Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
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Post by Torgo on Jul 18, 2011 11:31:06 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against analysis, but when analysis reduces itself to ignorant generalization is where I have a problem. Here we are coming off of a weekend where the latest Potter movie has broken records all over the world, made $92 million in one day and $168 million for the entire weekend. If the audience was limited to a certain type of individual it wouldn't have made nearly as much. When I see numbers like that, I see people of all ages with different interests standing in line with love and excitement for this story. People ranging from high school drop outs to PHDs. McDonald's employees to Government officials. I understand your point that understanding why Harry Potter, amongst all the children's books in the world, why was it put on a pedestal? I don't agree that it needs to be done, but if you want to do it, go nuts. But here's the thing: When you're looking at appeal of this magnitude, people are going to name different aspects about it. You can filter out all the fanboy and girl comments like "I like Harry because he's the hero," "I don't like Ginny because she's stupid," "I like Voldemort because he's hot," and not come out with any reasonable conclusion. I myself like a good serialized story. My attraction to Harry Potter comes from that it's a solid coming of age tale with likable characters, and I find it unique in that it grows up with it's characters. Is it the greatest story ever told? No it's not. There are even instances where Rowling's writing annoys me (this was especially the case in Deathly Hallows, where a more even tale was called for, but she stuck to her guns and bored with exposition for two acts before something actually happening in the third). Am I ashamed to be reading children's literature in public? My response would be a very simple "Eat my ass." I can read Go Dog Go in public if I want to, and probably have (I vaguely recall). Out loud, with a silly Pinto Colvig voice if the situation called for it. For the record, I read the Percy Jackson and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series too, and am not ashamed to be carrying them around in public. I'm not going to apologize for reading any of these. I am a proud crime against nature. Torgo, the child in you will fade one day, and it's not a tragedy. It's nature taking Her course. We age, things change, our attitudes shift dramatically. I have no doubt that they do, but that doesn't necessarily mean it needs to happen. I've picked the life that makes me happy, as I'm sure they have too. But I do believe every soul can benefit from having their inner child running around. I see people day to day who would benefit, and am often told that my bright personality brings sunshine to their day.
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Post by crowschmo on Sept 10, 2015 20:51:06 GMT -5
Okay, so, apparently the name is pronounced "Voldemore". Okay, whatevs.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Sept 19, 2015 14:39:12 GMT -5
Yeah. I'm kinda surprised that no one knew that. I guess I'm the only one who went to Scholastic's fan-site when the books were still coming out and clicked on the "how to say the names" buttons, including the fact that the voice would only say "Shhh..." and "You know who..." for a while if you weren't persistent.
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Post by crowschmo on Sept 21, 2015 9:48:56 GMT -5
It sounds more ominous when it's pronounced with the "t", though. Rather than, tra-la, I'm Voldemore. I was reading a blurb about it and one of the comments from someone said something like, "so 'I Am Lord Voldemort' is an anagram for Tom Marvolo Riddle and he pronounces it in French?, that makes no sense". This made me crack up for some reason. 'Cause it really does make no sense.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Oct 30, 2015 0:28:55 GMT -5
I dunno why he wouldn't pronounce it in French, though. Properly pronounced, saying "mort" for death is cool. Saying it with the T sounds comical to me. A distinction that I think Terry Pratchett used well in the book Mort, making it both silly and ominous.
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Post by crowschmo on Jan 10, 2016 14:59:53 GMT -5
I have a question. I don't remember every little detail from the books, they were long after all, but: When Bill married Fleur it was pointed out in the wedding scene that the Weasley clan was quite large. Were they all Wizards? Or were a lot of them Muggles or Squibs or something? 'Cause: Where the heck did all of Ron's cousins go to school? Were they home schooled? They certainly didn't go to Hogwarts. I know there were probably some other wizarding schools not mentioned in the book, but, hmmm.
Could be that that just would have been too many more characters to mention and they weren't bothered with but, hey, where'd they go? (Edit: And did Arthur and Molly have siblings or were they cousins of cousins?)
Also: Those Quidditch matches: They were always just against another House from the one school. They never had inter-school matches? Come ON!
And that whole bit in Half-Blood Prince where Harry gets Snape's old school book. He was a friggin' TEACHER there for a few years. There was no WAY he'd leave that thing just lying around for someone else to stumble upon. (I solved that little problem in my alt-universe version).
