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Harry Potter

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  • Harry Potter

    I read the books like 8 years ago. Thought they were ok, I guess. I'm watching the movies now. These are just random thoughts of mine...

    Is it just me, or is suspension of disbelief impossible with the Harry Potter series? Something about it just utterly fails to click with me. Maybe it's how annoying the characters are (e.g., Harry Potter), maybe it's how dumb most of them seem to be (e.g., Harry Potter), or maybe it's how utterly helpless all these ultra-powerful wizards seem to be (e.g., Harry Potter, Voldemort).

    If the intention was to make Voldemort look scary, they failed. I think his man-rat minion is a better villain than he is. In the first two movies, Draco Malfoy looks like he's trying to impersonate Donald Trump with that hairdo. His dad is a lousy LotR elf impersonator.

    The school seems like an exceptionally dangerous place with very poor security. (For example, the troll from the first movie, the petrification in the second, the escaped prisoner and demented Nazgul wannabes in the third, Moldy's minion in the fourth, and I haven't gotten further yet.) And Albatross Dumbly (this might sound better than his actual name) does...nothing about it all, apparently? What exactly does he do at that school, anyway?

    Everyone is scared to death of Voldemort for some reason, even though he's repeatedly defeated by Harry, a prepubescent kid who's not exactly a bright candle himself.

    I watched Omelet of Fire last night, and at one point Harry said something like, "I don't know what my strengths are."

    Yeah, me neither.
    Last edited by Zymologist; 03-15-2017, 04:18 PM.
    I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

  • #2
    I have not read the books. I have watched all the movies, repeatedly. I eagerly await the first weekend of every month when Freeform TV runs a Potterpalooza for the whole weekend, and every month I chafe at the inexplicable omission of "Order of the Phoenix," my favorite of the lot.

    I don't know why "suspension of disbelief" would be any more difficult with HP than with LOTR or any "superhero" flick or book.

    While I have not read the books, I have read *about* the books, and how they compare and contrast with the movies. In most cases I prefer the "book" version, though I do prefer the cinematic rendering of Snape's appearance. Severus is my favorite character, though I do appreciate Harry more now that I've seen details the movies omit or gloss over.
    Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

    Beige Federalist.

    Nationalist Christian.

    "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

    Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

    Proud member of the this space left blank community.

    Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

    Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

    Justice for Matthew Perna!

    Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by NorrinRadd View Post
      I have not read the books. I have watched all the movies, repeatedly. I eagerly await the first weekend of every month when Freeform TV runs a Potterpalooza for the whole weekend, and every month I chafe at the inexplicable omission of "Order of the Phoenix," my favorite of the lot.

      I don't know why "suspension of disbelief" would be any more difficult with HP than with LOTR or any "superhero" flick or book.

      While I have not read the books, I have read *about* the books, and how they compare and contrast with the movies. In most cases I prefer the "book" version, though I do prefer the cinematic rendering of Snape's appearance. Severus is my favorite character, though I do appreciate Harry more now that I've seen details the movies omit or gloss over.
      I don't think I can describe it; something about it just doesn't work for me. It reads/watches like very clumsy fiction.

      But this thread wasn't intended seriously. I find the Harry Potter series unusually fun to mock, so if anyone here is a big fan of it, I'd like to say two things:

      1. I can recommend some good fantasy for you, and
      2. Don't be offended by my opinion of Harry Potter

      It's all in good fun.
      I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
        I don't think I can describe it; something about it just doesn't work for me. It reads/watches like very clumsy fiction.

        But this thread wasn't intended seriously. I find the Harry Potter series unusually fun to mock, so if anyone here is a big fan of it, I'd like to say two things:

        1. I can recommend some good fantasy for you, and
        2. Don't be offended by my opinion of Harry Potter

        It's all in good fun.
        I am profoundly offended.

        "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
        "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
        Katniss Everdeen


        Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
          I am profoundly offended.
          Well, as long as it's profound, that's ok.
          I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
            Well, as long as it's profound, that's ok.
            Everything I do is profound.

            "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
            "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
            Katniss Everdeen


            Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

            Comment


            • #7
              The titles are fun to rethink:

              Harry Potter and the Stoned Philosopher
              Harry's Chamber Pot of Secrets
              Harry Potter becomes a Stickler for Ampersands
              I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                I am profoundly offended.
                For the sarcastically impaired the following is said in jest

                Snowflake.

                "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                  For the sarcastically impaired the following is said in jest

                  Snowflake.

