Too much has been written about Harry Potter, so today let's take a look at his unpleasant uncle, drill salesman Vernon Dursley.Thanks to the books and movies, Dursley has become an icon of modern society, a brutish, nasty, closed-minded bigot who bullies his nephew and spoils his son. Have I missed any charges?
In truth, Dursley is guilty of one crime and one minor offense. His minor offense is that he is an intensely dislikable fellow. The real strike against him is that he is a common man; and these days, few things are so deplorable as the common man.
Seriously, read the Potter books and you quickly realize that while Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and Delores Umbridge are portrayed as bad people, Vernon Dursley and his family receive even worse treatment. They are held in derision.
So what exactly is wrong with the Dursleys? Well, they are mean to Harry, the freeloader who has moved into their home and thus endangered their lives. He didn't even come with any inheritance, at least not that he is willing to share. Vernon and Petunia accepted Harry into their home with no dowry, knowing full-well that evil wizards would like to kill him.
Beyond the crime of living in a normal home on a normal block in a normal suburb, the only law-breaking Vernon seems to do is overwater his lawn during a time of rationing. Really, folks, we are talking about a man who is faithful to his wife and adores his hulking son. Sure, Dursley seems oblivious to his son's room temperature IQ. So what? We're talking about a tax-paying, law-abiding, home owner.
But here is where Vernon Dursley goes from bigot to good man... Have you ever heard Harry apologize? The last time we see Dursley and his family in the books, they need to be evacuated from their home because Harry will shortly turn 17 and then his enemies will come and kill everyone in the house. Harry never apologizes to the Dursleys for causing them to abandon their home. He doesn't even say thank you.
Harry's lack of gratitude is not highlighted in the book, however. What is harped about in the book is that Vernon gives Harry little more than a nod and a quick goodbye. Personally, I'd have something a bit stronger for the boy who cost me my home.
28 comments:
I've seen the movies but have not read the books.
Good points!
Hahaha wow that was an excellent viewpoint, and you're correct of course.. I've read the entire series and now I feel like everything I read was wrong! ;)
Jon, been a while. How are you doing?
I haven't read the books, and I'm lukewarm about the movies. Harry has always struck me as a whiny spoiled kid. Sure you can feel bad he lost his parents, but he doesn't ever seem to really appreciate the support system he has around him. Be it his uncle, his friends, or his teachers. He feels like a victim all the time, which isn't my sort of hero.
You are right, JenMo, I am lukewarm toward the Potter movies myself.
True confession, I adore the Harry Potter books and while I am envious of J.K. Rowling's success, I fully believe she deserves it. She is a great writer and a wonderfu storyteller--and those are two rare skills indeed.
Harry can be whiny and he is especially awful in book 5. But I'll tell you what, those books are so full of adventure and humor and great characters. The movies have not done the books justice, but I do not know how they could.
Yeah, Harry was a whiny loser in the 5th one.
You just corrupted my entire viewpoint of Harry Potter right there. That doesn't happen every day.
But it is all true, I guess.
I'm alright thanks.. just been crazy busy lately.
And yea, the movies are just so-so, especially after having read the books.
Kit, I hope that does not mean you will stop liking those books... books I happebn to consider brilliant and meaningful.
Jon, welcome back. I hope crazy busy is good.
Hi Steve. Long time no see. Do you remember me? I used to work for a movie production company in Honolulu as a PR person. What is the best way to contact you?
Of course I remember you, Yumi. You were one of the best parts about meeting with Square. Send me a post with your email on it. I will not post it--to preserve your privacy, and I will respond back directly.
Are you still in Honolulu?
haha...harry potter is a pimp...what i would do to use a wand and mess with ppl...everyone can be spoiled...he does sacrifice his childhood to stop evil though.
Hunter, kind of like with 'the force' in Star Wars.... I would have been a bad Jedi, accused of blowing girl's skirts up....
oh definatly...i would be a sith...being good sucks.
It didn't do Dursely much good.
Since we're on the topic of how Harry's viewpoints might be incorrect, I think that we should look at Dumbledore.
Almost everything that Harry knows about Voldemort came from Dumbledore. Almost everything that Harry did (not counting what happened at the end of the fourth book) happened as a direct result of something that Dumbledore did.
So with this in mind, how do we know that Dumbledore isn't the true villain of the series, and that he didn't just fake his death at the end?
You might mention that Snape gave Harry the truth through the Penseive, but let's remember, as mentioned in the Goblet of Fire, the Penseive only shows thoughts, whether they're real or not.
So, is it possible? Is Dumbledore the true villain of the series?
Hero or villain, Dumbledor was never ever what he appeared to be. Great character.
Now I haven't read any of the books but it's been cool in the movies to see the characters grow and change over the years.
Dumbledore was human. when he was young he had ambition to rule non-wizards...once his sister dies he realizes that he was going along the wrong path. He was not a villian just a regular guy who had powers no one else had. He wanted to do good but no one is perfect. He made mistakes....and they came back to bite him in his ass later on.
Every good lie has at least an ounce of truth...Dumbledore had several ounces.
I personally believe Dumbledor was a great hero, he just wasn't the great hero we thought he was in the first six books.
This is a little off-topic, but since it's still a movie thing it's not too off-topic (I hope)....
Anyone seen The Watchmen yet? The wife and I watched it last Saturday... I was extremely underwhelmed to say the least. We both agreed that not only was the film extremely overhyped, it was poorly executed as well.
Ah The Watchmen, a movie people either love or hate with nothing in between.
I also took a look at the comics and while they were decent, I didn't find them mind-blowing or anything.
Here, Aaron, we disagree. the first few chapters are merely introduction. By the time Rorschark is in undergoing psychiatric, for me at least, The Watchmen had gone from okay to incredible. And by the end, it slipped back into mortal status. the middle chapters, for me, were unmatched.
Hate to be a stickler, but I'm gonna have to point out that the title is simply "Watchmen". There is no "The" in the title. Sorry, just something that I've seen a lot of people do and I'm strangely bothered by it lol.
As for the movie, I was slightly underwhelmed as well. I did however enjoy the graphic novel, one of the best novels of any medium that I've ever read. They did a fairly good job of making it into a movie, and I actually enjoyed the movie ending despite the huge change from the original. It was a very stylized movie, but overall I think it was a good experience, though I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to.
Jon,
About calling it "Watchmen" instead of "The Watchmen," for years I referred to Akihabara, the electric district of Tokyo, as "The Akihabara." In my economy, calling "The Watchment" "Watchmen" is just claiming back some of those wasted "the"s.
Just joking. I'm up early this morning, my sense of humor is still asleep. Of course, some people think it never wakes up.
Excellent take on Harry. He is inconsiderate. I wonder how anyone would turn against a baby when left on their doorstep. Honestly I would think the more likely story would have been the Dursley's loving Harry and doing everything in their power to keep him from being a Wizard due to what happened to his parents. I never really thought that side of the story was well thought out. Why weren't Dementors sent to the Dursley's since the Wizards protected it. They seems able to get at Harry and Dudley when they left the home...too many things don't fly when you REALLY think about it.
Alas, poor Dursley, maligned and misunderstood.
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