Poll: How much Harry didya watch or read until you were done?
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Read and saw them all multiple times.
Got my mom to read them.
Mom is now a huge fan, so the house is full of all manner of Harry Potter stuff.
I'd read and watch more if there was more, but I'm a media consuming monster and don't really have time to retread old stuff while new stuff is so hard to keep up with.
Got my mom to read them.
Mom is now a huge fan, so the house is full of all manner of Harry Potter stuff.
I'd read and watch more if there was more, but I'm a media consuming monster and don't really have time to retread old stuff while new stuff is so hard to keep up with.
I've read all of them, twice each. Up until recently I had only seen up to the third movie, but a local telly station ran all the movies in sequence over eight nights during the Christmas break and I was made watch them (not that I minded really).
The first three movies are... not nearly as good as I remember. I distinctly recall thinking that the third one was my faveorite, but now I think it might be the worst. They did get a lot better after that though, and I don't regret my time watching them.
I can't remember much about the books (I was a kid when I read most of them). Watching the movies recently has given me a bit of an itch to go through them again, but I'd never be able to find all of the books I own and I couldn't be arsed going to try and find them in the shops.
The first three movies are... not nearly as good as I remember. I distinctly recall thinking that the third one was my faveorite, but now I think it might be the worst. They did get a lot better after that though, and I don't regret my time watching them.
I can't remember much about the books (I was a kid when I read most of them). Watching the movies recently has given me a bit of an itch to go through them again, but I'd never be able to find all of the books I own and I couldn't be arsed going to try and find them in the shops.
I read the entire series annually; actually, it's almost time again. And it's now been established that my family and I, as of last year, have a tradition of watching all the movies together every summer, with me filling the gaps of the stuff that was left out from the books.
Well, other than the look (which is so strikingly similar that the first time I saw the cover of a HP novel my thought was "Cool, they've started novelizing Books of Magic!"), and the owl (which you say is very common but outside HP & BoM the only magic character I can think of with a pet owl is the Sword in the Stone version of Merlin), off the top of my head there'sQueen Michael said:
Both Tim and Harry have miserable home lives (albeit for very different reasons).
Tim gets repeatedly told that he could turn out evil, even being shown an alternate future where he is evil.
Harry gets repeatedly told that he could turn out evil, almost being put in the "bad" Hogwarts house.
Evil organizations (Cold Flame, Cult of the Blood Red Moon) want Tim dead.
Evil organization (Death Eaters) wants Harry dead.
One of Tim's 'teachers' tries to kill him at the end of the mini-series.
One of Harry's teachers tries to kill him at the end of the first book.
In the scene where Tim's 'teacher' tries to kill him, teacher reveals a hideous physical deformity.
In the scene where Harry's teacher tries to kill him, teacher reveals a hideous physical deformity.
In the fight with the manticore, Tim doesn't actually defeat it another magical creature (unicorn) appears and kills it.
In the fight with the basilisk, Harry doesn't actually defeat it another magical creature (phoenix) appears and kills it.
In the fight with the manticore Tim is horribly poisoned.
In the fight with the basilisk Harry is horribly poisoned.
Tim frees a magical creature whose existence is bound up in servitude (Leah).
Harry frees a magical creature whose existence is bound up in servitude (Dobby).
Tim gets repeatedly told that he could turn out evil, even being shown an alternate future where he is evil.
Harry gets repeatedly told that he could turn out evil, almost being put in the "bad" Hogwarts house.
Evil organizations (Cold Flame, Cult of the Blood Red Moon) want Tim dead.
Evil organization (Death Eaters) wants Harry dead.
One of Tim's 'teachers' tries to kill him at the end of the mini-series.
One of Harry's teachers tries to kill him at the end of the first book.
In the scene where Tim's 'teacher' tries to kill him, teacher reveals a hideous physical deformity.
In the scene where Harry's teacher tries to kill him, teacher reveals a hideous physical deformity.
In the fight with the manticore, Tim doesn't actually defeat it another magical creature (unicorn) appears and kills it.
In the fight with the basilisk, Harry doesn't actually defeat it another magical creature (phoenix) appears and kills it.
In the fight with the manticore Tim is horribly poisoned.
In the fight with the basilisk Harry is horribly poisoned.
Tim frees a magical creature whose existence is bound up in servitude (Leah).
