Tuesday, April 10, 2012

My Childhood Heroes, Part I: Hermione Granger


Welcome to the latest strawberry feature of this blog, where I will talk about the heroes and idols of my childhood and take a look at how they have inspired me and made me the person I am now.
Most of them are female, but the word "heroine" makes me think of either a glamorous actress or a drug, so I'm not going to use it in this feature.
This is also going to be quite personal, which some people might like, while others might not.

The first hero that will step in to the spotlight in this feature, is perhaps the greatest one, and also the one that has had the greatest influence on me: Hermione Granger from the HARRY POTTER series.

When I read the Harry Potter books, I thought Hermione was a lot like me, but I didn't like how her looks were described - she didn't seem very beautiful, and as every little girl, my idols had to be not only smart and admirable, but also pretty.
The one person who really brought Hermione to life for me then, and who also became one of my teenage idols, was Emma Watson. Right after seeing the second film (which was the first one I saw, strangely), I went my mum and asked her to cut my hair Hermione-style. So I ran around with straight bangs - and looked like an idiot.
Anyways, as Hermione changed looks after the second film, I did too, and inspired by Emma Watson's personal style, I grew interested in fashion too.

But to get back to the first films (and books); Hermione was quite snotty and bigheaded at the beginning - and I just admired that. The way she seemingly didn't care if anybody was harassing her, I was really jealous of that.
Then, when she locked herself in the bathroom because she was sad, I was close to crying. Though I always had a few close friends when I was smaller, I was more of an introvert because of various things, and the fact that I was always the best in my class wasn't helpful.
But then I found that Harry, Ron and Hermione - they all were very close friends, and they weren't in some big gang or something. So even their friendship became a role model for me, and made me realize that having a few really good friends is so much better than having many meh-friends.



Hermione also inspired me to take interest in school though it wasn't "cool", and though sometimes it was really boring because it was so easy. I also learned, especially through the third film/ book, that I couldn't do everything and say yes to everything. Just because you're smart it doesn't mean your energy isn't used up at some point.

Whenever I sat down and read for hours, and the thought crossed my mind that this was just too nerdy, thinking of Hermione reminded me that being nerdy wasn't something bad - it was okay, maybe it was even cool. Then, with the years I stopped reading that much and started watching movies, but it was still the same thing, and I still sometimes think of Hermione when I feel nerdy. Like right now, blogging... blogging about movies, analyzing movies - let's face it, it's nerdy!
But non-nerdy people are actually quite often jealous of us. And that's not just something I say to make me feel good, it's true, there are people who have told me this.

There are so many things that make Hermione one of my greatest heroes, that I'm not able to express them without writing a whole book about it. But there's one last thing I would like to mention at last: remember in one of the last books, when somebody asks Hermione what she wants to do when she's done with school? And you expect her to say something about a post in the ministry - but she says she wants to help people, maybe expand that Elf-organisation.

And that's when I truly realized that you should do what you want to and what you love, not what people expect you to.


14 comments:

  1. Lovely article. I love Hermione and I identified with her to, though by the end of it I thought I was more of a Luna. I've actually been told by people that I remind them of Hermione, which is ridiculous 'cuz I'm Indian. It's because I'm a nerd, but it's still very odd.
    Hermione is an excellent role model. JK Rowling has really made a wonderful character girls can look up to, and emma Watson really brought her to life.
    Speaking of Watson, she's the first person I had a girl crush on :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. It's good to know that other girls looked up to Hermione too.
      Many people have told me I remind them of Hermione too... I don't think it has to be about the looks, so it doesn't matter that you're Indian.
      I don't know if I had a girl crush on Emma Watson... I thought she was beautiful and I wanted to look just like her. Don't know if I've ever had a girl crush actually... maybe Mila Kunis in Black Swan though?

      Delete
  2. I remember running to the bookshop to get the books as soon as they came out! And then read incessantly, I would devour them in a couple of days, JK Rowling did such a great job.

    I was never a huge Hermione fan, but maybe that's because I always tend to like the boys more. But I do recognise the work, how virtuous she was - in fact, how the three of them were. And if there's one thing that I truly admired is her courage. Gosh I wish I could be like that, but I tremble at the sight of a spider! Maybe that's why I've always been more fond of Ron!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I always thought Ron was loveable! But I'm not really afraid of spiders... rather other insects like bugs...
      My class mates and other grown ups used to say how great it was that I read the Harry Potter books as soon as they were out on English... actually that's how I learned a lot of English words and really came to speak and write much better than I did before that.

      Delete
    2. Me too! I always read the english version, and it helped me a lot as well, of course! I loved the sorting hat's songs, only in english they would rhyme properly ahah!

      Delete
    3. Yes! Wow, there are so many details I've forgotten about the series... I think I should do what I've been wanting to for a long time; re-read all 7 books and re-watch the films.

      Delete
  3. Lovely article! Nerdy is definetly not a bad thing. Hermione is a proof of that ^^ I thought she was a bit annoying in earlier parts of the series but than she became really good character.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank, Sati. I just re-watched the first Harry Potter movie after many years and realized that Hermione was quite annoying in the scenes I admired when I was younger... well... :)
      But I still love her and think she's a wonderful role model.

      Delete
  4. You kind of bring up a key point that I thought about with my own childhood hero, Trinity, in a post I did a couple of months back, and that was this bit:

    There are so many things that make Hermione one of my greatest heroes, that I'm not able to express them without writing a whole book about it.

    While I am certainly not a Harry Potter fandom fan, I appreciate what you said about what you like about Hermoine, and how she has affected you.

    Looking forward to seeing the other featured heroes, here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww, thanks! From which film is Trinity, by the way? I didn't read your post back then...

      Anyway, I'm getting pretty excited to write the other posts, I know a lot of other heroes I want to talk about.

      Delete
    2. Trinity from The Matrix!

      I love posts like these anyway, so I am definitely amped to see your next one!

      Delete
    3. Oh, I haven't seen The Matrix yet (shame on me)...

      Delete
  5. Ohhhh, I'm going to love this series! So lovely to see you picked Hermione. J.K knows how to write a good character, and it's great that she's affected you in such a profound way :) Looking forward to seeing your other heroes!

    Hmm...I'm just trying to think who some of mine would be and it's really quite difficult for me! I'll have a think and get back to you on your next post! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll be looking forward to hearing what some of your childhood heroes are - and thanks!
      Good writers make me so much more jealous than good directors... hey, there's another childhood idol - J. K. Rowling :). But I think I'll focus on filmic characters here.

      Delete

Let the discussion begin!