The thing with Ginny - as well as most of the female HP characters - is that they just plain cannot win. If they are "too cool" or otherwise appealing, they are Mary Sues. If they aren't attractive enough, it's "What does he see in her?" You can bet that if Ginny were quiet and mousy we'd be deluged with "Why is Harry interested in HER?" comments.
The only way Ginny could be a Mary Sue, IMO, is if JKR suddenly changed the books to be All About Her, and instead of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince we had Ginevra Weasley and the Half-Blood Prince where Ginny was the heroine of the books and the one to defeat Voldemort. And she doesn't. The books are still all about Harry, with Ginny as a secondary character.
And you are right that a love interest has to have some appeal. Good god can you imagine the outcry if Ginny was NOT conventionally attractive? Or *gasp* a bit overweight? We'd be treated to screeds of "OMG DIE FAT BITCH" all the livelong day.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-09-17 05:24 pm (UTC)The only way Ginny could be a Mary Sue, IMO, is if JKR suddenly changed the books to be All About Her, and instead of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince we had Ginevra Weasley and the Half-Blood Prince where Ginny was the heroine of the books and the one to defeat Voldemort. And she doesn't. The books are still all about Harry, with Ginny as a secondary character.
And you are right that a love interest has to have some appeal. Good god can you imagine the outcry if Ginny was NOT conventionally attractive? Or *gasp* a bit overweight? We'd be treated to screeds of "OMG DIE FAT BITCH" all the livelong day.