I have always had the greatest fondness for Emma Watson's character, and I think she does a fine job with it. It's rather a shame that the powers that be felt they had to go with such a good looking girl, when it was fairly clear in the book that Hermione wasn't. She has buck teeth and in my mind, looked far more like my own friends than someone who would more likely have been the most popular girl in school.

But that's just me thinking back on my own experiences at that time..which is of course one of the reasons why these books speak to adults as well as children. We all knew kids like these (well, without the magical overtones)...the Malfoys, and the Hermiones...and the Snapes. It's the reason they resonate so well. And it's why the characters like Hagrid and Dumbledore are ones we take to our hearts. They are often the people who were our role models, possessing at times the qualities that might have been missing within our own family. I would have LOVED to have known someone like Hagrid!

This whole gayness thing is just silly, and who cares? I would bet that many of us experienced a gay teacher without even knowing it. I know I did, and he was almost as extrarodinary as Hagrid.

But I don't think Hagrid is meant to be seen in that light at all, though he is clearly an "outsider' by being half-giant, a race still feared and misunderstood by many. JK Rowling is so good at those kind of metaphors.

..xx..e