For my journal, I looked at Ginny Weasley and how she was changed in the books compared to the movies. I used the “Fitting the Glass Slipper” journal by Jack Zippe.
In the article, “Fitting the Glass Slipper: A Comparative Study of the Princess’ Role in the Harry Potter Novels and Films,” Jack Zippe explores the idea of Ginny Weasley and whether she fits into the princess’ stereotype. Ginny has always been one of my favorite women in Harry Potter. Like most, I was disheartened by what happened to her in the movies. In my journal, I will be making the argument that changing book Ginny vs movie Ginny ultimately changed her role in the movies.
Zippe cites that, “Ginny’s role, however, does not fully correspond to the princess dramatist persona.” (86) Ginny, in the books, is often discussed as being tough. One must think about it, she is the youngest child of the Weasley’s, and not only that she is the only girl. Ginny once states herself how growing up with Fred and George made her into a stronger person. Ginny even gets invited to the Slug Club because of the amazing Bat-Bogey Hex she performs on someone. Book Ginny does not fit into the conventional damsel in distress model.
In the same note, Zippe discusses finding Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, “There is no direct link between the conquests Harry makes through the series and his marriage to Ginny.” (86) Harry, in the book, only rescues Ginny one time. Even then, Ginny doesn’t seem to fit the traditional role of damsel in distress. While she does lay there, with the life being drained out of her, it’s not true love’s kiss that breaks her spell. It is the destruction of the diary. A kiss can be seen as something beautiful and poetic. That only true love would break the curse, while the destruction of the diary is clear. It is the destruction of Ginny’s innocence while being under Tom Riddle’s spell. Not only that, Ginny is not the reason Tom Riddle steals her life. It’s Harry. Tom Riddle wanted to lure Harry down there. Unlike fairy tales, where the princess would often be the target for evil.
This brings me to Ginny in her movie iteration. Her role in the film is lacking a lot of the impact the books gave her. While Ginny in the books is seen as headstrong, clever, athletic, and caring. Movie Ginny is only ever seen as one thing: Harry’s love interest. Most of the time, Ginny is simply a background character to Harry’s life. She’s seen dancing with Neville at the Yule Ball, and still hopelessly crushing on Harry. Unlike the book, where the reader sees a Ginny who becomes more confident and even moves on from her infatuation with Harry. Even in the sixth movie, where Ginny should have a pivotal role as Harry’s support, she’s thrown away to being his love interest.
I don’t know if your first two lines on here were for us generally or for your journal, but I don’t think they are necessary for the journal to convey your point.
Overall I really like your arguments. Keep going with them and expand your points. I think you could fit a lot more in about movie Ginny and make it an even stronger journal. Great start!
I really like your journal! I think that a cool way to expand upon it could be to hypothesize why Ginny is different in the movies … was it a conscious decision to keep her in the background or was it one of those things that “just couldn’t make it into the movies, because of time”? If it’s the latter, is that even a good excuse?
What’s up, I’m gonna do the same paragraph-by-paragraph rundown that I’ve done for the other journals. c:
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Paragraph One
I’m not sure where you got the name Zippe from, but since I did my journal on the same article, I can tell you that the author was Ming-Hsun Lin (https://d2l.iup.edu/d2l/le/content/2153315/viewContent/13506260/View). I think a good addition to this paragraph could be an example of an issue you have with movie Ginny after you say, “Like most, I was disheartened by what happened to her in the movies,” just so you can give an idea of some of what you’re going to cover in the rest of the journal.
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Paragraph Two
I think you mean to say, “Lin states that” rather than “cites that” as this quote isn’t a part of a citation in the article. Additionally, the period for the sentence should go after the in-text citation, and there should just be a comma at the end of the quote. Use a colon or semicolon after “One must think about it,” maybe? I’m not great at the right places to use those, but a comma doesn’t feel quite right. Additionally, should it be Weasleys instead of Weasley’s; this is something I debate often, but since it’s plural I think there should be an ‘s’ without an apostrophe. I think you should state in the paragraph how Ginny’s toughness is what separates her from the stereotypical princess archetype; why is it that people in the princess role are often portrayed as damsels in distress, and how did Ginny subvert that?
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Paragraph Three
Again, period after the citation and comma at the end of the quote. I think the overall point of the paragraph is solid, but you could also point out that Ginny did try to get rid of the journal when she flushed it down Moaning Myrtle’s toilet. The only reason that she ended up being the “damsel in distress” again later was that she stole it back from Harry (to protect him from the journal? Honestly, I don’t remember why exactly Ginny took the diary back).
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Paragraph Four
I think you could include some of Ginny’s portrayal in the fifth film as well as an example of how Ginny was thrown away in the sixth film. Additionally, you only have two quotes in the journal, so you should insert another one somewhere.
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That’s all I’ve got for now, but feel free to leave a reply if you’d like more info!
Wonderful topic! People always complain about characters in books vs the movies but you brought up some solid points. I really only have two suggestions but they could tie into one another. Why do you think Ginny was represented this way in the movies? You could turn the answer to that question into your conclusion, which is my second suggestion. The last paragraph didn’t really leave me with closure for your argument. Aside from that you’ve written a great journal!