To not understand the appeal of Harry Potter...?!

[Scaramoose]

This is lighthearted btw...

I am off to Florida with DH and DS (6) in a few weeks and we have watched the first Harry Potter film and also been looking at the Harry Potter stuff at Universal.

The film bored me to absolute tears. The characters seemed two dimensional and wooden, the story dragged and the names for things, eg Muggles, just irritated. I shared this view with my sister who couldn't believe I didn't like it as she thinks it is 'absolutely brilliant' and 'incredibly clever.'

DS will love it, as he did love most of the film (I say 'most' as it's so long) and I wouldn't want him to know what I really think but I really, honesty, don't get it! The pretend platform at Kings Cross and the queue outside the HP shop in York also flummoxed me as it's obviously such a big deal for so many people! Im amazed something that seems so dull has done so incredibly well (and from what I have heard about JK Rowling she is very level headed about it, which is lovely.)

Am I the only one...?!!

I know at 10 pages in it's all been said but.. please read the books. They are a thousand times better than the films.

I remember enjoying books 1 and 2 and thinking 'these are quite nice, not sure how they'll stretch this story out for multiple books though'. Then I got to Prisoner of Azkaban.. and the obsession started :)

I devoured the books as a teenager, then re-read them while at uni (brain was frazzled, needed something easy and comforting). Not sure how I'd find the books now at 31. If I'd seen the films first I would have been put off altogether I think.

As has been said, HP isn't original or well written but the story gets good from about book 3 onwards, enough to keep you reading into the night. I do remember wanting to throw the final book across the room when I received it though, having read 'Harry felt a pain in his scar that was worse than ever before' or some such for about the 257th time!

I love the books and quite enjoyed the films. I've re-listened to Stephen Fry audiobooks many times.

The Harry Potter land in Universal blew me away. I loved it.

Oh I didn't know about Paris or the other one you mentioned, Hulk, how fab!

Loved the books. My main problem with the films is they picked some truly bad actors as the protagonists and then were stuck with them for the rest of the series; they didn’t improve as they got older. Hermion’s overly expressive eyebrows are a particular bugbear of mine. I actually find her painful to watch.

Oh I didn't know about Paris or the other one you mentioned, Hulk, how fab!

Sorry, can't tell if you're being sarcastic. Greek & Roman myths are full of "Jesus" figures. Hercules was anothet. It transcends many cultures. Horus for the Egyptians, quezicoatl for the Mayans.

She may be ripping off a trope, but it's a pretty popular plot.

No I wasn't being sarcastic! I am always saying that that structure is repeated time and time again - and why not, as it is so successful - and I am thrilled at more examples. I am clearly lowbrow as I clearly only know the popular culture ones. (Percy Jackson is another.)