I've heard it argued that Remus is allegorically female, which is truly bizarre to me, and bordering on offensive.
I can see how that allegory is reached at - again, looking at the moon (which is used as another mythological construct for womanhood - monthly cycles, etc), and at the possible allegorical use of lycanthropy in literature in general. But it doesn't work for me, either, and I agree about the borderline offensiveness of it.
The centaur thing was intense -- it's such a dangerous, sexualized moment, like dark old fairy tales before they're cleaned up for Disney.
Exactly. It's the cleaning up (which WILL happen when this comes to film) that I actually dislike, even though I understand it from some angles. Some Disney films, to use concrete examples, hardly shy away from the darker, more sexualized side of the issues presented - The Hunchback of Notre Dame comes to mind, as does Sleeping Beauty - and I've felt uncomfortable watching these films with children in the room, especially Hunchback. I have a hard time with the idea that small children (I'm talking under 11) have read OotP. Just because they won't necessarily read into it what we have, doesn't mean they aren't picking up on it on some level. And that seques into yet *another* thread, so I'll stop there. ;-)
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I can see how that allegory is reached at - again, looking at the moon (which is used as another mythological construct for womanhood - monthly cycles, etc), and at the possible allegorical use of lycanthropy in literature in general. But it doesn't work for me, either, and I agree about the borderline offensiveness of it.
The centaur thing was intense -- it's such a dangerous, sexualized moment, like dark old fairy tales before they're cleaned up for Disney.
Exactly. It's the cleaning up (which WILL happen when this comes to film) that I actually dislike, even though I understand it from some angles. Some Disney films, to use concrete examples, hardly shy away from the darker, more sexualized side of the issues presented - The Hunchback of Notre Dame comes to mind, as does Sleeping Beauty - and I've felt uncomfortable watching these films with children in the room, especially Hunchback. I have a hard time with the idea that small children (I'm talking under 11) have read OotP. Just because they won't necessarily read into it what we have, doesn't mean they aren't picking up on it on some level. And that seques into yet *another* thread, so I'll stop there. ;-)