The rabid fangirls of rabid (were)wolves.

[thistlechaser]

Bored, I've been reading my friendsfriends list a whole lot today. People (with Sirius/Lupin icons, I've noticed) are going insane about the reports saying that the movie Lupin will be transforming monthly into a nine-foot tall scary beast. They're quoting the books to "prove" Lupin in fact turns into a normal sized/shaped wolf, just a little rabid around the edges.

Quote:
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WHAT?! What part of WOLF don't they understand???? Lupin does not turn into some freaky half-human two-legged walking beast! He turns into a werewolf. Have they NOT read the books???
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Now, other than them wanting the whole Padfoot/Moony angle, I don't get this argument. 1) If he was turning into just a normal wolf and not some monster, don't you think JKR would have mentioned that in the books? Since "tall, two-legged, hairy monster" is the werewolf norm, if it was something different wouldn't that get a mention? But the more important is: 2) JKR has a big hand in all of the movies, does she not? She approves the scripts, she's on-hand, etc. Her book-writing has been delayed by the amount of time she put into working with the movies. If she did not want Lupin to be the monster kind of werewolf, think she'd just shrug, say "meh", and wander off to hit on Alan Rickman?

Bah. Take a chill-pill, ladies.

Comments

[villainny.livejournal.com]

If she did not want Lupin to be the monster kind of werewolf, think she'd just shrug, say "meh", and wander off to hit on Alan Rickman?

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Well, I would.

*g*

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You are clearly a woman of good taste!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

"Werewolf" is quite open to interpretation. There's the man-wolf idea, and there's the true wolf version. If you check the books, it is VERY much left vague. I know because I've looked at this carefully when trying to plan fics. Just because you like one idea or the other doesn't mean the director can't pick his preferred version. There's no proof in them books, I'm afraid.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I agree that the books don't say "wolf-wolf" or "man-wolf", but when someone says "werewolf", isn't man-wolf very much the usual/expected/accepted image? Many years back, I was a fan of the whole werewolf idea, and I read every fiction book I could get my hands on. Out of fifty or so books, only two had the werewolf becoming a wolf-wolf. Looking back on the few movies I can recall about them (Howling and American Werewolf), they used man-wolves as well.

Do you know if it's different in Brit-think?

[loup_noir]

It all depends on which mythos you're pursuing. The oldest versions of the myths call for the man to become a wolf. The hybridization version does show up in the middle ages, but there's also a lot of "just wolf" versions running around. Most of the werewolves pre twentieth century chose to become a shapeshifter. The curse version does exist, but the voluntary werewolves dominate what I've read.

In PoA, doesn't Lupin say that the potion lets him curl up under his desk and sleep? I always got the impression that Lupin was a wolfwolf, not a manwolf, but that's how I read it.

[aretina.livejournal.com]

Books like this (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738700509/qid%3D1066691168/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-7711921-1910528), which presuppose the reality of such beings as werewolves, present the classical mythical werewolf as being very much like a real wolf. The idea of the hairy man is a more modern American invention. Whether in an astral or physical sense, werewolves, and, before them, berserkers (who "turned into" bears during battle) turned into the animal in one sense or another, not some amalgum. I would tend to think that JKR would stick with the older sense of the word.

Then there is also the Werewolf Lesson, taught by Snape, when he asks "how does one differentiate between the werewolf and the true wolf." If the werewolf in canon was something like a two-legged man creature, what would the point of this question be? Hermione is also the only one who appears to know, saying something like "Please, Sir, the werewolf has a broader snout," or something to that effect before she is cut off.

If the werewolf is a huge tall creature, I will be rather irked, mainly because Harry et al never really see Lupin in his transformed form anyway-- the confrontation between him and Padfoot takes place in a kind of blur.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Then there is also the Werewolf Lesson, taught by Snape, when he asks "how does one differentiate between the werewolf and the true wolf."

Oh! I didn't even remember that scene. (And funny how the defenders of the wolf-wolf idea didn't use it. It's a good point!)

Hm. I wonder if JKR thought they should be wolf-wolf, if we'll ever hear about it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

In PoA, doesn't Lupin say that the potion lets him curl up under his desk and sleep? I always got the impression that Lupin was a wolfwolf, not a manwolf, but that's how I read it.

I don't have my books here at work, but in someone else's LJ they had the quote listed as something like "it allows me to curl up and sleep, just like a real wolf". The 'just like a real wolf' made me think that he wasn't really wolf-shaped, but he could act like one anyway.

Too bad JKR's writing wasn't more detailed or we could have avoided this whole debate!

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

If they did make him just an ickle puppy-wolf I would be most displeased. Why would they need a dog as big as Padfoot and a stag as big as Prongs to control an average-size wolf? It's stupid, really. And no normal wolf would be able to smash up the furniture easily.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I got the impression that Padfoot was a honking big dog, which is part of the reason why I figured that the werewolf wasn't just a plain wolf-wolf -- you don't need a massive dog to control just a plain wolf, they're, what, 100 pounds-ish? That's big, but not giant.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a Brit thing, it's just a movie-convention thing, and different films do it differently. If you remember American Werewolf, you'll recall that there was this transition-form that David had on the way to becoming one BIG-ass scary wolf. But still very much a wolf, when he'd finished changing. OTOH, my best recollection of the Howling is that it had the other take--the Werewolves had that man-wolf thing going when they were done changing. (I could be wrong but that's what I remember.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hm, okay. Well, hopefully she'll release a comment in some interview if her version/the book version was supposed to be different than the movie's take on it.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Isn't Padfoot meant to be about 'the size of a bear' of something? Something big and scary, pretty much. Something that looks like it could eat a standard wolf for breakfast :D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That's how I understood it, yeah. Oh well! It's all JKR's fault for not being clear enough. ;)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Isn't it fun how much we can blame her for? :D

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

And easy, too! :)