Thread by @KatinOxford

ALL RIGHT THAT'S IT, WE'RE DOING THIS.

Why Ron Weasley rocks and you are all just mean - A thread.

I've been in the Harry Potter fandom a while. We're talking Livejournal days. And if there is one thing that has gotten progressively worse as times goes on (and as more people remember the films over the books), it's people's attitude towards Ron.

The hatred towards Ron seems to boil down to a few main complaints:

Ron is insensitive.
Ron is stupid.
Ron "wasn't worthy" of Hermione.
"Hermione should've ended up with Harry"

So let's break these complaints down a little bit and explain why they're bullshit.

"Ron is insensitive".

I don't understand why everyone hones in on this like Harry Potter, Ron's best friend, didn't have huge moments of glaring insensitivity. (Anyone remember Cho?)

Yes, this is a character flaw. It's a pretty common one, especially for teenage boys.

Especially for young teenage boys with five older brothers, two of whom would presumably mercilessly pick on Ron. (I am a Fred and George stan, but come on, we all know they picked on Ron.)

Yes, they dialed this up to eleven in the films. But they mischaracterize it.

I will NEVER forgive the scene where Snape bullies Hermione & calls her a know-it-all & Ron says to Harry, "He's got a point".

IN THE BOOKS, Ron YELLS at Snape, defends Hermione, & GETS DETENTION.

Absolutely, Ron is insensitive at times. But he would never EVER encourage Snape, fucking abusive SNAPE of all people to bully her like that.

Full scene:

“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 her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears."

"It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once..."

"and 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?”

Now the next criticism. "Ron is stupid".

Ron is not stupid.

You do not beat McGonagall's enchanted chess set AT AGE ELEVEN by being stupid.

I'm a chess player. Chess is fucking hard. You have to think strategically, to have a very logical mind to be good at it.

Ron was not a book learner. He didn't have Hermione's love of books, he wasn't an academic, and he would be the first to tell you that his beautiful wife (suck it haters) was brilliant and a million times more smarter than he.

But he had his own kind of intelligence.

I know a lot of us nerdy know-it-all brunettes that were obsessed with books related a lot to Hermione. But we don't get to assume that our intelligence is superior to someone else's.

I can tell you anything you want to know about C.S. Lewis, but I have no idea how to fix a car.

"Ron wasn't worthy of Hermione"

I hate this, I hate this, I HATE THIS. I hate this AS A HERMIONE LOVER.

Who is worthy of Hermione? No, really? Because the usual answer I get is "Harry" and that's about when I explode.

Because you know who thought he wasn't worthy of Hermione?

Ron.

That's a huge part of his arc in book 7. The fact that he thought he wasn't good enough for her.

After all, he wasn't the hero. He wasn't popular like Fred and George. He wasn't booksmart like Percy.

He wasn't the long awaited daughter, like Ginny. He wasn't a Quidditch player like Charlie (though he WAS a good Quidditch player), and he didn't have Bill's vast accomplishments.

He got their hand-me-downs. To the point where he himself felt like a hand-me-down, like he didn't have value. Especially when he was constantly outshone by Harry Potter, who was the youngest Seeker in a century, the Chosen One, yadda yadda.

That whole moment with the locket in book seven, where Ron sees the phantom Hermione and Harry--that is where he grows. That is where he fucking stabs his insecurities int he face. And it is fucking amazing.

Hermione chose Ron. She did not choose the famous Harry Potter, the one society thought she should be with (yeah, I'm comparing YOU ALL to Rita Skeeter.)

She chose Ron. Because she SAW Ron. She saw his heroism, his bravery, his humor, and she loved him for it.

One of the reasons I loved the epilogue (YEAH I SAID IT. I LOVED THE EPILOGUE. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT TWITTER) is for this little moment when it's asked, "why is everyone staring at us?"

And Ron says "they're staring at me, I'm extremely famous."

And of course, we giggle, because of course they're all staring at Harry Potter.

But for me, that shows how far Ron has come. He is no longer insecure next to Harry. He is secure enough in himself and his family that he can poke fun at it a little.

Ron is brave, loyal, funny, and smart as a whip. One of the many, MANY reasons I hate the films is because they took a ton of what made him special and gave those traits to Hermione in order to make her a superwoman instead of the delightfully flawed character she is.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Please join me next time when I tell the Harry Potter fandom that I actually liked that Harry named his son Albus Severus.

*leaves before you all can throw vegetables*