Comments on: The Problem with Harry Potter

By: Marcelo

Marcelo — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:57:33 +0000

Tif – Sorry for the late reply. I don’t get annoyed by HP fans at all. Like I said before, I totally get fandom and why it exists and how valuable it is. I’m glad you liked my post.

I think what annoys me is that I can think of a million little changes that would have made the story so much more interesting. Like Harry dating a Slytherin instead of Ginny. Or even better, what if Ginny WAS a Slytherin? What if she gets sorted into the Slytherin house even though all her brothers and friends are in Gryffindor? What if she starts going goth with her Slytherin friends and becoming possibly bad? What if Harry likes that about her? SO much opportunity for great characterization, questions of loyalty, making Slytherin useful to the good guys, and Rowling dodged it completely for something easier and more boring.

By: Hey Kids — It’s the Book Blog Awards! « What We're Reading Now

Hey Kids — It’s the Book Blog Awards! « What We're Reading Now — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:09:14 +0000

[...] in her BBAW post but I wound up throwing in a few others that just made perfect sense, like Marcelo’s searing and spot-on essay on the Harry Potter phenomenon. Anyway, Stacked makes books seem interesting and accessible and relevant to your life — hit [...]

By: Tif

Tif — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:06:10 +0000

I'm one of those Harry Potter fans that probably annoys you so much!! Though I do disagree with you, I do not have any intention of debating with you or arguing my points. I just wanted to say thank you for sharing in detail why. I have often heard people say they don't like the books, but the reasonings have been insubstantial or shallow. You, on the other hand, have given the details, spoken so well, and I appreciate that! .-= Tif´s last blog ..Poe Fridays: The Devil in the Belfry =-.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:20:32 +0000

And here I thought that I was the only person on earth who thought that Harry Potter was lame. Thank you for not being a wannabe wizard. .-= Rachel ´s last blog ..In praise of Frank McCourt =-.

By: FilmBuffRich

FilmBuffRich — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:46:07 +0000

I really like your comment on the provincialism of the HP books. It echoes something I thought while watching the opening of the latest movies. As the Death Eaters are swirling around London, I thought, "Cool. It looks like the magical world is in danger of being discovered by the mundane world" only to watch that possible plot point totally fumbled. (Caveat- I have not read the books, so I don't know how Rowling handles things, though I suspect she doesn't really address this all that much.) .-= FilmBuffRich´s last blog ..First Poster For ST. TRINIAN’S =-.

By: Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie | Stacked

Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie | Stacked — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:06:24 +0000

[...] simple book review cannot be nearly as exciting as Marcelo’s rant about Harry Potter yesterday. However, there is housekeeping to do before next week’s series on love and books [...]

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:30:02 +0000

“a tale full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.” Thanks for paraphasing MacBeth. Pretty much sums this whole treatise up.

By: Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:52:35 +0000

Good heavens, I’m glad to see in print what I have always felt in the depths of my heart. A joy that reading is being embraced by the young again, yes, but at the same time a despair that the tired drivel of the Harry Potter series were the vehicle. It is like the proliferation of graffiti being praised as bringing about an increased participation in the graphic arts among the young. Certainly, but it is still vandalism.

The elements, indeed the overall philosophy of life, within the series which you outline in this excellent commentary perhaps present an insight into their most troubling undercurrent: success through entitlement. Harry Potter, as you so clearly argue, does not succeed through his actions, but rather by his birth (as the Boy Who Lived) and the reactions this entails in the denizens of the secret world who acknowledge his lineage and importance. He is, entirely by no act of his own, special by birth (a wizard) and by circumstance. This entitles him to success. Whether this is in fact a biting commentary on the perpetuation of the class system in modern Britain we may never know, but I hazard a guess that it is not the case.

Aside from that, what an excellent website you folks have going here. First time reader, and very much enjoy it. Three cheers, and all that, from an old friend.

By: @mattstratton

@mattstratton — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:38:58 +0000

One thing that drives me batty with the HP books is something you alluded to with the “latest rule of magic” or whatnot – in the third book, they make this big deal about how summoning a Patronus is SO FRIGGIN’ DIFFICULT, etc, etc, but by the seventh book, it’s like anyone can do it (except Hermoine), and they are so easy that people just use them instead of cell phone. Weak.

I don’t remember exactly when the Unforgivable Curses are introduced (could also have been the third book), but again – at first, we are meant to understand that using any of those Curses will get you locked away in Azkaban for the rest of your life, and your very soul will be destroyed, it makes you so evil, right? I could even buy the FIRST time Harry uses one, at the end of Order of the Phoenix, because he’s so very upset about Sirius. But by the last book he’s just tossing them about as if they were nothing worse than shoplifting.

Also, re: female Slytherins…there’s at least one, Pansy Parkinson, who exists mostly just to be a screechy bitch.
.-= @mattstratton´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – Project 365 =-.