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Harry Potter is Over rated

Such Irony

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It may be overrated but its overrated for good reason.

I love both the books and the movies regardless.
 

Comeback Girl

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I don't think so. It forms some sort of common nostalgia among me and my peers, a good nonsensical conversation topic. Like how old people talk about stuff from their time.
 

JustAMind

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I have only watched the movies :blush: I enjoyed them
I'd like to see some more movies where badass spells are cast all over the place. Perhaps in more adult setting than Harry Potter.
Also it would be better if Harry died at the end. He's the Wesley Crusher of Harry Potter.
 
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I normally find fantasy stories trite and filled with affected grandeur (LoTR, anything with wizards, dwarves, magic, etc.) but I LOVE Harry Potter. If it can make me like fantasy, I'm not sure it can be overrated.
 

cafe

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I should probably read them sometime. I like Harry Dresden . . .
 

Lexicon

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I think the HP series worked better on film than it did on paper.
I read a few of the books, years ago, just to see what all the fuss was about. The story idea itself is fine (albeit rather formulaic- ultimate battle between good/evil- but that's practically unavoidable), but its structure/language is just... sad. Adverbs abound. Trademark of bad writing, when your vocabulary is limited to [for the most part] adverbs to draw a picture in the reader's mind. If I'd read that series as a child, I'd feel as though the author held some sort of condescension toward children... overly simplistic phrasing (within a novel) feels somewhat like sophisticated babytalk, to me. But then, I was reading rather heavy works when I was young, so my perception may be off about that last bit.

:shrug:
 

The Ü™

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I thought the first two movies by Columbus were solid family films, dark and edgy in the way Disney films were in the '80s. After that, they became teen movies until they eventually degenerated into Twilight rip-offs.
 
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Riva

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I thought the first two movies by Columbus were solid family films, dark and edgy in the way Disney films were in the '80s. After that, they became teen movies until they eventually degenerated into Twilight rip-offs.

It was nothing like a teen movie. It had very few attributes of one. Infact it would have benefited if it did have more: giggling girls, slow walking guys, awkward yet blush potential moments, accidental physical contact etc.

The 4th book had some if it with the character cho but that was it.
 

TickTock

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Harry Potter is good but it's not that good. It's certainly not a monumental piece of literature. You can see the source of everything in it. But popular fiction, and things that make money in general are not that great. They need to be easily digestible, unchallenging, and accessible by the lowest common denominator. There is nothing wrong with any of that. I would also say J.K. Rowling is not that great a writer, and likely has an inflated sense that she is - vis a vie her huge success. She wrote a crime novel under a pen name so young readers wouldn't pick it up, but then it was "leaked" that it was hers, which coincidentally meant it would sell more copies. Compare all that to Salinger, for example, who was horrified that Catcher in the Rye was such a success and that Holden Caulfield felt so recognizable to so many people, because that kind of success meant mediocrity.
 
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011235813

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Harry Potter is good but it's not that good. It's certainly not a monumental piece of literature. You can see the source of everything in it. But popular fiction, and things that make money in general are not that great. They need to be easily digestible, unchallenging, and accessible by the lowest common denominator. There is nothing wrong with any of that. I would also say J.K. Rowling is not that great a writer, and likely has an inflated sense that she is - vis a vie her huge success. She wrote a crime novel under a pen name so young readers wouldn't pick it up, but then it was "leaked" that it was hers, which coincidentally meant it would sell more copies. Compare all that to Salinger, for example, who was horrified that Catcher in the Rye was such a success and that Holden Caulfield felt so recognizable to so many people, because that kind of success meant mediocrity.

Automatically equating popularity with mediocrity is ridiculous. Shakespeare and Mozart were popular in their time too. (I'm not saying JKR is Shakespeare but the ability to speak to the masses and hold universal appeal isn't automatically some terrible, shameful thing.)

I enjoyed Catcher In the Rye as much as the next disaffected teenager but the anti-phony policing is absurd.
 

TickTock

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Automatically equating popularity with mediocrity is ridiculous. Shakespeare and Mozart were popular in their time too. (I'm not saying JKR is Shakespeare but the ability to speak to the masses and hold universal appeal isn't automatically some terrible, shameful thing.)

I don't know if I agree with that. I am certainly not drawing a comparison due to a knee jerk reaction, and so my point is not ridiculous. Mediocrity is not necessarily bad, it's just limited, it's bourgeois. Shakespeare wrote many plays that were mediocre and if it wasn't for his great plays we would not know of him. Mozart was a child prodigy and started out entertaining the courts with his abilities as a child. This would have certainly sustained his later popularity. Most important works challenged the times and were not appreciated until they had been around for a while.
 

TickTock

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Furthermore: I did not equate the two, J.D. Salinger did. I am agreeing with it in this sense with regards to the topic. I would agree that it is largely true, though perhaps not always.
 

fghw

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I liked the parts where forgotten elements of previous books were found to be critical in later ones, but the rest sounds like fan fiction.
 

prplchknz

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I do agree with the OP. and saying it was over rated is not the same as saying it sucks. I also forgot I made this thread. I knew it existed but I swore someone else made it.
 

Forever_Jung

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They were my favourite books growing up, but to be honest, now that I am something of a children's literature buff, I realize I didn't read very good books back then. It was just whatever my parents bought at yard sales (Goosebumps, Boxcar Children, Archie Comics, etc.). They're not the best children's books ever, but they are a good combination of mass appeal and quality. It turned book releases into major events. And people love being a part of big cultural events, fandoms, etc.

IMO, whenever there is a big following/fandom surrounding a show, it becomes a bit insufferable to people who aren't big fans (I like Sherlock, but the obsessive people on Tumblr irritate me). So naturally, there are going to be a lot of people who find the whole Harry Potter phenomenon to be overblown. They're not wrong.
 

Flâneuse

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From what I've read (the 1st three books), I agree that it's overrated but not a complete waste of time. If I had kids I wouldn't mind them reading it, but I would also recommend some better children's literature like Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis.
 
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figsfiggyfigs

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Omg people are such freaks. What kind of person thinks Harry Potter is overrated!?!?! FREAKS. THATS WHO.
 

Evo

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I'm such a freak.:pinkcuffs:
 
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