[stupid competitive streak...]

Okay, I admit I really like it when (usually young & male) characters act like idiots or bastards... or maybe even idiotic bastards; it's cute. It's endearing. It's in character, etc. Bottom line, I like stupid teenage boys who act before they think. Men who think too much yet make mistakes all over the place just don't have that special flare, for me, because they have no excuse and it's annoying as hell to watch them, basically. But....

It struck me that there's a difference between 'dumb' and an 'idiotic bastard'; it seems like a subtle difference, but it's crucial for me to like the character. Say, Harry. A lot of people seem to think Harry's dumb. While that's true in some ways, it's really kind of annoying in others; especially since it often leads to him being dumb in comparison to Draco, which... don't even get me started.

Harry is pretty clueless a lot of times about things like girls, motivations in shades of grey, and the thinking processes of other people, especially people he doesn't like or hasn't observed close-up (since I think he's pretty clever when it comes to negotiating the Dursleys, though he doesn't bother to kiss up or anything).

I can accept this, and I actually find it cute about him (frustrating as I'm sure more snobbish discriminating people find it). But he's an idiot in a way that a lot of self-centered, rebellious teenage boys are idiots-- inexperienced, rash, given to temper tantrums and overreactions, wanting life to be on his terms and constantly bashing his head against the wall of reality not working like it should. It's okay because the other teenage boys he knows (or at least Ron and Draco) are pretty much idiots too. Neville seems to be missing the testosterone needed to be a first-class idiot, so far.

What bothers me is when 'teenage idiot' becomes 'just plain dumb'; meaning, it's not that he misinterprets things and judges too harshly and doesn't bother to analyze to save his life, but that he doesn't have his own sort of intelligence-- his own sort of wit and resourcefulness. I draw the line when he's incapable of learning in the natural course of things, and his denseness is somehow not normal; especially when it's implied another peer (even Hermione, in the long run) is smarter. Ahhh, that gets my hackles up.

    I'm just saying that most people are intelligent in different ways.

( Looking on the bright side of 'idiot'.... )