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Nov. 19th, 2010 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cblj_backupCoworker: I saw the new Harry Potter movie last night.
Sam: Oh! How was it?
Coworker: It made me want to buy a lot of cable-knit sweaters.
This is kind of how I feel about Harry Potter. I really want to be enthusiastic, but I'm mostly thinking about sweaters.
Today the first part of Deathly Hallows opens in cinemas in the US. I'm sad that I'm so indifferent to it, because Harry Potter was a big fandom for me, and now it's not. I still haven't seen Order Of The Phoenix; I missed out completely on when it opened, and then later on when I tried to watch it on DVD I got bored.
Don't get me wrong, it's not really that my opinions (many and varied) have changed; it's just, my interest has waned. I came to the realisation a while ago that I hadn't really enjoyed the books after book three; they got thick and kind of unwieldy and they played to tropes that, while perfectly legitimate on their own, didn't interest me. I kept reading because there were characters I liked and I wanted to see what JK Rowling did with them, but essentially what she did was first ignore and then kill them. Which is her right, as the author, but as a reader it failed to satisfy me.
I do like seeing fans enjoying the movies and books, and I'm glad that they satisfy for some. I don't mean to harsh anyone's squee. I'm just...thinking about what I've left behind, I guess.
Sam: Oh! How was it?
Coworker: It made me want to buy a lot of cable-knit sweaters.
This is kind of how I feel about Harry Potter. I really want to be enthusiastic, but I'm mostly thinking about sweaters.
Today the first part of Deathly Hallows opens in cinemas in the US. I'm sad that I'm so indifferent to it, because Harry Potter was a big fandom for me, and now it's not. I still haven't seen Order Of The Phoenix; I missed out completely on when it opened, and then later on when I tried to watch it on DVD I got bored.
Don't get me wrong, it's not really that my opinions (many and varied) have changed; it's just, my interest has waned. I came to the realisation a while ago that I hadn't really enjoyed the books after book three; they got thick and kind of unwieldy and they played to tropes that, while perfectly legitimate on their own, didn't interest me. I kept reading because there were characters I liked and I wanted to see what JK Rowling did with them, but essentially what she did was first ignore and then kill them. Which is her right, as the author, but as a reader it failed to satisfy me.
I do like seeing fans enjoying the movies and books, and I'm glad that they satisfy for some. I don't mean to harsh anyone's squee. I'm just...thinking about what I've left behind, I guess.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 10:37 pm (UTC)I didn't care much at all for the last two books, and weirdly enough HBP and DH (part 1 at least) are my favorite movies of the lot now.
I seriously had the thought while watching DH last night that JKR must have written this book with movies very firmly in mind. Either that or they adapted it really well! It also helped that the kids (no longer kids) have become muuuuch better actors now..
I loved it! Squeeee