R.S. Lindsay
2005-08-03 18:12:38 UTC
Still another reason why the "Harry Potter" series has "jumped the
shark" is:
CHO CHANG IN HBP
I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who was pissed off and disgusted by
the way that J.K. Rowling treated Cho Chang in "Half-Blood Prince"
(HBP). Cho's role is reduced to almost nothing, except a brief
appearance on the Hogwarts Express, and an embarrassing memory in the
back of Harry Potter's mind.
Okay, so we all knew going into "Order of the Phoenix" (OOTP) that Cho
wasn't going to be Harry's "one special girl," the one he would spend
the rest of his life with. But Cho's character had the potential to be
developed into something more than it is. She still had the potential
to become a good friend and a powerful ally for Harry.
Instead Cho's character remains unfinished, like a loose thread hanging
out of the side of the book. The way J.K. Rowling treats Cho, you have
to wonder. What has she got against this poor girl?!
I disagree with those who say that Cho's magical talents are limited.
Cho's biggest disadvantage in the books is that she is not Hermione
Granger. Compared to Hermione, ANY girl at Hogwarts, including Ginny
Weasley, would seem to be untalented.
Cho had her own talents that could have served Harry Potter well in his
fight against evil. At the end of OOTP, Cho is able to do a Patronus
charm -- which, as Hermione says is, "Very advanced magic." (Even Ron
Weasley was still having trouble with his Patronus when Cho created her
silver swan.)
And let's not forget, Cho is in Ravenclaw House, which according to the
books is the home of the cleverest students at Hogwarts. I would have
really liked to have seen Cho do something clever in the books that
would show us WHY the Sorting Hat put her in Ravenclaw instead of, say,
Hufflepuff. Maybe she could have shown Harry and the rest of
Dumbledore's Army some old Chinese spells that would be useful in
fighting the Dark Arts.
But no! Like the rest of Dumbledore's Army, Cho's part in HBP is
reduced to almost nothing. Strange, but J.K. Rowling seems to go out of
her way to make sure that only one house gets all the glory at
Hogwarts. A student wizard can't be a real hero or a Quidditch champion
in these books unless he or she is in Gryffindor.
I also disagree with those who say that Cho is a shallow character
because she stood by her friend Marietta Edgecombe after Marietta
betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Dolores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge in
OOTP. Cho is just doing what Harry Potter would have done if Ron
Weasley or Hermione Granger had made a similar mistake.
It's interesting that we never hear Marietta Edgecombe's side of the
story. In OOTP, Cho tells Harry that Marietta is "A lovely person who
made a mistake." It's just possible that Cho is right! Perhaps Marietta
betrayed Dumbledore's Army because Cornelius Fudge threatened to fire
her mother from her job at the Ministry of Magic. Or perhaps Marietta
betrayed the group because she thought Harry Potter was trying to
become another Voldemort.
The point is, it's too easy to dismiss Marietta as evil because she
didn't trust Harry Potter. I WOULD HAVE LIKED IT IF J.K. ROWLING HAD
GIVEN US MARIETTA'S SIDE OF THE STORY!
I also would have liked it if J.K. Rowling had let Harry and Cho try to
work out their differences in HBP, even if they didn't get back
together as a couple. Perhaps Cho would have had to make a choice
between her friendship with Marietta and her desire to re-join Harry
and fight back against evil in memory of Cedric Diggory.
But of course, we'll never see that now, because J.K. Rowling made Cho
and the rest of the Hogwarts students forget all about Dumbledore's
Army in HBP.
What REALLY pisses me off is that, by relegating Cho Chang to "distant
memory" status in HBP, J.K. Rowling robbed us of a final "Seeker's
duel" between Harry and Cho on the Quidditch field!
What I really would have liked to have seen in HBP was one last match
between Harry and Cho in which Cho beat Harry to the Golden Snitch.
