My Thoughts On Harry Potter
NO SPOILERS!
Though my fellow Podcast-mates and myself have already dabbled in bringing you commentary on “non-comic book heroes,” I think this column will kick off the new direction where we bring you comments and reviews about heroes of all types.
It dawned on me this morning while watching the news about Harry Potter on CNN that we should do more reviews and commentary about actual books, and for that matter overlooking a sensation like Harry Potter (though Trevor and I jokingly say the name throughout Podcast episode 41) would go against our New Direction.
First and foremost this is not a review of the new (or any of the others) Harry Potter book. This is just me (a comic book fan) telling you what I think of the character and the hype. I haven’t read the books but I think it is safe to say that everyone knows someone who has read the books and is in love with them. I have seen all of the films except the new one but it is on my list of summer movie must-sees.
The feeling I have toward the first film is largely why I haven’t picked up the first book and started the series. I know, of course, the book is probably way better than the movie but that isn’t my excuse. It isn’t that the movie was bad it was just not catered to me, it’s a movie and a book that’s for children that adults can read. This is the audience formula that saw J. K. Rowling’s pants sag low from all the money pouring into them. The same can be said of the second movie, however the third, fourth, and latest films have become darker with each installment. I understand that the same can be said for the books and of course Rowling herself teased that this final book would be a bloodbath. The reason for the change simply makes sense, as the character matures, the books original audience matures, and coincidentally the arching plot becomes darker and more dangerous too. The plot also becomes far more complex but the values from the first book hold up in each of the installments all the way to the very end. (For those of you wondering how I know so much, I’ve researched the hell out of these books before I sat down to right this and this is my best assessment so far.)
So unfortunately for me the first book and possibly the second aren’t very appealing right now, but from what I’ve heard about this last book and seen from the latest movies, I’d say Harry Potter (and mates) has been set up to be one helluva kick ass hero. And like we always say, a hero is only as good as the villain he’s up against, this Dark Lord skin-head guy looks to be one of the nastiest bad guys around, enough to give fellow bald baddies Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Apocalypse, and Mr. Freeze a run for their money.