Harry frees a magical creature whose existence is bound up in servitude (Dobby).
Like I say, those are off the top of my head.
If it was just the look, or just the owl, or just a couple of those things it would be one thing. As it is....
Also, remember I'm not saying that this makes HP a *bad* series, I'm just saying that it looks to me like Ms. Rowling was inspired by BoM. I'm fine with people having a different opinion. When people get *delusional* (I know someone who denies that there even *is* an owl in BoM, despite having been shown the mini-series collection multiple times), that level of denial I'm not so OK with.
Where's the "Read some, watched some" option? Because that's how it went here. I watched the movies until the fourth or fifth one, and didn't end up reading the last book.
At that point I found other fantasy to read, notably Discworld novels. And when you read some of those and look back at Harry Potter you find out that HP is, well, not all that good really. I had better things to read. The movies just cut too much stuff I liked for me to continue caring about them.
In the end I just moved on, just grew out of it. A while back I was bored and caught up on the movies at least, but I didn't care that much for them. They were okay.
At that point I found other fantasy to read, notably Discworld novels. And when you read some of those and look back at Harry Potter you find out that HP is, well, not all that good really. I had better things to read. The movies just cut too much stuff I liked for me to continue caring about them.
In the end I just moved on, just grew out of it. A while back I was bored and caught up on the movies at least, but I didn't care that much for them. They were okay.
I've happily read all the books, some of them two or three times. Pretty sure I've seen almost every movie too, though I didn't consider them essential. I actually kind of preferred letting my imagination supply the visuals.
Though, I work in a theater and get to watch movies for free, so for most of them I pretty much just figured, 'Meh. Might as well watch the damn thing.'
That said, they were pretty damn good!
Though, I work in a theater and get to watch movies for free, so for most of them I pretty much just figured, 'Meh. Might as well watch the damn thing.'
That said, they were pretty damn good!
Okay, I don't want to spoil anything for people so like you I'll use spoiler tags.Little Woodsman said:
1. Like you say, they have very different home lives. Both of them unhappy, yes, but the actual situations are way different. Living with your dad is very different form being an orphan.
2. Then the owl thing. Like you say, there's Merlin. When push comes to shove, it's more likely that a British person took the owl from a british story about a British person than from a comic book most people never heard of, let alone read.
3. Evil organization that wants the main character dead? Can also be found in Star Wars, James Bond, Star Trek, several superhero comics, etc. Evil organizations are a dime a dozen.
4. Mister E is more of a mentor than a teacher. He's basically just a "person who tells the protagonist some stuff." Everybody tells Harry Potter stuff he didn't know about magic, so you could compare Mister E with almost everybody in HP who turns evil. The situations are so unlike each other that it comes off as a bit forced. Especially since Mister E is a fanatic crusader for what he sees as right, while Quirrel ignores morals in favour of profits. Also, Harry's got tons of teachers; at least one of them's bound to be evil.
5. Mister E's blindness can't really be compared to having a second face on the back of your head. Using the phrase "hideous physical deformity" makes the two sound way more similar than they really are. Also, the circumstances concerning the deformities are extremely different. Mister E. is handicapped; Quirrel isn't.
6....Not to be rude, but yes he does. Harry does kill the basilisk. He drives his sword into it, after Fawkes blinds it. He's got assistance from a magical creature, sure, but he does the killing while Tim doesn't.
7. Manticores being venomous is part of the old legends surrounding them. The same is true for venomous basilisks. Both series simply used mythical creatures the way they're described in myths. All Rowling did was use a standard basilisk. It's a bit silly to suggest that "taking an idea from an obscure comic book" is more likely than "opening any book at all about famous magical animals." The basilisk isn't venomous because the manticore was; it's venomous because basilisks are venomous. These are completely different creatures who both happen to be venomous, just like millions of other creatures real and imaginary.
8. Okay, so they both free slaves. Once again, not a new idea. And the slaves being magical is pretty much a given, since this is a fantasy series. And you can't really say that there's much similarity between Leah and Dobby as characters. To top it off, Leah remains free while Dobby goes back into servitude. One stops being a servant, the other one doesn't.
9. Almost forgot: being told he could turn evil. Just like In Star Wars with the dark side of the force. That power can be misused can't be attributed to just one source. It's a universal concept.
To be honest, you could find pretty much all of this in the stories of King Arthur & Merlin plus Star Wars. Star Wars gives us the unhappy home life without a complete family, the "don't turn evil" thing, the evil organization who wants him dead, the deformed person trying to kill him after trying to make him join the dark side, killing a strange beast with help (the rancor being killed by the falling door), having slaves (well, droids) for friends and getting them into servitude they prefer (C-3PO likes it with Luke and Dobby likes it at Hogwarts), the wise and wizened mentor Dumbledore Kenobi... And then there's Merlin, a wise old teacher who has an owl and is old and wise. And nobody's trying to claim John Ney Rieber or J.K. Rowling invented manticores or basilisks.
2. Then the owl thing. Like you say, there's Merlin. When push comes to shove, it's more likely that a British person took the owl from a british story about a British person than from a comic book most people never heard of, let alone read.
3. Evil organization that wants the main character dead? Can also be found in Star Wars, James Bond, Star Trek, several superhero comics, etc. Evil organizations are a dime a dozen.
4. Mister E is more of a mentor than a teacher. He's basically just a "person who tells the protagonist some stuff." Everybody tells Harry Potter stuff he didn't know about magic, so you could compare Mister E with almost everybody in HP who turns evil. The situations are so unlike each other that it comes off as a bit forced. Especially since Mister E is a fanatic crusader for what he sees as right, while Quirrel ignores morals in favour of profits. Also, Harry's got tons of teachers; at least one of them's bound to be evil.
5. Mister E's blindness can't really be compared to having a second face on the back of your head. Using the phrase "hideous physical deformity" makes the two sound way more similar than they really are. Also, the circumstances concerning the deformities are extremely different. Mister E. is handicapped; Quirrel isn't.
6....Not to be rude, but yes he does. Harry does kill the basilisk. He drives his sword into it, after Fawkes blinds it. He's got assistance from a magical creature, sure, but he does the killing while Tim doesn't.
7. Manticores being venomous is part of the old legends surrounding them. The same is true for venomous basilisks. Both series simply used mythical creatures the way they're described in myths. All Rowling did was use a standard basilisk. It's a bit silly to suggest that "taking an idea from an obscure comic book" is more likely than "opening any book at all about famous magical animals." The basilisk isn't venomous because the manticore was; it's venomous because basilisks are venomous. These are completely different creatures who both happen to be venomous, just like millions of other creatures real and imaginary.
8. Okay, so they both free slaves. Once again, not a new idea. And the slaves being magical is pretty much a given, since this is a fantasy series. And you can't really say that there's much similarity between Leah and Dobby as characters. To top it off, Leah remains free while Dobby goes back into servitude. One stops being a servant, the other one doesn't.
9. Almost forgot: being told he could turn evil. Just like In Star Wars with the dark side of the force. That power can be misused can't be attributed to just one source. It's a universal concept.
To be honest, you could find pretty much all of this in the stories of King Arthur & Merlin plus Star Wars. Star Wars gives us the unhappy home life without a complete family, the "don't turn evil" thing, the evil organization who wants him dead, the deformed person trying to kill him after trying to make him join the dark side, killing a strange beast with help (the rancor being killed by the falling door), having slaves (well, droids) for friends and getting them into servitude they prefer (C-3PO likes it with Luke and Dobby likes it at Hogwarts), the wise and wizened mentor Dumbledore Kenobi... And then there's Merlin, a wise old teacher who has an owl and is old and wise. And nobody's trying to claim John Ney Rieber or J.K. Rowling invented manticores or basilisks.
tl;dr: Most of the stuff you mention can be traced to Star Wars, the myths of Merlin, and the ancient legends about manticores and basilisks. It's way more likely that Rowling got the ideas from there than from obscure comic books. Also, some of the similarities are really just using the same phrasing about very different situations.
Read them all (the first four multiple times). Seen all the films, read the charity ones, and I'm a member of Pottermore, too (Slytherin; Siamese cat pet).
Went to the midnight release for one of them, but I can't remember which it was.
I love that world to bits.
Went to the midnight release for one of them, but I can't remember which it was.
I love that world to bits.
And I can bring up counter-points/arguments for everything you've said there.Queen Michael said:
I would like to point out that having this many points to debate indicates something in itself....
Other than that, what you don't seem to understand is that you are not *allowed* to have a different opinion or viewpoint from mine.
I simply *WON'T* have it!
