Ron Weasley, the Mistreated Character

As a little girl, I identified with Hermione, dressing up as her for Halloween for two years. I’d beam when people would tell me I look a lot like her (not Emma Watson but Hermione the character) because of my bushy hair (which I used to detest before the comparison). I still do identify with Hermione but now also with Ron which is why they are two of my favourite characters.

I cannot fathom the palpable hatred directed at Ron nor do I understand the unquestioning admiration Hermione seems to receive. I suppose it’s the movies’ fault. Both characters are well fleshed out in the books but less so in the film adaptations.

For a book reader, it is easy to see that the films have dissected Ron’s character, surgically removed his good traits and transplanted them into Hermione’s character which sadly, destroyed both of them, yet Ron more than Hermione in the end. While Hermione Granger is the shining epitome of perfection stood atop a pedestal, Ron is made to look like someone who is fit for nothing better than to clean said pedestal, which is infuriating. Why fix something that isn’t broken? (Yes, that question is directed at Kloves more than anyone else.)

The fact of the matter is that Ron was never meant to be a sidekick, only good for a few one-liners and comic relief. He was much more than that in the books. Yes, Ron is funny, but in the books we laugh with Ron while in the movies we laugh at him. He’s not the slap stick comedian we’ve seen on screen (and I mean no offense to Rupert Grint, he does so well with what little he’s given), he’s witty, subtle and sarcastic, one of my main reasons for liking him so much.

Not only this, but he is very real. He’s poor and has an inferiority complex, but also kind, observant and quite intelligent, though appearing dumb in the movies. (It would surprise people to know that he’s better than Harry in academics.) In the first film when entrapped by Devil’s Snare he is an absolute wreck while in the book he is reasonably still and tells Hermione to conjure up flames while Harry struggles more and more. In the second book, it was Harry who asked Moaning Myrtle insensitively how a throwing a book can hurt her it’d just go right through her while Ron was given that line in the films. Why? Because Ron was backed into the sidekick corner and left there.

Movie-viewers missed out on a wonderful transformation which is the saddest of all. His growth over the series is demonstrative of the fact that heroes can make mistakes and learn from them instead of being always in the right. The same boy who started off indifferent to elf rights became the boy who suggested to save the house elves when everyone else forgot, and gave his own clothes and socks for Dobby to be buried in. That is growth.

Besides, one of my main reasons for enjoying Harry Potter so much was Harry and Ron’s friendship. Yes, we all seem to debate over who Hermione should have ended up with but I was always here for Harry and Ron which, unfortunately, wasn’t well portrayed in the films. There’s a reason why Ron is the one person in the world Harry would miss most. He was his very first friend, the closest thing Harry had to family, never thinking twice to offer his room and food and everything he had to Harry, which was pretty much all he had.

Ron was the one, who was in blinding pain and stood up on his broken leg to fiercely defend his best friend from a serial killer in PoA.

“No, Harry!” Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black.

“If you want to kill Harry, you’ll have to kill us, too!” he said fiercely, though the effort of standing up had drained him of still more colour, and he swayed slightly as he spoke.

Something flickered in Black’s shadowed eyes.

“Lie down, “ he said quietly to Ron. “You will damage that leg even more.”

“Did you hear me?” Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. “You’ll have to kill all three of us!”

(Infuriatingly, this entire line was given to Hermione while Ron was a blubbering mess in the background, while in the books Hermione is the one who was terrified.)

While many criticise Ron for leaving Harry and Hermione in DH, I think what is often overlooked is the gravity of his departure. Ron is loyal (his Patronus is a Jack-Russell terrier, for god’s sake) and this isn’t shown much in the films which is why it didn’t have the same impact. He is the one who always defends Harry and Hermione from other people.

In CoS, he is ready to kill Malfoy for wanting the Heir of Slytherin to attack Hermione.

“I’m quite surprised the Mudbloods haven’t all packed their bags by now,” Malfoy went on. “Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn’t Granger…”

The bell rang at that moment, which was lucky; at Malfoy’s last words, Ron had leapt off his stool, and in the scramble to collect bags and books, his attempts to reach Malfoy went unnoticed.

“Let me at him,” Ron growled, as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. “ I don’t care, I don’t need my wand, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands-”

Not to mention when he shouts at Snape, their scariest professor, in Hermione’s defense and gets detention (scrubbing bed pans) for it.

“That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly. “Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.”

Hermione went very red, put down he rhand and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears….Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, “You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don’t want to be told?”

The class knew instantly he’d gone too far…

In the movies, after Snape snaps at Hermione, Ron just says “He’s got a point, you know.” which he would NEVER say. I think Ron would rather face a spider than agree with Snape.

These are just a few instances of how the movies have mucked up his character and slowly, as Ron fan, it kills you.

Book Ron is that friend who would defend you no matter what. To desert people whose side he’s unfailingly on shows just how the Horcrux impacted him. Ron wasn’t a spoiled brat or cowardly, he was dealing with his insecurities and as soon as he left, he said he wanted to come back. We often forget that we fight with our friends and some of them actually walk out on us, never to return but the ones that come back are true. And Ron is nothing if not a true friend. He’s the sort of person you want in your corner, always good to be around, even when not doing anything in particular.