This would be interesting to see because: 1. It would have been a great
comeback for Cho and 2. It would show us how Harry might handle LOSING
the Snitch to another Seeker, in a fair-and-square match (as opposed to
his losing the match after being knocked out of the game by a Bludger
or a squad of Dementors).
Harry's near-perfect record of always getting to the Snitch before the
other Seeker is, quite frankly, a bit dull! What I want to know is, how
would Harry handle it if he LOST to another Seeker in a fair match? How
would he handle it if, in one game, the other Seeker was better than
him, and got to the Snitch before him?
But instead of exploring a new aspect of Harry's character in this way,
J.K. Rowling chooses to "chicken out" in HBP. Instead of giving us a
final duel between Harry and Cho, she gives us a re-run of the previous
year's Quidditch final. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw with Ginny vs. Cho as
Seekers. AND ONCE AGAIN, WE DON'T EVEN SEE THE MATCH IN THE BOOK,
BECAUSE HARRY POTTER IS DOING A DETENTION!
How boring! I think J.K. Rowling has decided to stop writing about
Quidditch because she THINKS she's run out of things to say about it.
I'd expect this of a less creative writer. But a writer of her caliber
could always come up with something new to say on a subject -- IF
they'd put forth the effort to do so, instead of going for the easy
cop-out!
Of course, Ginny beats Cho to the Snitch again. Why? So Harry can kiss
her for the first time at the victory party. Big deal! He would have
kissed her eventually anyway!
With Cho Chang, I see evidence of J.K. Rowling being afraid to take
chances with her characters. She'd rather let secondary characters like
Cho fizzle out than continue to develop them into significant
supporting roles. Again, considering the significant character
development that occurs in her earlier books, I really expected better
of J.K. Rowling.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jumped the Shark" -- A term used to describe a once-good TV series (or
movie or book series) that has lost its original quality edge. When the
quality of the series has declined and it is no longer as good as it
once was, we say that it has "jumped the shark." The term comes from
the U.S. TV show "Happy Days," in which the quality of the show began
to decline following the episode where the Fonz jumped over a shark on
water skis.
shark" is:
CHO CHANG IN HBP
I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who was pissed off and disgusted by
the way that J.K. Rowling treated Cho Chang in "Half-Blood Prince"
(HBP). Cho's role is reduced to almost nothing, except a brief
appearance on the Hogwarts Express, and an embarrassing memory in the
back of Harry Potter's mind.
Okay, so we all knew going into "Order of the Phoenix" (OOTP) that Cho
wasn't going to be Harry's "one special girl," the one he would spend
the rest of his life with. But Cho's character had the potential to be
developed into something more than it is. She still had the potential
to become a good friend and a powerful ally for Harry.
Instead Cho's character remains unfinished, like a loose thread hanging
out of the side of the book. The way J.K. Rowling treats Cho, you have
to wonder. What has she got against this poor girl?!
I disagree with those who say that Cho's magical talents are limited.
Cho's biggest disadvantage in the books is that she is not Hermione
Granger. Compared to Hermione, ANY girl at Hogwarts, including Ginny
Weasley, would seem to be untalented.
Cho had her own talents that could have served Harry Potter well in his
fight against evil. At the end of OOTP, Cho is able to do a Patronus
charm -- which, as Hermione says is, "Very advanced magic." (Even Ron
Weasley was still having trouble with his Patronus when Cho created her
silver swan.)
And let's not forget, Cho is in Ravenclaw House, which according to the
books is the home of the cleverest students at Hogwarts. I would have
really liked to have seen Cho do something clever in the books that
would show us WHY the Sorting Hat put her in Ravenclaw instead of, say,
Hufflepuff. Maybe she could have shown Harry and the rest of
Dumbledore's Army some old Chinese spells that would be useful in
fighting the Dark Arts.
But no! Like the rest of Dumbledore's Army, Cho's part in HBP is
reduced to almost nothing. Strange, but J.K. Rowling seems to go out of
her way to make sure that only one house gets all the glory at
Hogwarts. A student wizard can't be a real hero or a Quidditch champion
in these books unless he or she is in Gryffindor.
