The Movie Thread

Hot_Rod_Dave said:
thats not the first time ive heard that statement bout harry potter. there are a few very religious people at work that will not let thier kids see that harry potter stuff, cause they think is satanic.

I can see where that argument would come from. But I think jk rowling sheds a differnt light on "witchcraft" that is not portrayed that way. Then again the villians in the books might portray that. forgot where i was going with this point that I had. so i digress
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I could see where their argument comes from if I believed their argument for religion in the first place was valid.

But I don't, so I don't. Why is their fantasy book so much more correct than someone else's fantasy book?
 
Ghengis_John said:
So your argument is harry potter is a religious text?

I'd propose because JK Rowling hates Americans.
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It's not that Harry Potter is a religious text, it's that both Harry Potter and, for example, The Bible, are both fictional fantasy stories dealing with magic.
The argument is that if they believe Harry Potter should be banned, so should the Bible, Quran, Torah and other religious texts for also leading people to believe in mysticism and imaginary beings.

Why does JK Rowling hate Americans?
 
She feels that we pervade too many aspects of the public life of other countries. She for example hates how she has to hear about american politics every night on british news. For this reason she has decided to sweep americans under the rug, none of us she says will appear in her stories or for that matter in her movies.

Point also that the bible has to deal with the stories and traditions that comprise the ethical core for at least one people, the hebrews, if not more. Whereas the harry potter stories were written soley for the purpose of turning a profit. One could make said argument about religions, but the bible itself was not created for such a pretext. To say nothing of thematic elements lifted from it by potter like the chosen child or the innocent who suffers for others.

I also fail to see what your take on religion has to do with the validity of someone else's beliefs or the manner in which they choose to raise their children. Now you sound like a hardcore conservative who feels a woman's right to choose or a person's right to worship another religion are not valid viewpoints because they are not their own. Very enlightened of you.
 
Ghengis_John said:
She feels that we pervade too many aspects of the public life of other countries. She for example hates how she has to hear about american politics every night on british news. For this reason she has decided to sweep americans under the rug, none of us she says will appear in her stories or for that matter in her movies.
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That's a far cry from "hate". America is so important to other countries because, well, it's the only superpower left in the world, although China is coming up to become the second.

Point also that the bible has to deal with the stories and traditions that comprise the ethical core for at least one people, the hebrews, if not more. Whereas the harry potter stories were written soley for the purpose of turning a profit. One could make said argument about religions, but the bible itself was not created for such a pretext. To say nothing of thematic elements lifted from it by potter like the chosen child or the innocent who suffers for others.
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Harry Potter was written to entertain. I'd say authors do not write books to turn a profit - that's just a nice bonus. There's no way you can be sure that your book will become a movie.

I'm not going to go into depth about religion in a movies thread, sorry for being off topic.

I also fail to see what your take on religion has to do with the validity of someone else's beliefs or the manner in which they choose to raise their children. Now you sound like a hardcore conservative who feels a woman's right to choose or a person's right to worship another religion are not valid viewpoints because they are not their own. Very enlightened of you.
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It's called hypocrisy. Welcome to logical arguments.
And I've honestly never been called hardcore conservative... if anything, I've been called hardcore liberal. But not only conservatives do that. Both sides believe everyone should believe what they do.
 
KoshTheKoala said:
It's called hypocrisy. Welcome to logical arguments.
And I've honestly never been called hardcore conservative... if anything, I've been called hardcore liberal.
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Well I was trying to make it apparent how much you may have sounded like something I'll wager you hate.

That's a far cry from "hate". America is so important to other countries because, well, it's the only superpower left in the world, although China is coming up to become the second.
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The chinese care only for what happens in their mines. But seriously, that's not really a thing we can help. It's not like we conspire to attract so much attention, and yet she holds it against us. And while she'd like to pretend that we don't exist she doesn't really seem to object to taking U.S. dollars from americans for her work though so whatever.

Harry Potter was written to entertain. I'd say authors do not write books to turn a profit - that's just a nice bonus. There's no way you can be sure that your book will become a movie.

I'm not going to go into depth about religion in a movies thread, sorry for being off topic.
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You'd be surprised, reading the journals of people from Asimov to Twain to King, how often a writer writes something either because they're strapped for cash or because their publisher wants to increase revenues. But I digress, you never really can know why an author writes any particular book unless they flat out tell you. And that's cool man. I won't press that any further.
 