                  I'm not even wearing flannel.

                  "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                  "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                  Katniss Everdeen


                  Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                    I read the books like 8 years ago. Thought they were ok, I guess. I'm watching the movies now. These are just random thoughts of mine...

                    Is it just me, or is suspension of disbelief impossible with the Harry Potter series? Something about it just utterly fails to click with me. Maybe it's how annoying the characters are (e.g., Harry Potter), maybe it's how dumb most of them seem to be (e.g., Harry Potter), or maybe it's how utterly helpless all these ultra-powerful wizards seem to be (e.g., Harry Potter, Voldemort).

                    If the intention was to make Voldemort look scary, they failed. I think his man-rat minion is a better villain than he is. In the first two movies, Draco Malfoy looks like he's trying to impersonate Donald Trump with that hairdo. His dad is a lousy LotR elf impersonator.

                    The school seems like an exceptionally dangerous place with very poor security. (For example, the troll from the first movie, the petrification in the second, the escaped prisoner and demented Nazgul wannabes in the third, Moldy's minion in the fourth, and I haven't gotten further yet.) And Albatross Dumbly (this might sound better than his actual name) does...nothing about it all, apparently? What exactly does he do at that school, anyway?

                    Everyone is scared to death of Voldemort for some reason, even though he's repeatedly defeated by Harry, a prepubescent kid who's not exactly a bright candle himself.

                    I watched Omelet of Fire last night, and at one point Harry said something like, "I don't know what my strengths are."

                    Yeah, me neither.
                    For the sarcastically impaired the following is said in jest

                    You DO realize they're CHILDREN'S books right?

                    "What has the Church gained if it is popular, but there is no conviction, no repentance, no power?" - A.W. Tozer

                    "... there are two parties in Washington, the stupid party and the evil party, who occasionally get together and do something both stupid and evil, and this is called bipartisanship." - Everett Dirksen

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Littlejoe View Post
                      For the sarcastically impaired the following is said in jest

                      You DO realize they're CHILDREN'S books right?

                      Two funny things about that: all of the fans of the books that I know are adults, and according to Wikipedia, Rowling did not originally have a target age group in mind for them. Apparently that was the publisher's decision.
                      I DENOUNCE DONALD J. TRUMP AND ALL HIS IMMORAL ACTS.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                        Two funny things about that: all of the fans of the books that I know are adults, and according to Wikipedia, Rowling did not originally have a target age group in mind for them. Apparently that was the publisher's decision.
                        I had the impression that there was no official "target" audience, but that in a loose sense, the books were written to appeal to readers about the same age as the characters -- which increased with each subsequent book.
                        Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

                        Beige Federalist.

                        Nationalist Christian.

                        "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

                        Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

                        Proud member of the this space left blank community.

                        Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

                        Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

                        Justice for Matthew Perna!

                        Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          There is at least one Harry Potter related item in every single one of the rooms of my apartment aside from bathrooms and storage.

                          "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                          "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                          Katniss Everdeen


                          Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Zymologist View Post
                            I read the books like 8 years ago. Thought they were ok, I guess. I'm watching the movies now. These are just random thoughts of mine...
                            I enjoyed the first couple books, but they got old as the series went on. I think I read them all, but the later ones have faded from my memory.

                            The movies were a disappointment.

                            I do not own or possess a single Harry Potter related item.

                            I have not yet grown up, and at 75 I see little point in doing so now.
                            Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                              There is at least one Harry Potter related item in every single one of the rooms of my apartment aside from bathrooms and storage.
                              Originally posted by Jedidiah View Post
                              I enjoyed the first couple books, but they got old as the series went on. I think I read them all, but the later ones have faded from my memory.

                              The movies were a disappointment.

                              I do not own or possess a single Harry Potter related item.

                              I have not yet grown up, and at 75 I see little point in doing so now.
                              Much as I enjoy HP and LOTR, I have zero paraphernalia from either. I do have quite a few sci-fi type items on display, but the vast majority are from my childhood hoard -- Major Matt Mason, Zeroids, etc. I was not in those days as interested in "magic" sorts of stuff, so even if, e.g., HP or LOTR fully-articulated action figures and accessories had been available, I probably would not have bothered with them.
                              Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

                              Beige Federalist.

                              Nationalist Christian.

                              "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

                              Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

                              Proud member of the this space left blank community.

                              Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

                              Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

                              Justice for Matthew Perna!

                              Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

                              Comment

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