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Subject: 
Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.fun
Date: 
Mon, 10 Dec 2001 16:56:57 GMT
Viewed: 
810 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Aaron Dalan writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Dave Schuler writes:


Has JK Rowling read J.R.R. Tolkien--undoubtedly.  Is Harry Potter still an
original work of genius?  I think it is.

Original? Certainly (barring some peculiar name similarity previously
discussed here). Genius?  Well, let's just say that "genius" is one of the
most criminally overused words in the language.

I stand by my characterization.  Did you happen to walk around on Halloween
night?  There were LEGIONS of kids wearing wizard costumes.  The story has
struck a chord with the children of the world to such an amazing extent that
they are actually reading instead of staring at TV, movies, or computer
screens.

  Maybe, maybe not.  Would these legions of consumers have been wearing HP
costumes if the movie hadn't been at the crest of a marketing wave since early
Spring?  I doubt it, though we can never know for sure.  In any case, you're
undoubtedly aware that the test of literary influence isn't in the number of
Halloween costumes worn Year One (or Two or Three) but how it affects a genre
for decades or perhaps centuries to follow.
  Let's just say that "genius" is one of the most criminally overused words in
the language.  I have nothing against Rowling, but, for pity's sake--Tim Burton
is frequently called a genius!  The word has been used (in this discussion and
elsewhere) so often that it has little value.
  And here's a little satirical food for thought from www.theonion.com:

                     New Harry Potter Film Turns
                     Children On To Magic Of Not
                     Reading
                     LOS ANGELES— Around the world,
                     children are being turned on to the
                     magic of not reading by the
                     blockbuster film Harry Potter And The
                     Sorcerer's Stone. "My daughter Julia
                     never liked to sit passively and stare at
                     a screen, but this new movie has really
                     locked the power of her imagination,"
                     said Hannah Foss, 38, of Dayton, OH.
                     "She can't put her books away fast
                     enough." "Movies are great," said
                     Tarzana, CA, 10-year-old Emily Hart.
                     "You can see exactly what the
                     characters look like without having to
                     guess."


     Dave!



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
 
(...) I had seen that Onion piece earlier, but it didn't really support my argument so I didn't deighn to mention it:) Maybe 10 years from now, Harry Potter will be long forgotten, and I will have egg on my face. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, (...) (23 years ago, 10-Dec-01, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
  Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
 
(...) Yeah, well, I'm STILL gonna go see The Lord of the Rings - I've been waiting (wait, I've run out of toes and fingers!) a long time for this. :-) Bruce (it's not like I haven't read it enough) (23 years ago, 10-Dec-01, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
 
(...) I stand by my characterization. Did you happen to walk around on Halloween night? There were LEGIONS of kids wearing wizard costumes. The story has struck a chord with the children of the world to such an amazing extent that they are actually (...) (23 years ago, 8-Dec-01, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)

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