You basically summed up how I felt after reading the comments on that thread. I couldn’t believe when someone said about how the Weasley’s weren’t poor enough because they just about got by and weren’t starving. Compared to the other families in the books they certainly were poor. I also think JKR knows a thing or two about being poor considering her background. It’s like their whole argument is that the characters are flawed therefore they are bad, when actually it’s good for characters to have faults. I actually don’t read an awful lot of books myself, but these people sound like they have never read anything in their life before or after Harry Potter. There are valid criticisms for the series, the same as any other book it’s not beyond criticism, but these are not it.
Oh, I always assumed this thread was an anti-J K one, this was a nice surprise to read through
There are, sadly, a lot of children in this country who are in much more dire financial straits than the Weasley family were but there are also many who live below the poverty line while interacting with mostly middle class friends at school (we were such a family) and having that representation was fantastic in a children's book.
It was a great way to teach empathy to children who may not realise (like Harry often didn't realise) that just because their friend wasn't starving that they were from a different social/financial class and that it did impact both their day-to-day lives and their self-esteem. It was also great for teaching empathy the other way around, that just because your friend (Harry) has a lot of money it doesn't mean that his life is a bed of roses and that everybody has struggles in life, not just you.
I've been looking for a new audible book to spend my credit on so just download the first one - haven't read it for over 15 years so looking forward to hearing it as an adult. The reviews were wild though, so many salty 1 stars.