Someone tagged that Ron is seen as a coward because of the spider thing when its not true.But. lets be real guys. He’s seen as a coward because of the movies, it has absolutely nothing to do with his book self.
The Devil’s Snare thing is an infamous example- Book Ron was the one who yelled at Hermione to calm down, movie Ron literally could not stop screaming to save his life- Ron is repeatedly shown throughout the books to keep a level head under severe pressure better than Hermione and even Harry in a bunch of instances. Panicking a lot was HERMIONE’S flaw, not his (though Hermione got a LOT better at keeping calm under pressure by Deathly Hallows and I love that she grew so much.)
And how the spider thing was handled in the movies vs the books is another prime example. Ron’s fear of spiders was not treated as funny in the books.
I mean, Hermione laughed at him when he told them about it (because Hermione can be a HUGE JERK to Ron when she wants to which I wish people would remember) but he got annoyed about that and explained about Fred and George turning his teddy bear into a big spider while he was holding it when he was three, which I think would give ANYONE a lifelong phobia of spiders.
(Fred and George are actually probably WHY Ron is so chill with danger and high pressure situations like in addition to the spider thing 1. gave him an acid pop and burned a hole in his tongue 2. KILLED HIS PET by using it in Quidditch practice??? That’s just what I could remember off the top of my head? The poor kid had to be tough just get through being their little brother)
But the stuff with Ron and the Acromantulas, again, was not treated as comical in the books, Ron was not flailing around and screaming comically like in the movie, he was straight up catatonic with fear and on the verge of throwing up but kept going anyway because he wanted to stop the thing that hurt Hermione. (Actually iirc he DID throw up the second they got out of the forest it was Not a Good Time for him).
The fact this was his motivation was very emphasized in the books, with him looking over at her empty seat when Harry said “we gotta follow the spiders” and then agreeing despite clearly being scared out of his mind. He faced what is literally his worst fear out of love for his friend.
Rupert Grint’s comic acting is really good, don’t get me wrong, but the way the movie treated Ron’s phobia as a joke robbed us of a pretty powerful character moment, and well, the movies just kept on doing that. Movie Ron panics comically all the time, so people see Ron as a coward. If just the books existed, i don’t think anyone would ever be under that impression.
Yeah I just checked (I finally have some books on hand) and Ron DID throw up really severely the second they were out of the spiders nest the exact wording is “Harry found Ron being violently sick in [Hagrid’s] pumpkin patch.” Like he apparently HELD IT IN until they were safe which is extremely impressive.
And then he collapsed into bed without taking his clothes off afterwards. RON WENT THROUGH A LOT THAT NIGHT, LET’S APPRECIATE THAT.
Published
ForLoveFromFear 