I also disagree with those who say that Cho is a shallow character
because she stood by her friend Marietta Edgecombe after Marietta
betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Dolores Umbridge and Cornelius Fudge in
OOTP. Cho is just doing what Harry Potter would have done if Ron
Weasley or Hermione Granger had made a similar mistake.
It's interesting that we never hear Marietta Edgecombe's side of the
story. In OOTP, Cho tells Harry that Marietta is "A lovely person who
made a mistake." It's just possible that Cho is right! Perhaps Marietta
betrayed Dumbledore's Army because Cornelius Fudge threatened to fire
her mother from her job at the Ministry of Magic. Or perhaps Marietta
betrayed the group because she thought Harry Potter was trying to
become another Voldemort.
The point is, it's too easy to dismiss Marietta as evil because she
didn't trust Harry Potter. I WOULD HAVE LIKED IT IF J.K. ROWLING HAD
GIVEN US MARIETTA'S SIDE OF THE STORY!
I also would have liked it if J.K. Rowling had let Harry and Cho try to
work out their differences in HBP, even if they didn't get back
together as a couple. Perhaps Cho would have had to make a choice
between her friendship with Marietta and her desire to re-join Harry
and fight back against evil in memory of Cedric Diggory.
But of course, we'll never see that now, because J.K. Rowling made Cho
and the rest of the Hogwarts students forget all about Dumbledore's
Army in HBP.
What REALLY pisses me off is that, by relegating Cho Chang to "distant
memory" status in HBP, J.K. Rowling robbed us of a final "Seeker's
duel" between Harry and Cho on the Quidditch field!
What I really would have liked to have seen in HBP was one last match
between Harry and Cho in which Cho beat Harry to the Golden Snitch.
This would be interesting to see because: 1. It would have been a great
comeback for Cho and 2. It would show us how Harry might handle LOSING
the Snitch to another Seeker, in a fair-and-square match (as opposed to
his losing the match after being knocked out of the game by a Bludger
or a squad of Dementors).
Harry's near-perfect record of always getting to the Snitch before the
other Seeker is, quite frankly, a bit dull! What I want to know is, how
would Harry handle it if he LOST to another Seeker in a fair match? How
would he handle it if, in one game, the other Seeker was better than
him, and got to the Snitch before him?
But instead of exploring a new aspect of Harry's character in this way,
J.K. Rowling chooses to "chicken out" in HBP. Instead of giving us a
final duel between Harry and Cho, she gives us a re-run of the previous
year's Quidditch final. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw with Ginny vs. Cho as
Seekers. AND ONCE AGAIN, WE DON'T EVEN SEE THE MATCH IN THE BOOK,
BECAUSE HARRY POTTER IS DOING A DETENTION!
How boring! I think J.K. Rowling has decided to stop writing about
Quidditch because she THINKS she's run out of things to say about it.
I'd expect this of a less creative writer. But a writer of her caliber
could always come up with something new to say on a subject -- IF
they'd put forth the effort to do so, instead of going for the easy
cop-out!
Of course, Ginny beats Cho to the Snitch again. Why? So Harry can kiss
her for the first time at the victory party. Big deal! He would have
kissed her eventually anyway!
With Cho Chang, I see evidence of J.K. Rowling being afraid to take
chances with her characters. She'd rather let secondary characters like
Cho fizzle out than continue to develop them into significant
supporting roles. Again, considering the significant character
development that occurs in her earlier books, I really expected better
of J.K. Rowling.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jumped the Shark" -- A term used to describe a once-good TV series (or
movie or book series) that has lost its original quality edge. When the
quality of the series has declined and it is no longer as good as it
once was, we say that it has "jumped the shark." The term comes from
the U.S. TV show "Happy Days," in which the quality of the show began
to decline following the episode where the Fonz jumped over a shark on
water skis.