I AM being a grown up …

[blamebrampton]

I'm trying to read and comment more on LJ in a bid to support everyone's mission to keep the LJ-based fandom going. I just had a quick skim through a commentary on part of Deathly Hallows and despite the writer raising loads of interesting and a few excellent points, I am now obsessed with one line, and I paraphrase: 'Rowling minimises our experience of the torture of this old man.'

The writer was talking about Xenophilius Lovegood. HE IS MY AGE OR A LITTLE OLDER OR POSSIBLY EVEN YOUNGER!!

I am so filled with righteous indignation! I ride hundreds of kilometres a month! I could do that a week if I didn't have to go to work! I have all my own teeth! In a fight with Snatchers I would probably go down because they are Wizards, but I would go down biting and they would seriously regret their life choices!

Bloody young people today! Where's someone Gen Y or younger so I can patronise them? I bet you can't do long division without electronic assistance! There! That'll show you! Bah!

Excuse me, I require a cup of tea and a good lie down.

*Exits, muttering.*

Comments

[germankitty]

*joins the general outrage*

This is quickly becoming one of my pet gripes in the HP fandom -- that anyone over 40 is basically "old", or "elderly" at best. Granted, I found my first grey hair on my 19th birthday, but even now when I'm much closer to 60 than I'm totally comfortable with, I haven't completely joined the Silver League yet. (And yes, I dye my hair; I'm way too young to go grey!)

Supposedly, wizards/witches live an estimated 25 years longer than non-wizards (given that Dumbledore, at 110+ years, is considered quite old, a roughly 100-year lifespan on average sounds reasonable); going by that, middle age should start in their sixties or thereabouts. Certainly not with the Marauders' generation, though; even Molly and Arthur would only just edging towards middle age ... despite weight problems, glasses and thinning hair!

(Related rant: Most of HP fandom used to complain loudly that the actors chosen to play the adults were "too old". A while ago, I looked all of them up, and lo and behold, with the exception of Alan Rickman, pretty much everybody fell within 5 years or so of their character's supposed age. Hardly "too old", IMO, and it's not Gary Oldman's/David Thewlis' fault that they had a certain lived-in look about them, and thus did not fit the Hollywood-glamourized stereotype of sex gods in leather pants thirtysomethings. Hmph.)

[valkyrie17.livejournal.com]

Makes me laugh, because so many very young women consider Alan Rickman very sexy. Some have conniptions when they find out how old he is:)