Harry Potter

4 posts

Why Read Young Adult Fiction?

First came the boy wizards, followed by sparkly vampires, tween demigods, and most recently, girl gladiators.  Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, chances are you have more than a passing familiarity with some or all of these multi-volume series. And yet, if bookstore shelves and library labels are to be believed, they were not written for you.

Why do so many adults read children’s fiction? Fans will be quick to cite the richness and complexity of the Harry Potter series as well as its progressively darker tone. Similarly, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy has been praised for its mature themes and bleak, uncompromising approach to storytelling. But this sort of reasoning only raises another question: if these books are mature and complex enough for adults, why are they marketed as young adult fiction in the first place? Continue reading

Can Casual Viewers Enjoy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2?

***SPOILER ALERT*** The second half of this article contains Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 spoilers. You have been warned, so no complaining in the comments, nerds.

Hollywood loves a franchise. Especially one that has a built-in audience chomping at the bit to see their favorite book or comic characters come to life on the big screen. Continue reading

Friday Morning Headlines

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is probably the weirdest name for a newspaper I’ve ever heard but It sounds weirdly relevant to today’s world, which often seems “post-intelligent.” Take Rebekah Brooks, for example, the News International CEO who did some pretty stupid things and resigned today over her involvement of the ever worsening News of the World telephonic ethics scandal. More headlines inside!

 

Continue reading

***SPOILERS***

Made you look, didn’t I?

I think we’re all suckers for spoilers, whether we’ll admit it or not. Deep down, we all love to learn new gossip, see sneak peeks and when video of a highly anticipated movie gets leaked, some of us immediately perk up (What? Where?!?!) and clickity-clack-clack (That’s the sound my keyboard makes, what about yours?) our way through the interwebs in search of the said juicy information.

I will shamelessly admit that I love spoilers. Love them. Can’t get enough. I also live in a country that does not prohibit downloading, though it is frowned upon.

Entire length of the Wolverine movie, sans some special effects, leaked? Watched it.

First 13 chapters of the 4’th Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, appears online? Read it.

So when the first 36 minutes of the Part 1 of the culmination of a series that has defined my generation gets posted, I do not hesitate to go in search of this video. Being a member of an exclusive and highly reliable site that provides these very things makes such quests easier to accomplish. The internet has allowed us to blur the line between right and wrong and get away with it, under the guise of anonymity.

Why? I have always been of the thought that if I was going to download and watch a leaked video, or read a leaked book, then I would then pay for the real thing when it became available. I went to see Wolverine a few weeks later with my friends, and I was at the midnight release of the Stephenie Meyer book to pick up my pre-ordered copy (I know, for shame!)… Just as I will go next week with my best friend, and pay to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in theatres. The first half hour was poor quality, but did little to quell my excitement- in fact, it made that much more excited. It started out with Harry and Voldemort… well, if you really want to know, I guess you’ll have to do some clickity-clack-clacking of your own or wait to see it in theaters- I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you.

(Besides, any true HP fan would have already re-read the book in anticipation of the movie, and would have a general idea of how it begins.)

What is your stance on all things leaked?