So now I am going to argue this with you until the world ends and entropy claims the last bit of energy in the universe.
Just see if I don't!
I never read the last book. I liked the series back when it was an Enid Blyton, whimsical romp, and thought they took a turn for the worse by about the fifth book. I only read book six because the girl I had started going out with made it the sole condition of our having a relationship. I thought it was terrible (the book that is, the relationship was fine).
I've watched all the films though. They seem to have an inverse relationship to the books, in that they start off shit, but get better as the books get worse.
I've watched all the films though. They seem to have an inverse relationship to the books, in that they start off shit, but get better as the books get worse.
Read all the books (in one case taking advantage of 4chan's little spoiler stunt to get a chance to read one of them prerelease), seen all the movies, and given I'm a fan of both Harry Potter and the writings of Elizier Yudkowsky am waiting with increasing irritation for the relase of the next part of a Harry Potter fanfic written by Yudkowsky (Ch 102 of an expected 120 was released in July. You really do hate us, don't you Yudkowsky?).Queen Michael said:
A lot of what happens is actually pretty predictable if you reference the right inspirational material. Between books 6 and 7 I rambled off a ton of book 7 predictions, and was about 85% right. I still wonder if she planned the story as an elaborate metaphor for the Chymical Wedding or if they just happen to have a lot of symbolic similarities.
I have read the books multiple times and watched the films multiple times. Unfortunately I can't do any more Harry Potter marathons because my copy of Goblet of Fire has gone walkabouts. I was quite a big fan, not as much as of late but I still drag out the books now and again.
I know the fanfic you're talking about, and I like it so much I had it printed and bound so I could enjoy it without having to stare at a computer screen. (No spoilers though; I've got 90% of it left to read!)Schadrach said:
Well, that's really only the case if the points are valid. Otherwise you might as well side with Nancy Stouffer.Little Woodsman said:
For those of you who don't know: Nancy Stouffer claimed that the Harry Potter books were rip-offs of her books. The so-called "similarities" she cited included things like wooden doors, people asking questions and having prepared answers to them... Ye gods. The woman lost in court and had to pay the court costs, and she deserved it.
"Other" I guess. Read the first book and couldn't get into it (I attempted twice as a kid. I still have that copy) and then quit. I'm sure they're great, but it's just not for me (similar reasons as LOTR and The Hobbit. Watched the movies, but tried reading and couldn't get into it). I watched all of the movies with the exception of both parts of Deathly Hallows. Not avoiding it for any reason. Just haven't had the time or opportunity.
Took a day to watch them all.
God was I underwhelmed.
I mean, they aren't bad films but I think they lack magic...
I want a series of movies that has much magic as action films have flying bullets. It seems to be set in a magical world with magical stuff happening but as for actual spells? It's a bit light.
Other than that, not a bad way to waste a day. Pretty much my opinion of the LOTR films, I prefer the hobbit films but I haven't seen the 5 armies one yet.
God was I underwhelmed.
I mean, they aren't bad films but I think they lack magic...
I want a series of movies that has much magic as action films have flying bullets. It seems to be set in a magical world with magical stuff happening but as for actual spells? It's a bit light.
Other than that, not a bad way to waste a day. Pretty much my opinion of the LOTR films, I prefer the hobbit films but I haven't seen the 5 armies one yet.
Having recently watched the series over 4 days and generally liked them, this reminded me of one thing that bothered me.omega 616 said:
Namely that the big final battle vs. He Who Shall...fuck it, Voldermort was kind of underwhelming considering these people are supposed to know MAGIC. There's a lot of magic alluded to(and some shown) and at the end it boils down to both sides going "Pew Pew Pew" with wands.
Hell, the final battle in Saving Private Ryan is more interesting then that, and makes me think the good magicals should have enlisted a squad of royal marines to help them out to completely turn the tide againest them.
I've seen all the movies completely out of order (I wasn't watching them by my own choice but with friends and relatives). I personally don't care for the series at all. I find it rather dull and slow. Also I was annoyed by a few rather minor things like so much weird magical stuff seeming to just be there for no reason than to be strange(I vaguely remember some bush with levitating fruit in one movie that bugged me). And the fact that they seemingly couldn't do anything without magic.harry can't seem to close a door or light a fire without magic. Most books I've read overuse of magic like that leads to corrupting influences and personal destruction.