Overall, I think the movies outstripped movie Ron of a lot of character points and this makes me feel bad for Rupert Grint who really likes the character he plays. He said it himself, “But, the truth is that Ron is my hero. He’s always there for his friends – sometimes belligerently, but there nevertheless. And no matter how scared he may be, he will put aside his fears to support and protect the people he loves. To me, that represents true courage.”

Too bad we never got to see him play the real Ron, it would have been fantastic.

(I have a lot more to say about this issue and I tend to rant a lot about book Ron vs. movie Ron but this pretty much sums it all up.)

Best Supporting Character-Jesse Pinkman

Breaking Bad is as addicting as Heisenberg’s blue crystal. The distinguishing feature of the show is in the hands of the characters, more so about how their moral compasses are askew, whether it is out of circumstance or by nature. While Skyler, Hank and Mary remain on the lower spectrum of immorality in the show, on the antipodal end sits Walter and a host of macho morally reprehensible villains mostly comprising drug lords.

However, in my opinion, the most interesting character in terms of transformation and symbolic representation is and will always be Jesse Pinkman.

Initially Jesse was meant to be a no-good high school graduate who took the wrong turn onto a misguided path filled with meth, pot, oversized hoodies and incredibly baggy jeans where he must have also picked up his profane vocabulary. The writers and creator Vince Giligan had intended for Jesse to be killed in the first season finale but after watching Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul’s on screen chemistry, they decided against it. That was perhaps the best decision that had ever been made for the show because Jesse serves as a moral compass, representing its instability in the face of adversity.

Not only is he a refreshing presence on the show, simultaneously comedic yet dark but he serves the crucial role of reflecting Walt’s transformation through out the series. While Walt loses himself as the seasons progress, Jesse desperately seeks to do good, to rectify his wrongs only to be swallowed up in the world of methamphetamine production by his partner.

At some times, it can be questioned why Walt even needed Jesse after a certain amount of time but it was more out of the need for familiarity in consistently unstable situations that fueled Walt to keep Jesse around. While some argue that Walt did indeed care about Jesse on some level, that transient paternal instinct to protect Jesse vanishes as his self-centered ambitions take the wheel: money, meth…and murder.

Yet as much as I loved watching Jesse’s transformation on the show, I cannot say he was a victim, as many seem to think. Perhaps it was Aaron Paul’s performance but Jesse in no way was innocent. He was certainly influenced and coerced into making ill decisions but nonetheless his hand was not forced…except perhaps in killing Gale, the turning point for his character in the series. Whatever innocence and plausible deniability Jesse could use as a safety cushion was killed the minute he pulled the trigger, the gun being a metaphor of not only physical death but that of innocence( in terms of murder) in the one pulling the trigger.

It is an understatement to say that Jesse loses everything. Before Walter came into his life with his business proposition, he was just a junkie without any aspirations or long term goals. He says so himself, after Hank beat him to a pulp:

“I am not turning down the money! I am turning down you! You get it? I want NOTHING to do with you! Ever since I met you, everything I ever cared about is gone! Ruined, turned to shit, dead, ever since I hooked up with the great Heisenberg! I have never been more alone! I HAVE NOTHING! NO ONE! ALRIGHT, IT’S ALL GONE, GET IT? No, no, no, why… why would you get it? What do you even care, as long as you get what you want, right? You don’t give a shit about me! You said I was no good. I’m nothing!..”

Little did he know how bleak his future would be. Brutally beaten up by Tuco, Hank and many others, verbally abused by White and losing both women he loved, Jane and Andrea, not to mention her son whom he had become attached to and being caged like an animal, are enough to destroy a person. The writers of this twisted show certainly made it a point to kick Jesse when he’s down till he’s lying on the ground shattered.

Where did it all go wrong? The plot line and story arcs in Jesse’s journey on the show reads like a series of unfortunate events but if asked to pin point Jesse’ s hamartia, I’d have to say it would be his weak spot for children. This is clearly demonstrated in the episode Peekaboo in the second season as well as his interest and concern for Brock, causing conflict in his existent partnership with White. Had he been emotionally cold and more callous like others in the meth business, he would not have been faced with the same extenuating circumstances. Jesse’s inclination to be kind and do the right thing, ironically, destroy him in the end.

Personally, it is his tragedies that make Jesse more interesting. Not in a sadistic way, his emotional and physical trauma bring a needed element to the show, demonstrating that trying to turn things around is futile when you’re already in too deep. If anything Jesse teaches you a lesson that the choices you make influence the rest of your choices. The sequence of choices in turn makes you who you are and sometimes it is too late to reverse the order and circumstances brought on by the sequence.

Aaron Paul’s performance is commendable, giving Jesse heart where one would think it lacks. It was heart breaking to watch the way he reacted to Andrea and Brock’s death, in a car gagged and tied, powerless to act but forced to watch the horror. I think it is safe to say that that moment justifies anyone in believing he deserved every single Emmy he had ever won.

While Aaron Paul has enjoyed critical acclaim for his portrayal of the character, I am left wondering about Jesse’s ambiguous fate. I hope he kept driving. I hope he found a way.