23.7.07

Totally Sick of Harry!!

Sorry Potter fans--forgive me for this little rant!

Living in the birthplace of Harry Potter its impossible to not know when a new Harry Potter book is coming out. Its plastered all over the news, all of the bookstores have midnight openings, every shopping centre seems to have 'wizard weekends', you get random people in the grocery store dressed up as Potter characters and even the pubs have 1/2 price pints for potter fans. It seems to go away after a while until the new movie comes out or the next book installment.

I figured it would be the same this time for the last book. Boy was I wrong though---It has totally completely gotten out of hand. You would think the Beatles landed or something. Most bookstores are completely out of stock already due to the (I kid you not)--2 to 3 mile long lines to get your greasy little hand on one. People apparently came from all over the world to stand in one of the lines here in the birthplace of Harry!! Why spend your only vacation time standing in line to get a book? Was a trip to the Taj Mahal too much money?

Saturday we did a bit o' shopping at Canary Wharf and I saw about 5 complete brownie troups getting their faces painted and then standing in line to ride the huge broom ride. Are they even old enough to read the darn thing? Of course the usual dressed up people and by the end of the day I thought I was going to barf if I saw another little kid dressed up like Harry or Hermione. That and the thought of how much money is being made off a little book.

If you can't tell I'm sick of the hype around Harry Potter. Seriously I think its great that it gets kids and adults reading and excited about it. However, I doubt that most of the hype is due to the fact that these books will win the pulitzer or some other award for their amazing good writing. I think its because everyone is doing it because its the 'cool' thing to do at the moment. I've never read any of the books and actually walked out of the first movie cause I thought it was rubbish and have never turned back since. Call me strange but I'd rather read a book or go to a movie cause I want to not because everyone else is doing it. I am sure its great mindless fun but at the moment I just would rather do other more worthwhile things. Maybe when I'm retired I'll buy my first copy of a Harry Potter book, I just don't know. In the mean time I'm really sick of this whole thing and can't wait until this whole thing passes.

4 comments:

Mollie said...

FINALLY! A girl after my own heart! I admit, I never read the books either. And like you, I started to watch the first movie and found it to be way too dark for my taste! When I watch a movie (or read a book for that matter), I want it to be uplifting and inspiring! I think Harry is to dark, gruesome, and strange. Like you said, it does not offer enough good to the world for all the hype it gets.

sherrie said...

oh i'm very sad. but that's ok, it's not everyones cup of tea. i think potter is great fun. sorry you are sick of it! i can understand the overkill being in england and all. i haven't seen much over here. i got my copy by casually walking into target on saturday afternoon. but i will say that all the people i know who read it do it because they like the story. no it's not going to win a pulitzer, but there's no harm in enjoying a good thing, right? it is a bit dark, but no worse than star wars or lord of the rings (which i love too, yes i'm a fantasy geek)

ps - i was going to tell you that i can do a favicon for your blog if you want. let me know ;)

Elizabeth C said...

I am not reading the books either, and I definitely agree that the movies are pretty dark--and I've heard that the books are even more dark (that is why I am not reading them!)

enickel said...

My husband is like you in that he is totally tired of Harry Potter. I made him read the first book several years ago, but he just didn't get hooked. I had to take my son to the movies a few weeks ago. My son, Tyler, loves them and it is something we can share together. We were reading #7 together today as we are at the same spot. He was getting a little teary-eyed. I keep reminding him that it is fiction.