The Character of James Potter
Yeah, I also believe that scumbag didn't actually change, more of learnt to hide his behaviour. In JKR written prequel, he was seen bullying muggle police alongwith Sirius while they were running away from Death Eaters, @heatherlly.
My point was his alleged change is used to dismiss his past crimes wrt Snape and his stans often argue how Snape was stuck in past while James changed for better. 🤮
A long time ago I did buy into the whole, "James Changed" thing. But that was because somehow I missed the fact that despite "changing for the better", he kept hexing Snape behind Lily's back. And now, since realizing that fact, I just completely don't like James as a character.
I agree with everyone else when they say that just because James "changed", it doesn't still excuse the fact that Severus has PTSD and trauma from everything James has done to him. Plus, with the fact that despite 'becoming a better person', James was STILL bullying Snape behind Lily's back. It doesn't make him a great person. It makes James a liar, manipulator, and still a bully.
In fact, I fully have reason to believe that his 'change of heart' was entirely to get in good graces with Lily. Somewhere (and somehow), he realized that his previous behavior wasn't winning any points with her. After countless failed attempts to ask her out, he decided to try a more extreme approach. Since he already didn't like Severus, but also saw him as an obstacle to getting Lily, James thought it would be best to use him as leverage, but to also show Lily how 'pathetic and terrible' her best friend really was. It's like an inferior vs superior, alpha mentality. James wanted to show he was a better choice, and sadly, James ended up getting what he wanted from it.
Now having Severus and Lily no longer friends, James could make his move. And I think he always believed he was in the right, but he also didn't realize that what he was doing was ever wrong. After all, he always saw himself as the hero. So, he put on an act, having a sudden change of heart. "Seeing the light and error of my ways!" He acted composed and controlled around Lily, no longer bullying or hexing anyone, but behind the guise, he's up to his old tricks.
He never really changed. It was all an act, and sadly Lily was taken along for the ride with this act. While I do believe in the end James willingly sacrificed his life to protect Lily and Harry, I think that was the only time in his life where he acted selflessly with Lily. But it still doesn't change the fact he still bullied others and left them with trauma. If he at least apologized and actually stopped bullying, including with Severus, then he would have actually changed for the better. At least a step in the right direction...but he didn't.
Y'all are kind people.
I'm not even willing to grant Jamesy Boy that he acted selflessly when Voldemort came for him and his family at Godric's Hollow - just impulsively, and foolishly.
My read is that, in his mind, he's the Man of the House™ and as such fending off the intruder at the door is his business; which he demonstrated by... running dick first into Voldemort (you're welcome for the mental image) without his home defense weapon.
The courage, skill, reflexes and quick thinking one expects of a Gryffindor Quidditch star and generally acclaimed young wizard would've been better demonstrated if he took up his wand, had Lily do the same, then they put up fogs, walls, illusions and whatever else to delay Voldemort with things other than the direct confrontation the latter is most adept at overcoming, then went for two of his racing brooms (of the dozen or so he no doubt had), one for himself and one for his wife, grabbed Harry himself since he's the better broom rider, and they all tried to fuck off out of the range of Voldemort's assumed Anti-Apparition Jinx.
Now, there's no guarantee that this would mean their survival, especially if the narrative requires them to die; but it would at least make him and Lily read more like the pair of young hotshots they're made out to be, instead of useless planks Voldemort could have farted to death.
Yeah, they were stupid enough that Voldemort himself thought them morons for not keeping their wands when he attacked them despite them being on his hit list.
Quote from Motanul Negru on May 30, 2023, 8:25 pmY'all are kind people.
I'm not even willing to grant Jamesy Boy that he acted selflessly when Voldemort came for him and his family at Godric's Hollow - just impulsively, and foolishly.
My read is that, in his mind, he's the Man of the House™ and as such fending off the intruder at the door is his business; which he demonstrated by... running dick first into Voldemort (you're welcome for the mental image) without his home defense weapon.
The courage, skill, reflexes and quick thinking one expects of a Gryffindor Quidditch star and generally acclaimed young wizard would've been better demonstrated if he took up his wand, had Lily do the same, then they put up fogs, walls, illusions and whatever else to delay Voldemort with things other than the direct confrontation the latter is most adept at overcoming, then went for two of his racing brooms (of the dozen or so he no doubt had), one for himself and one for his wife, grabbed Harry himself since he's the better broom rider, and they all tried to fuck off out of the range of Voldemort's assumed Anti-Apparition Jinx.
Now, there's no guarantee that this would mean their survival, especially if the narrative requires them to die; but it would at least make him and Lily read more like the pair of young hotshots they're made out to be, instead of useless planks Voldemort could have farted to death.
Yeah, and the other thing people miss when they talk about how "selfless and noble" James was is that he didn't have a choice. Saving himself wasn't an option… Voldemort was going to kill him either way. Lily was the courageous one because she did have a choice. She deliberately chose to sacrifice herself, even though she must've assumed that Harry would be killed, regardless.
As for the way they handled the attack… I don't think it's necessarily fair to condemn them for not doing X or Y or Z. While it's easy to judge from an outside perspective, it can be hard to think rationally/know what to do when there's an immediate (and unexpected) threat to your life and those of your loved ones. Sure, you can say they should've been more prepared, but a couple points on that. First, they were in hiding and assumed that they were safe, and second, no one can be prepared 24/7. Hell, even if they were prepared, even the best laid plans can go out the window when the shit hits the fan. People panic. They do nonsensical or counterproductive things. It can be frustrating from an outside perspective, but… it happens.
Having said that, I agree that James probably had a toxic "man of the house" mentality, which had a negative influence on his actions. I'm just saying that it's not necessarily realistic to expect him for Lily to have reacted perfectly in such an extreme situation.
James and Sirius were classic examples of toxic hypermasculinity and I agree with @heatherlly on the 'man of the house' mentality. Voldemort did mention that Potters didn't keep their wands because of their trust in their friends/Peter and that overconfidence in him led to their doom.
True, though James at least was ostensibly a powerful wizard, an athlete, and an experienced combatant already; so I'm not shy about holding him to a higher standard when faced with a problem where all these attributes should come into play.
I should have been more obvious that I'm only offering one possible idea of what he could have tried.
I doubt that quidditch playing enhanced the physique of characters that much. We saw characters moving far quickly than expected like Dumbledore and McGonagall and I am sure none of them were playing active quidditch.
That being said James could've been stronger than your average wizards but we are talking about Voldemort who was dueling on par with Dumbledore in OOTP and McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley simultaneously in DH. There was nothing James could've done to save himself and Lily besides buying a few minutes if he had his wand.
At any rate, I see no reason to excuse him for running into the extra-dangerous Dark Wizard without so much as a wand. That's two Darwin Awards (belated ones, damn it Lily!) in one action.
That was his Gryffindor recklessness because there was nothing he could've done at that point. JKR called it an animal instinct.
