Subject:
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Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Mon, 10 Dec 2001 22:00:34 GMT
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Viewed:
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2521 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Dave Schuler writes:
> 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!
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, and LoTR have all been dismissed by critics as
juvenile trash, but I still think they are all brilliant. Maybe I would
call JK a cultural and marketing genius if not a literary one.
Aaron
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: LoTR v. Harry Potter
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| (...) 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 (...) (25 years ago, 10-Dec-01, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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