Trailer Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Season 1) trailer

Off topic: the only fad book series I read that actually seemed to hold up to scrutiny was The Hunger Games. Solid storytelling and prose, even if the premise was nonsense.

jian said:

I remember becoming dimly aware of HP when a friend enthused about the “accessible fantasy” and “grownup storytelling” from the first two books in 1999. I read them and that firmly downgraded my opinion of my friend’s literacy criticism skills to a permanent F. I thought they were basic kids’ fantasy, fine but silly. I was 24 at the time.

By the time the first film came out in 2001 the media juggernaut was undeniable and everyone was reading them. I’m glad to see that’s mostly died down now, it’s mostly parents choosing them for their kids as far as I can tell (if asked I generally recommend Percy Jackson or whatever instead).

Click to expand...

Big fan of Riordan's work. Still haven't read the Egypt one yet.

Reynard said:

The pearl clutching has never ceased, but the Satanic Panic was a real thing that hurt a lot of real people. Midwesterners burning copies of HP was not a satanic panic.

Click to expand...

as someone who didn't grow up during the satanic panic due to D&D or heavy metal/rock music, my views are different. I know other christians who who refused to let their kids read harry potter because "magic" and then I also know of christians who encouraged reading it because "good vs evil"

jian said:

By the time the first film came out in 2001 the media juggernaut was undeniable and everyone was reading them. I’m glad to see that’s mostly died down now, it’s mostly parents choosing them for their kids as far as I can tell (if asked I generally recommend Percy Jackson or whatever instead).

Click to expand...

I recommend books I have enjoyed, which includes anything from Stephen King to PJO to HP.

BookTenTiger said:

Everyone's got their own lines in the sand, and mine is a living author that still benefits financially from fandom. So for example, I'm Jewish and will still read the self-professed antisemite Roald Dahl to my students. But at this time I would not read Harry Potter to them.

Click to expand...

You know last night I was trying to remember what the book was titled compared to the movies "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and realized how problematic the book and movie "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" is. Setting aside the white savior stuff and other aspects, there's a ton of OHSA violations in the factory along with food safety issues lol.

trappedslider said:

as someone who didn't grow up during the satanic panic due to D&D or heavy metal/rock music, my views are different. I know other christians who who refused to let their kids read harry potter because "magic" and then I also know of christians who encouraged reading it because "good vs evil"

Click to expand...

The satanic panic was when a bunch of child care facilities were accused of satanic ritual abuse and people lost their livelihoods and businesses and even went to jail over completely made up nonsense. I remember the "D&D satanic panic" growing up and it... wasn't. It was just bible belters being angry.

Sorry for the digression. The "satanic panic" is one of those things gamers tend to claim ownership over, but the real satanic panic was a deeply disturbing, harmful mass hysteria and conspiracy theory that destroyed lives.

Reynard said:

The satanic panic was when a bunch of child care facilities were accused of satanic ritual abuse and people lost their livelihoods and businesses and even went to jail over completely made up nonsense. I remember the "D&D satanic panic" growing up and it... wasn't. It was just bible belters being angry.

Sorry for the digression. The "satanic panic" is one of those things gamers tend to claim ownership over, but the real satanic panic was a deeply disturbing, harmful mass hysteria and conspiracy theory that destroyed lives.

Click to expand...

Well, that and the D&D aspect were both before my time,so you can understand my point of my view, i'll get off your lawn now lol

trappedslider said:

Andrew Garfield Defends Watching ‘Harry Potter’ Movies Even if ‘It’s Controversial and We Shouldn’t Be Putting Money in the Pocket’ of ‘She That Shall Remain Nameless’

Andrew Garfield took a brief detour during his recent Hits Radio interview to reveal that he only recently just watched the “Harry Potter” movie franchise, which he’s aware is a controversial decision...

www.yahoo.com

Click to expand...

"Daniel Radcliffe is so good in those movies" suggests that he never made any more. He's become more adventurous as an actor after those films (with the financial freedom that came with them). If someone is looking for great Radcliffe performances, you don't have to pick the stuff he made when he was 10 years old.

billd91 said:

I was well over the target age for the HP books when they came out... but my kids weren't. So they made great books for me to read to them before they were reading for themselves. The issues brought up were pretty gripping and largely well-told. The complexity of the stories increased with the age of the protagonists and most of the moral messages were pretty strong.

As time went by, some elements came out that were distinctly less courageous of Rowling. Her confirmation that Dumbledore was gay long after it was relevant felt more like queer baiting than anything bold and inclusionary. But what sunk it all for my family was finding out just how terrible Rowling would become. Now, I won't cross the street for anything Potter (though I might if a pod of orcas sank her yacht).

Click to expand...

Similar situation. I have never read the books, but I had a daughter that absolutely loved them. I didn't really care about them, but she was a huge fan at the time. It was due to her that we went to every Harry Potter film the night they were released. I probably would not have seen the movies if it were not for her.

I never tried to control what my children read. I was happy that they were reading, so I suppose I never really censored or tried to investigate what they were reading. Some would say that was good, others would say that was bad. That take is probably another reason I never really read Harry Potter or felt the need to.

However, I have seen all the original movies.

Reynard said:

An interesting thing about HP is that there is a whole world to explore. You could make a Hogwarts show that was set at any time within a thousand year period, and do things that are new and interesting AND have call backs and fan service. Why hasn't HP been "milked" the same way as Star Wars. It's universe is certainly big enough.

Click to expand...

As I recall, even before Rowling became super-toxic (or at least before the public was aware of her toxicity) she was very protective of her world, and wouldn't let others expand on it. I have a vague memory of Hasbro licensing Harry Potter back in the 00s and mentioning "role playing" in the press release, only to clarify a few days after that this was role playing in the sense of costumes and props, not RPGs, because Rowling wouldn't let anyone make an RPG where they could put words in her characters' mouths or expand on the world.

jian said:

Yes, exactly, this is interesting. We know there’s a wile global WW out there but the author doesn’t know or care how it works, there’s just some tiresome foreigner cliches that wouldn’t have gone amiss in Allo Allo*.

*A 1980s UK comedy series set in a French village in WW2 where the comedy mainly derives form the accents.

Click to expand...

That's unfair. There's only one character with a broad accent, the policeman who's a British spy and speaks in a French accent to signify that his French is bad. The comedy mainly derives from catchphrases, sexism, and a bit of homophobia thrown in for spice. And how, for some reason, every androphile on the show finds this man extremely attractive: