Ginny Weasley was known for many things in the Harry Potter franchise from being the youngest Weasley to opening the chamber of secrets, being a brilliant quidditch player, and becoming Harry's main love interest. Despite the minor and major changes in her life, she was relegated to the background, especially in the movies where most fans complain she was underdeveloped.
Her lack of development is just one of many things that fans discuss on Reddit. The platform has several controversial opinions about the youngest Weasley, both from the books and the movies. These range from her personality to her relationship with Harry, and her treatment of other characters, like Fleur Delacour.
Ginny & Harry's Relationship Was Well Done In The Movies
Ginny and Harry's relationship started with her crush on him, which he barely noticed. They started dating in The Half-Blood Prince, and in the infamous Harry Potter epilogue they're married with kids. Reddit user urruiskidad commented that their relationship "was executed reasonably well and realistic."
Several fans disagree with this view of the couple's relationship as many believe it to have been severely underdeveloped in the movies. Ginny, herself, was hardly in the movies or around Harry enough to build up their relationship before they were suddenly together. Of course, with so many other characters in the show and so many plot lines to execute, it's understandable why there wasn't time to focus on the love story and the bare minimum was the best they could do.
Ginny Isn't Well-Written
Some fans preferred Ginny from the books because she was more fleshed-out than her movie counterpart. However, the Redditor No_Risk_8848 commented that "she was an underdeveloped, poorly written character," even after reading the books.
Ginny seemed to change suddenly, from shy and quietly crushing on Harry to confident and badass. Granted, there wasn't much room to develop her, especially in the movies with so many other characters and storylines to focus on, but their relationship could have used a couple more moments together to establish their connection and build up their relationship.
Ginny Isn't A Likable Character
There are many debates on Reddit on Ginny's character, with most arguing that she was better written in the books. The Reddittor JulianPouliot disagreed with this and said, "she's a bad imitation of Harry in some ways."
While they shared some similarities, some fans believed that in trying to create characters that would perfectly match each other, Ginny became a shadow of Harry with her sarcastic and aggressive nature that matches Harry's outspokenness and anger although Harry got a backstory and reasons for that, while Ginny didn't.
Harry Should Have Been With Luna Instead Of Ginny
While some fans didn't agree with Harry and Ginny's pairing, he was commonly shipped with Hermione instead. A few fans shipped him with other characters from the movies and one of the rarest ones was Luna. The Reddit user PlatonicTroglodyte said the two of them "connected early (in the war) through understanding of parental loss."
Once they connected through that common loss, Harry was nice and civil to Luna when most people called her weird and she didn't treat him differently because of his celebrity status. Considering this, there is a little merit to the opinion that Harry and Luna could have been a good couple. In some ways, their friendship seemed more developed than Harry's relationship with Ginny.
Cho Chang Was A Better Match For Harry Than Ginny
Before Harry and Ginny became a couple, he had a crush on Cho Chang and for a little while, it seemed like they would be together after Cedric's death. However, their relationship didn't really work out, but some fans felt like they would have been a better couple like the one Reddit user who said, "Cho Chang was a better love interest for Harry than Ginny Weasley."
Both relationships were actually similar, with one-sided crushes and very limited interactions, so it's likely Cho and Harry's relationship would have had the same lukewarm reception as the one he had with Ginny.
Ginny Has A Better Relationship With Neville
While the major focus of the story was on the Golden Trio, the story occasionally cut to other characters like Ginny and Neville. The two of them actually had a good friendship and the Redditor SherdyRavers said, "they deserved to be a couple more than Harry and Ginny" and explained their controversial opinion on the friendship between the two from the books and how they led Dumbledore's Army together while the trio was absent.
As friends, they had a really good relationship because Ginny helped Neville become more confident and they were there for each other more than Harry ever was for Ginny一especially in the movies.
Chamber Of Secrets Was The Best Book Because Of Ginny
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had an intriguing plot with a great plot twist of Tom Riddle's diary being a Horcrux that only came into play later in the franchise. However, most fans on Reddit usually rank it lower than the other books and movies in the series. In a post about unpopular opinions, the Reddit user thefideliuscharm commented that they liked Chamber of Secrets "because it features Ginny and she was my favorite character."
In the second book and movie, Ginny was the key antagonist due to being possessed by Tom Riddle through the journal. It was also one of the few times in Harry Potter that Ginny got more screentime, although the reveal that she was responsible for the opening of the chamber only came towards the end.
Ginny Shouldn't Have Been A Background Character
The Harry Potter series focused almost entirely on the Golden Trio with a majority of the attention going to Harry. As a result, most of the other characters didn't have much room for development, especially in the movies where a lot of things were cut out. The Redditor aps131997's unpopular opinion related to this was that "Ginny shouldn't have been a background character for more than half the series."
Considering that she ended up becoming the main character's love interest, giving her more screen time would have made that development a lot more acceptable and sensible. As it is, a lot of fans feel like the relationship didn't get the time it deserved for such a major development and most don't see the couple as a good match. However, Ginny didn't play much of a role in the major storylines, so bringing her to the forefront might have made her stick out awkwardly instead.
Ginny & Hermione's Treatment Of Fleur Was Funny
When Fleur got engaged to Billy; Ginny, Hermione, and even Mrs.Weasley weren't happy about it. Ginny and Hermione said terrible things about her to Harry and Ron and taunted her behind her back. Most notably was Ginny calling Fleur "Phlegm." The Reddit user lemon-oreo posted an unpopular opinion that their feud was hilarious and said, "Ginny can be meanspirited, but she is insanely funny and one of my favorite characters."
This opinion of their feud contrasts with most posts on Reddit about the girls' treatment of Fleur and how annoying and undeserved it was. Some of the taunts were set up as jokes, but beyond the surface the women's taunts and comments about Fleur felt a lot like bullying to most fans.
Bonnie Wright Could Have Made Movie Ginny Better
Bonnie Wright played the part of Ginny since she was 9 years old and by the time the final movie was complete, she was 19. Most fans dislike Ginny's character because of how she doesn't get much development, but a few feel Wright was partly to blame for how she turned out. The Reddit user xthecollectorx said, "Bonnie could have put a bit more emotion, some feeling, something into the lines she did have."
This view is understandable because while the script plays a big part in the making of a character, the actor's execution of the role determines how they're perceived. Also, having to execute a role that's based on a character in a book with more room to grow and express themselves can be a challenge, resulting in a performance that fans may not be pleased with.