| As we continue to devote our time to rereading Harry Potter, I am reminded of how much I relate to Professor McGonagall. I always did like the no-nonsense authority figures. I do find it interesting, though, because I feel like she's not an original trope at all, and yet people would always talk about how women are portrayed as being so weak and passive. And they'd also talk about how they're afraid to speak up because they don't want to be "that woman." Well that woman is Minerva McGonagall, and she's awesome, so I really don't see what you're so afraid of.
On the other hand, I do also find myself wanting to try not to burn too many bridges in dealing with other people, so I guess the trick is, before you can be Minerva McGonagall, you have to make enough strong connections that you can get away with, for example, talking to people like she does to Dolores Umbridge, and not get yourself fired. But McGonagall is a very intelligent lady, so obviously she was able to work out the proper balance in the meantime.
Also, since the last time we read Harry Potter (by which I mean, before we started rereading the whole series), we learned that we have a fair amount of Scottish blood, so now I feel an even stronger connection to her. She's the best.
Today I'm thankful for my hero Minerva McGonagall, getting to read lots of Harry Potter today (by which I mean six chapters; we're not very fast readers, but I think that helps us have better retention (nevertheless, we still forget things over time)), successful experiments in chocolate chip pancakes (but Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips may be juuuust a little too sweet), having a good day at church, and the amusement we get out of calling a little kitten Eren Yeager. |
