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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to have no interest in Harry Potter?

48 replies

Funkyslippers · 12/11/2018 20:21

My DD (15) is obsessed, has read all the books and is currently working her way through the films for the 2nd time. Trouble is she expect me to watch them with her. We're on film no. 5. I could not even tell you much of what happened in the other 4 as I have zero interest and find my mind wandering while I'm watching them!

Maybe I should have read the books first.

OP posts:
Ohyesiam · 12/11/2018 20:23

You’re right.
The films are the equivalent of a Skype with someone you are missing. Nice, but nothing on the real real thing.

Santaclarita · 12/11/2018 20:29

Read the books. The films are terrible.

ScreamingValenta · 12/11/2018 20:32

I couldn't get into the books or the films. YANBU.

bofsy1 · 12/11/2018 20:34

Tried one and gave up. But each to their own.

If they get kids reading its great though. That's a winner!

Rhynswynd · 12/11/2018 20:37

No one has to like Harry Potter. Books are better than the film's so maybe give them a try. But if it doesn't float your boat, don't sweat it. As long as your dd doesn't get told her enjoyment is ridiculous because you don't enjoy it. (My parents did this, not saying you would)

Hushnownobodycares · 12/11/2018 20:37

If you don't enjoy them tell her. She's 15, not 5 Confused

BehemothPullsThePeasantsPlough · 12/11/2018 20:39

I’d try the books - at least the first couple. They’re an easy read and well plotted, won’t take you long and if you do enjoy them you’ll be able to share in her enjoyment a bit which has to be a good thing, no?

SneakyGremlins · 12/11/2018 20:40

People act so shocked when you say you don't like them.

YANBU.

BathFullOfEels · 12/11/2018 20:40

I think it’s nice that you have a teenage daughter who wants to enjoy something with you. Of course you don’t have to like Harry Potter, loads of people don’t and the films are pretty crap. But when my dc are teenagers are hope they are more like your daughter than I was to my dm. I don’t think I had a real conversation with her for about 3 years as I found her so cringy and embarrassing! We’re good friends now though.

Dobbyhasnomaster · 12/11/2018 20:42

Muggles 🤷‍♀️

YABU, Harry Potter is exceptional...

But if you really hate it just tell her you aren’t a fan / to watch it in her room? Better to be honest about these things or you’ll be stuck watching it forever!!

maplebaconbun · 12/11/2018 21:16

Books are amazinggggg

Films not so much.

Original poster
Funkyslippers · 12/11/2018 21:41

Well I think I'm going to give the first book a go at least, with DD2 who's 9. Can't get into the films but I will persevere. They just don't hold my attention. DD1 knows this I think but she'd be really upset if I said I don't want to watch them with her as they mean so much to her... (the books even more).

I'm delighted she's such a bookworm and this she is so passionate about HP....even more than the Hunger Games....

OP posts:
Helendee · 12/11/2018 23:51

Films are great but not as much as the books.
Each to their own though.

MrsStrowman · 12/11/2018 23:54

I tried with the books, thought they were appallingly written, even before it became a Disney style money making monstrosity. I'm not interested in any of it. YANBU

Thesearmsofmine · 12/11/2018 23:57

HP doesn’t do it for me, I read the first book years ago and I just didn’t think it was very good.

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 13/11/2018 00:04

There is definitely an obvious improvement in writing style etc as the books progress and JK becomes a more confident writer.

It’s the HP world that drew me in- the little intricacies are so well thought out and detailed- these are lost in the films and they’re worse off for it.

tillytrotter21 · 13/11/2018 00:10

People act so shocked when you say you don't like them.

Try telling people you can't see anything funny in Fools and Horses, have never willingly seen an episode of Eastenders and you've seen more Star Wars in the queue for the ride at Disney than anywhere else!
There's an inverse cultural snobbery, if I were to criticise people for not listening to Radio 3 I'd be called a snob but it's quite acceptable to criticise me for my lack of modern cultcha!

SignOnTheWindow · 13/11/2018 00:16

YANBU

But if you ever get the chance to go to the Warner Brother's tour, do it. Expensive, but fascinating as it's more about all the creative energy and problem solving that goes into a massive film production.

I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but I absolutely loved the tour. A million times more interesting than the bloody films themselves.

SignOnTheWindow · 13/11/2018 00:18

Bloody love JK Rowling, though. She got DD reading for pleasure. On second thoughts, I am a Harry Potter fan for that alone.

cariadlet · 13/11/2018 00:25

There is definitely an obvious improvement in writing style etc as the books progress and JK becomes a more confident writer.

I really disagree with this. I think the first few books are entertaining children's stories. But the latter ones are over-ambitious, bloated and in great need of editing. I think that by then the series was so successful that nobody felt able to challenge JK's writing.

I really like her as a person, think it's brilliant that Harry Potter has got so many children reading but don't think she could - by any stretch of the imagination - be called a great writer. Even just in the realm of children/YA fantasy she can't be compared to writers such as Philip Pullman or Susan Cooper.

Going back to the OP. As a mum of a 16 year old dd who seems to spend every waking moment shut up in her bedroom, I think it's great that your dd wants to watch her favourite films with you and share her passion. Don't worry if your mind wanders. Just enjoy having a bit of a time together.

Would she notice if you had headphones in? Wink

KissingInTheRain · 13/11/2018 00:39

I do think JK Rowling writes well. The Strike detective books are fantastic modern PI stuff.

I disagree about the progress of the Potter books though. They became under-edited as the series went on; presumably because the editors became intimidated in the face of the author’s success. The later books are horribly bloated and for stretches very tedious.

The films have a few highlights, supplied by the adults. But they’re brought down by middle-class child actors who couldn’t act. (Why are American child actors always so much better?)

But in the end the Potter books can only be for younger children (nothing wrong with that of course) because they’re about magic and therefore incoherent.

Why does anyone work? Why is anyone poor or old or sick? They could just magic all their problems away.

Babymamamama · 13/11/2018 00:40

I think the writing is dreadful and the few snippets I've caught of the films reassure me it's not my bag. Thankfully DD is also uninterested but voraciously reads other authors. Small mercies and all that.

blackchina · 13/11/2018 01:05

JK has done OK considering she is a 'dreadful' writer and the Harry Potter books are so shit. Hmm

YABU obviously OP. Harry Potter is fucking amazing. (Films AND books!)

nicebitofquiche · 13/11/2018 06:35

I don't like Harry Potter. I used to have a kip went my children were watching films or if we went to cinema. Your daughter is 15. You don't have to like the same things as she does.

WitchBottle · 13/11/2018 06:47

I agree with cariad and Kissing on the progressive under-editing of the HP books, though I think it was more that JKR was writing for her huge and vociferous fan base by book 4 or so, and all they wanted was more detail, more explanation of how the wizarding world works, more clarification of apparent inconsistencies, and because of the internet, she had a lot of interaction with them. I’m reading them with my 6 year old atm, and for me she’s essentially Enid Blyton without wordlimits.