Ghengis_John said:
Well I was trying to make it apparent how much you may have sounded like something I'll wager you hate.
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Except I didn't sound like an ultra conservative nor ultra liberal at all... and I don't hate conservatives nor liberals. I hate individual people. :)

The chinese care only for what happens in their mines. But seriously, that's not really a thing we can help. It's not like we conspire to attract so much attention, and yet she holds it against us. And while she'd like to pretend that we don't exist she doesn't really seem to object to taking U.S. dollars from americans for her work though so whatever.
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She just took a point to not include americans in her story, that's still a far cry from hatred.

You'd be surprised, reading the journals of people from Asimov to Twain to King, how often a writer writes something either because they're strapped for cash or because their publisher wants to increase revenues. But I digress, you never really can know why an author writes any particular book unless they flat out tell you. And that's cool man. I won't press that any further.
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Writing is a profession, no doubt about it. I cannot blame people for earning money, I'm not a socialist. Writing is also one of the worst paying jobs out there. And you know the story behind how she wrote Harry Potter, right? She was living on welfare with a young child while she wrote the first book, the ideas coming from, among other things, her mother recently dying, and her clinical depression.

I think Rowling is one of the best success stories of a writer, and I can't really fault her for anything.
 
Americans don't appear in the movies because all the characters are British. All the characters are British because SHE'S British. That's not hating America, that's writing what you know, which is one of the first rules of writing.
 
Well she's not french, russian or chinese and they show up in her books. Besides, I heard her actually explain it that way on a talk show.

Except I didn't sound like an ultra conservative nor ultra liberal at all... and I don't hate conservatives nor liberals. I hate individual people. :)

She just took a point to not include americans in her story, that's still a far cry from hatred.
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The concepts of hyperbole and simile are not always easy to communicate. I'm just going to chalk this up to me sucking at communicating my tone, how well we know each other and the internet. To explain a few things: Her "hating" americans was just supposed to be a joke, based off of a fact you might have heard about. I was just pointing out a hypocrisy but you're taking the "hate" aspect too seriously. It seems to me though that since you seem to respect rowling so much you're just going to try to find any justification you can for her bias, a bias which I think is a funny thing because of it's pecularity. I was never really calling you a conservative. I was saying by being on the other end of the spectrum and intolerant you were being just as bad. Yes you really didn't sound like an ultra liberal at all, the unsolicited attack on religion, totally not the sort of thing an ultra liberal would do. And yet when I explain I was inferring you sounded like a "hardcore liberal", you want to deny it, right after you freely admit "I've been called hardcore liberal.". I'm sorry, from the religion comments I just assumed you had a beef with hardcore conservatives. I'm really more in the middle myself, about 50% left of the middle. But you know, I don't really want everyone to think the way I think. I'd just be happy if everybody stopped thinking it was time for everyone else to convert. I don't know where this idea came from but when it came in compromise went right out the window.

Writing is a profession, no doubt about it. I cannot blame people for earning money, I'm not a socialist. Writing is also one of the worst paying jobs out there. And you know the story behind how she wrote Harry Potter, right? She was living on welfare with a young child while she wrote the first book, the ideas coming from, among other things, her mother recently dying, and her clinical depression.
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I'm not blaming her for making money, for what it's worth I actually like Rowling myself, she's a dork and I like that. I'm saying harry potter was written for different aims. I was already aware of the circumstances around it's genesis from said talk show, it doesn't change the fact it was produced for commercial consumption was it not? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it just makes it different than the koran ect. Harry potter is as far as I can tell not any sort of propaganda or moral manual. It's an entertainment.

I think Rowling is one of the best success stories of a writer, and I can't really fault her for anything.
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Well when she steps off the pedastal you've built for her maybe we can do more than spin our wheels. So you feel that because she's accomplished a lot in her life nobody can possibly object to her work on any grounds?
 
Maybe I'm not sure how to put this, but I think a book that's meant to entertain and not be taken for fact has a different value than a book that's meant to give one principals to guide their life and is meant to be taken for fact. No matter what you think of the individual premises. Does that make sense? Maybe frivolous is the wrong word but I can't really think of how to put it then. Any suggestions? You know, I don't want to be insulting or anything, my use of the word "hate" was already a mess.
 
Oh, Genghis. A storyteller must tell stories, be they fact or fiction. She would have written that one for free. I think if she hadn't written that she would have gone crazy. I'm a writer, I know. Writers write. She's going to keep writing books, and it won't be because she needs the money, it'll be for the same reason people like Stephen King of James Patterson do: because it's their life.
 
I can see your point. And I have been clumsy in my thinking about the difference between the purpose of the work and the reason for the work.
 
I saw Knowing today, it's good for a Nick Cage movies. But halfway through it takes a turn for the batshit insane side.

NOTE: IT IS A RELIGIOUS MOVIE (I was so surprised when the plot was revealed)
 
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