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euphoriafish
Nanite
YESSSS NO LONGER AN ANTEATER AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! :D
Posts: 41
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Post by euphoriafish on Jan 23, 2016 14:06:17 GMT -5
Yeah, interschool Quidditch matches would have added a lot of characters and a greater sense of the wider world. Reading those books I always got the sense that the kids were pawns and it was mostly the adults' war they were kept out of until the last two or three books. Though, I thought Goblet of Fire was a bit more inter-school with its competition?
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Post by crowschmo on Dec 26, 2016 18:14:49 GMT -5
Read a few blurbs in online articles about what Rowling has written on Pottermore (haven't read the actual site myself). And, hey, it seemed there WAS a cousin of the Weasley's who was kept out for time's sake. And a lot of witches and wizards ARE home schooled. And there are other Wizarding Schools. What is it one per continent or something? (Except Europe, where we know of at least three). She's ruining it for me.
Has anyone read Cursed Child? I really don't want to.
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Post by crowschmo on Jun 11, 2018 12:13:51 GMT -5
Query: Don't remember if the books ever covered this, it's been a few years since I've read them. Hermione was born to Muggles, right? Yet, when Harry and Ron first meet her on the train, she's already quite an accomplished witch and has read many books on the Wizarding World - like "Hogwarts, A History". When Ron is trying to turn Scabbers yellow, for instance, Hermione chastises him that the spell isn't very good, and that many spells always work for her. (And she uses the Occulus Repairo spell on Harry's glasses).
Umm...where the frick had she LEARNED all that? Where did she get access to books on witchcraft? Did she stumble upon a witch library and know what it was? Who told her all this stuff? I mean, an average Muggle can have an interest in, say, Wicca and such, and know about SUPPOSED witchcraft, and Hermione might certainly have noticed that she could do ACTUAL magic before getting her letter from Hogwarts, but...
Edit: Did she just read all the required first year books from the time she got her letter until it was time for the first semester to start? That's what? Three months?
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Post by crowschmo on Oct 5, 2018 14:06:08 GMT -5
I'm re-reading these because I'm writing fan-fic. I'm doing an Alt Universe version from about the Half-Blood Prince, then prequels during Severus' and Lily's and the rest's Hogwarts days, up through to the end, showing it from different people's perspectives (other than Harry's). It's taking me just as long to write these as it did Rowling to write the real thing, for corn's sake. I was thinking of putting some scenes on here, maybe in Crow's Art, and calling them, "Scenes from a Sorting Hat" or something. But, I don't know if I have that kind of courage. Anyway: I think Rowling made Harry's parents too young, and I think she made James and his friends too powerful. I mean think about it. In Goblet of Fire, Hermione says that it takes years for people to become Animagi. And James, Sirius and Peter just BECOME a stag and a dog and a rat to keep Remus company when he's a werewolf WHILE THEY ARE STILL AT SCHOOL. So, it's powerful magic, but a bunch of school-age kids can do it and avoid the Ministry finding out? Pretty strong kids. (Even Peter, who is described as "slow"). And that whole Marauder's Map thing. So, Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards, supposedly, doesn't know all the secrets of Hogwarts, but this same bunch of kids can map the whole school, and keep track of EVERYONE who goes walking around in it's corridors? It even shows their true identities when they are using Polyjuice Potion or are unregistered animagi, when the defenses of the school itself can't detect it. And the map still works years later when they haven't even touched it in years and new students are attending, and new teachers are working there. Wow, those kids are impressive. I'm guessing all this was for plot convenience. (That and the Room of Requirement, don't get me started on THAT. Everything in the UNIVERSE is available in that room? Is that what we are to believe?). And James and Lily are described as some of the best Aurors. (Edit: I guess they were just Order members). They were both only 21 when they died. So, just four years out of school and they're better than ones who have been at it for God knows how long. I know some wizards are better than others and pick things up more naturally, but, I think, Rowling just made Harry's family too perfect. Oh, and, by the way, they're rich to boot. I'm guessing it's Potter inheritance or something. I know it's a kids' story, and it's just for fun, but... Some of the stuff was just too convenient or simplistic.
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Post by crowschmo on Dec 1, 2018 14:50:09 GMT -5
The more I re-read these, the less I'm liking and the more holes I'm finding. The characters are kind of unlikeable, even the "good guys". I friggin' hate Sirius.
