getting at. Can justice–true, honest, high ideal justice–be had? At the end of this first season, I’d say no. I think the show Poldark wants us to understand that justice is a fragile and tiny thing. You can struggle for it, tooth and nail, just like Ross is doing, but in the end there is always something that’s going to get in justice’s way, and for Poldark, it’s money and privilege and greed. It’s no surprise that as the Poldark family star sets, the Warleggens really show their true colors. We knew they were the antagonists all season, of course, but the careful manipulations and machinations we saw in these final two episodes really solidified that they are as close to a sort of evil as we are likely to get in this world. Or maybe it’s money that’s evil. It corrupts. It damages. The Warleggens, like I said a review or two back, were once very poor and recently have since come into money and thus are determined to keep it. Determined to the point where they’ve lost humanity and refuse to act like anything other than business men. The eldest Warleggen’s sneer at the death of little Julia and how that would mean Ross was otherwise engaged…that was just straight up devilry.
Ross and Demelza try to live a good life, caring and providing for those under them; they are generous and kind to the miners, to the poor, to their friends, and to their family who, because of class and culture, want nothing to do with Demelza after the Verity affair. Yet it’s Demelza who goes to care for Elizabeth and her family…and loses her own in return.
Justice. It does not exist in the way we imagine, if indeed at all. Good things are supposed to happen to good people. If this were a story in which justice could actually prevail, then Elizabeth, Francis and little Geoffrey-Charles would recover swiftly, forgive Demelza and Ross, become one big happy family again, along with Verity and Captain and live forevermore in the lap of comfort, away from the Warleggen greedy (and apparently wandering) eye. But alas. It’s not a world where justice can work such magic. It’s a world where little Julia Poldark dies in her father’s arms and we watch Ross shoulder his daughter’s coffin all by himself.
Justice in this world is Mark on the run, Ennis living with the guilt of a dead Karen (hussy!) on his soul and a fractured village who got caught in the cross hairs. Justice is the secret company being bought and sold, brick by hard earned brick, by the Warleggens as they gobble up everything in sight. Justice is Ross Poldark plundering a ship for food and goods, as is normal law at this time, and then being carted off to jail simply because the Warleggen’s put some money in the right hands.
Justice is Demelza trying to help out a friend, the only woman who was kind to her when news of her and Ross got out, and realizing that her actions has long lasting and serious consequences because she could never imagine that two people happy together would be such a domino effect. Justice is Demelza losing Ross’s trust for a short while because of her secrets. Justice is Francis selling his secrets to Warleggen in order to exact revenge on Ross because of all the perceived slights over the years. You know that saying, justice is blind; well in Poldark its eyes are wide open are it casts its gaze where it is told.
And the gaze is yours if the price is right.
So, there are no happy endings, though we do know that Poldark has been renewed for a second series. I don’t have much else to add to this because it was a highly impactful and emotional two hours of show. I think they’ve clearly set up some strings that need to be woven together in S2, like Ross’s trial, George’s intentions toward Elizabeth, and Verity’s future as Mrs. Captain. And hopefully Francis falls off a cliff at some point.
MISC NOTES
–String music. Because tradition.
–The Lady of the Night’s hat was large and wonderful. I want it.
–There were a lot of shiptastic but ultimately sad moments between Ross and Demelza.
–I don’t think George really cares for Elizabeth. I think he is determined to own everything Poldark, and that includes Francis’s wife.
–I still do not trust Verity’s Captain. I am very nervous for her. I think she was taken in by a man who is going to turn out to be quite ill tempered. I don’t forsee good things (because justice in this world…’tis fleeting)
–Really big shout out to Demelza’s actress for how she played her character in the wake of Julia’s death.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Harry’s relationship with the Dursleys has always reminded me of Cinderella’s relationship with her stepmother and stepsisters. Petunia and Vernon are the wicked parent figures forced into taking him in, Dudley is the spoiled wicked sibling, and they abuse him both physically and mentally.
*nods emphatically* And I think we should keep this point of comparison in mind when we hit chapter 4. In the meantime I’ll zip my lips.
Mrs. Trunchball scared the living daylights out of me so yes, definitely another point of comparison. Umbridge
ETA: holy moly. I just realized that the same woman who played Trunchbull in the Matilda movie played Aunt Marge. Was that deliberate?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"
