A concept…

There’s an alternative universe out there where Fleur’s Veela powers effected women rather than men, leading to several very awkward conversations between Hermione and Ron during fourth year.

Halloween party at the Burrow…

Harry: This night’s going pretty good so far.
Hermione: That’s true, although I am starting to regret showing Ron ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’.
Harry: How do you mean?
Ron (from the next room): LEEEET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGGGGGAAAAAIIIIIN!…..

Let me rant for a second…

You know that scene in the OOTP film where Harry (after Fred and George have had their spectacular escape from Umbridge) suddenly starts having visions of Sirius being tortured.

Now, I know that the film-makers likely compressed these two scenes into one to save time. Which is fair enough, but the problem I have isn’t with that; it’s with the reaction from Ron and Hermione.

Ron and Hermione are standing at roughly the same distance away from Harry. Both of them are staring at Fred and George’s fireworks, and are both looking back at Harry at intervals. But, when Harry starts having his visions about Sirius, Hermione is the only one to notice, and the only one to charge forward to check on him.

Ron doesn’t even notice. There isn’t a single shot of Ron running towards Harry either, or even looking around when he saw Hermione move. For all intents and purposes, he’s virtually nonexistent in the emotional stakes for the scene.

Not only does this imply that Ron is less close to Harry than Hermione is, but it also implies that he’s not even paying attention to Hermione (even the POA film did this better). Considering that (in the books) Ron was incredibly perceptive when it came to the emotions of his friends~despite what JK Rowling would have you believe~, this comes across as a total disregard to the character.

Not only is Ron not Harry’s closest friend in the films, but he doesn’t even have the role of emotional support for his two friends that he had in the books.

The infuriating thing is that I can’t even just chalk this up to Steve Kloves’ usual rubbishy way of writing Ron, because OOTP is the only HP film not written by him. Throughout the majority of this film, Ron actually acts the most like his book counterpart than at anytime since COS. But (at this crucial moment) the film-makers decided to fall into the ‘Hermione is Harry’s emotional support and closest friend’ thing that Kloves had been pushing ever since Chris Columbus left the series inbetween COS and POA.

Do they really expect us to believe Emma Watson’s blank stare is a fair exchange for Rupert Grint’s acting ability? By this point in the series, it was already becoming obvious to the cast and crew that Rupert’s acting was already far beyond many of the other young actors. And yet, the film-makers still pushed him into the background. He wouldn’t have even needed to have any extra lines written; just have him noticing Hermione had moved, and have a shot of him kneeling next to Harry in concern.

Imagine how much of an emotional force it would have been to have both of Harry’s friend rush to his aid; showing their deep personal connection with him, and their desire to help him in any way they could.

But we didn’t get that. Because, once again, Ron Weasley isn’t allowed to be Harry’s best friend.

rupertsupportfamily:

Articles since 2002:

Rupert Grint’s new character looks absolutely nothing like Ron Weasley

Me:

Rupert Grint isn’t just Ron Weasley. Rupert Grint is a great and versatile actor

nkjemisin:

aleshakills:

cumbler-tumbler:

dariasroom:

micdotcom:

Kamilah Brock spent 8 days in a NY mental health facility because she owned a BMW

Kamilah Brock, a former New York banker, has filled a suit against the city after she was detained for eight days in a mental health facility against her will. Brock says she was committed after trying to pick up her BMW, which skeptical police did not believe she owned. To add insult to injury, Brock was then charged a hefty sum by the hospital.

WHAT THE FUCK

WTF!!!!!!

While this is a slightly older case (September 2015, the court ruled in her favor) I do want to use this as a chance to say something. And while this may be incredibly obvious to some, it may not be to everyone.

The odds are exceedingly slim that the officer in question genuinely believed that she was mentally ill. And even if she had, claiming to have a nicer car or better job than she really did would not make her a danger to herself. Nothing Brock said would justify having a person detained for even 72 hours, let alone 8 days.

These were eight days when she was forcefully medicated, held against her will, and likely denied any contact with the outside world. Aside from the unfair medical bills, that 8 days could have cost her her job, her car, relationships, and led to a lifetime of trauma.

This was a deliberate effort to destroy a black woman’s life. Because she looked too happy, too carefree and too successful, a group of police officers made the decision to ruin her in any way they could. And this is common.

Even setting aside their racist and misogynistic biases, police who arrest and harass black people over frivolous infractions are not doing so in good faith. By which I mean, it is not a case of their bias misinforming their decisions (such as when someone “fits the description” of being black). It is not a case of upholding the letter of the law more strictly with regards to black people (such as arrests for weed possession). While those are both serious issues in their own right, that’s not what’s happening in cases like these.

This is a case where the police made a conscious decision to do harm first and came up with the justification after the fact. And all too often, it works. As tragic as this story is, Brock is one of the lucky ones.

I heard about this case when it happened, and yeah – there’s just. so much. misogynoir here. And for context, they also claimed she was delusional because she said Obama followed her on Twitter. He did.

This was about putting her in her place, and about a bunch of racists taking out their frustration re a black president on a random black citizen who was just living her best life.