The whole thing of Snape being poor growing up is just stupid. His father is an abusive MUGGLE? Why the hell did his mother - a WITCH - put up with that? Why not protect her kid? Why even stay with the guy? I don't remember if she was abusive too, or neglectful, I haven't re-read up to that part yet. And she lives around Muggles, so she must know SOME things about them. She's a WITCH. She can't get a frickin' job and make some money, I don't know, as a seamstress or something? And just because they have to buy second hand clothes, doesn't mean they can't MATCH or look human, for crying out loud. She could buy FABRIC and MAKE clothes. Just dumb. And then, when Sev is at school - he's AT SCHOOL, not in some poor Muggle village and he's a WIZARD: he can clean his clothes and his hair. I know some people who have, like, chronic depression or something don't take care of themselves properly, but, come on. He's constantly being picked on for standing out, looking weird, that is something he CAN fix.
And, he's great at potions. All that stuff he says right at the beginning of the book about bottling fame and brewing glory and putting a stopper in death, and we find out later he won the luck potion from Slughorn. There's no payoff. Why didn't he take these potions to make himself more successful and popular if he could do all this amazing sh*t? I know, plot convenience, he needed to be pathetic. (And maybe he couldn't get the ingredients when he was younger? Who knows). But, why bother talking about how great a potions master he is if, again, there's no payoff? (Hell, I have a chapter of him poisoning the whole damn school - revenge - mwahahahaa!).
And that whole thing with Hermione and S.P.E.W., leaving hats for the elves to find so they will be free and not having to present clothes to them directly. Um...so, if wizards are lazy slobs and leave their clothes around, the house elves just clean AROUND that and leave the mess? I'm sure that goes over well in pure-bred households. And is laundry the one chore elves DON'T do? Who the frig does all that laundry for Hogwarts? Filch? Again - dumb. (Edit: I guess they have to be given the clothes DIRECTLY, for the specific PURPOSE of freeing them?).
Can't dig too deep in stories, I guess. You find too much to criticize, heh.
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Post by crowschmo on Jan 12, 2019 12:13:34 GMT -5
Harry's glasses make no sense. (Unless he's wearing bifocals and that is just not mentioned). He needs them to read, so he's not near-sighted. He needs them to play Quidditch, so he's not far-sighted. And, oh, by the way - when he IS wearing them to play Quidditch he has the eyes of an eagle and can spot that friggin' Snitch better than anyone.
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Post by crowschmo on Jun 19, 2019 16:57:24 GMT -5
There is a video on YouTube that is a reading of "Cursed Child", and hey, rather than wasting money and buying a book I'd probably hate (or going to the library), I thought I'd give it a listen. It's free.
Whoa. What a train wreck. (Get it? Train? - Sorry).
Apparently Ron is a brain-dead, idiot-loser.
I won't go into details in case anyone wants to read it or listen to it, but - blech. There were some moments where one would think, hey, this thing COULD have potential, there's some heartfelt writing in there, but, for the most part, it's just a stupid premise and the dialogue is cringe worthy.
I found it hard to believe that it was actually made into a play and put on for all to see.
Don't recommend it, but, it's out there and free if anyone is interested.
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Post by said43 on Jun 19, 2019 18:25:24 GMT -5
I recently reread the first two novels and started to reread the third. I'd forgotten how much humor is in them. I'll try to reread the whole series if I ever find the time.
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Post by crowschmo on Sept 24, 2019 13:08:21 GMT -5
The Pensieve makes no sense whatsoever. Um...people don't see THEMSELVES in their own memories. Harry would be seeing these memories from Snape's or Slughorn' PERSPECTIVES - through their eyes. He wouldn't be seeing THEM and their expressions or what have you. He wouldn't be hearing what OTHER people said out of ear shot of the person providing the memories, or saw what other people were doing out of that person's line of sight. How does that even WORK?
And, when he sneaked a peak at Snape's memories - the memory was purposely taken OUT of Snape's head so Harry wouldn't see it when they were doing their Legilimancy Edit: or Occulomancy (sp?)(or however you spell it) lessons, and yet when Snape catches Harry, he knows exactly what memory Harry was looking at. So, it's STILL IN SNAPE'S HEAD to some degree. What exactly is the purpose of this contraption?
I guess it's just a lame plot device to "show (literally) don't tell" so Rowling could show others' POV's without really changing it from Harry's or getting into others' heads too much.
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