# Damn you J.K. Rowling (potentially) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 27, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414 "2006-06-27T23:43:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/21 "2006-06-28T00:30:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Did Gandalf die, Frodo, Bilbo? Gandalf died and those who read the series had to get through most of The Two Towers to discover he came back. Frodo lived in pain until he disappeared into the West. Bilbo went senile. Stuff happens. (I think that an author hinting darkly at future (and unpenned) deaths sounds a bit much like hyping the books for sales, but we’ll see how it goes.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/22 "2006-06-28T00:32:55Z")
The only complaint I have about Rowling is she needs to \*\*shut the fuck up \*\*with all these spoilers. Just shut up! It’s on the fucking first page of my Yahoo! account and I can’t avoid the damn thing. I like to get my spoilers from the traditional place, ya know, the goddamn _book_. :mad: Wow, I guess I was madder than I thought. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/23 "2006-06-28T00:33:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] I am cynical **anymore** , so is my husband. [/quote] Not being snarky: this is a genuine enquiry: I’ve heard of “anymore” being misused in the US on these boards, so I’m prepared to see it out of context, but I honestly have no idea what this adjective is meant to mean. > [@](#): > > We have all seen what is the horrific side of humanity. We have wept and become sollen when we gaze upon the very negativity that only solidifies our notions of an evil world. But, where there is hope, there is greatness and for a person to ask that this pariticular piece of literature not lose that hope for millions of people is hardly immature, childish, stupid or cynical. I hesitate to call Harry Potter “art”, but you can’t ask or expect an “artist” to compromise what they do. JKR writes what she wants to write, and shouldn’t have to put up with people whining that they don’t like that her story’s not fulfilling their optimistic expectations. I’d have loved to see La Guernica after the SDMB treatment. A few puppies and kitties on the borders just to temper the horse’s eye put out by glass… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/24 "2006-06-28T00:34:15Z")
[QUOTE=Idlewild] If Harry Potter dying would upset you, never, ever, ever read Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. [/QUOTE] Or George Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire”. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/25 "2006-06-28T00:35:44Z")
[QUOTE=Idlewild] If Harry Potter dying would upset you, never, ever, ever read Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. Sob. [/QUOTE] That has _nothing_ on _The Lions of Al-Rassan_, IMHO. Which brings up another point: kids _love_ tragedy. Why did every fifteen year old girl in America go see _Titanic_ ten times? Why is _The Empire Strikes Back_ a better movie than _Return of the Jedi_? What explain the popularity of Shel Silverstein and Rohl Dahl and Lemony Snickett? And that doesn’t even get into the animal books . . ._Old Yeller, Sounder, The Yearling, Where the Red Fern Grows, Charlotte’s Web_. If you don’t want that ending, that’s fine. If you think the literary weight of the series isn’t up to a tragic end, I can get behind that arguement. But don’t put it in terms of "save the goodness for the sake of the children . . . " Kids can handle tragedy. In fact, they enjoy it exactly like adults do. It’s condesending to suggest otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/26 "2006-06-28T00:42:29Z")
I watched the programme in question, and these rumours are going waaay out of control. If there was a hint, it was a much smaller one than is being made out. [Here’s](http://www.mugglenet.com/mnnews/06262006/richandjudyjkr.shtml) a link to download the video of that interview, if you want to see it yourself. (And yes, the presenters are idiots). And [here’s](http://www.mugglenet.com/mnnews/06262006/transcriptrandjudy.shtml) a transcript of the salient part, thanks to the same site. (R and J are the presenters, JK’s…JK). > [@](#): > > R: Listen, all the papers who have been promoting this interview today clearly want us to ask you, “Do you kill off Harry Potter?” It’s a ridiculous question because are you likely to say yes or no? I mean, obviously not. You couldn’t possibly answer that but have you ever attempted to do him a little more harm than he’s suffered - I mean in the same way that… > > JK: He’s already suffered enough, I mean what… > > J: He’s already suffered, he’s been through the mill… > > JK: How could I? Every year of his adolescence and childhood he’s saved the wizarding world. And no one believes him, and he…he spends his entire life saving the world, and then next term he’s just back at school being bullied. He’s Harry Potter and he’s just saved your entire school. And everyone thinks he’ just a bit annoying. > > R: You know how Doyle just got sick up there with Sherlock Holmes, so he pushed him off the cliff? > > JK: Yeah. > > R: I’m not asking if you’ve done that, obviously, but have you been tempted to bump him off because it’s just huge… > > JK: No, I’ve never been tempted to kill him off before the end of Book 7 because I’ve always planned seven books; that’s where I want to - I want to finish on seven books. > > J: Yeah. > > JK: But I can completely understand the mentality of an author who thinks I’m going to kill him off because then there can be no non-author-written sequels, so they call it. So, it will end with me. And, after I’m dead and gone, they won’t be able to bring back the character and write a load of… > > R: That never struck me before… > > JK: Well I mean, Agatha Christie did that with Poirot, didn’t she? She wanted to finish him off herself. > > J: So, you say you completely understand it, but you’re not going to commit yourself? > > JK: No, I’m not going to commit myself… I don’t want the hate mail apart from anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/27 "2006-06-28T00:51:07Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] But, nonetheless, I am simply saying this: Literature is, and always will be, a road map of our culture. It DOES have an impact, it can change lives and it can make something real that before was just a fantasy. The United States was born in the philosphy of others. Prior to the realization of a nation, they were just words, books and thoughts. Wanting something good, decent, and just to result from a mass-popularized piece of fiction is not something to be criticized. Just because it is massively popular, does not indicate it has not value. One does not have to grow up when they express this hope. Maybe the poster just wants a piece of happiness, a ray of hope in an otherwise dim world. Will there be a ‘Bill and Ted’s’ world of the future based on Harry Potter: of course not. But, to want something special, that is full of positive messages, to remain that, is not immature or childish. It is the hope that keeps us all going in this horrifying world. [/quote] But none of that depends remotely on wether or not the main character lives or dies. “Harry Potter might die at the end of the series,” does not rule out the possibility that the ending of the novel will be good, decent, or just. Tragedy is not a negative message. It does not preclude hope. In contrast, I’d say it is a rather necessary component to hope. After all, if everything were perfect, there’d be nothing to hope for, would there? Wanting any of those things you listed is not childish. Looking for them in Harry Potter is not childish. Throwing a snit because the main character from your favorite book does not have exactly the happy-sunshine-and-lollipops ending you want him to have is profoundly immature. I agree with you wholeheartedly on the transformative effects of great literature, both on the individual and the cultural level. But fan-service does not great literature make, and that’s what the OP is whining about: the _possibility_ that her favorite character might not get the ending she wants him to have, that she won’t get the fan service she wants from Rowling. Well, great literature is like life: it doesn’t always turn out the way you want. And nine times out of ten, that’s what makes it great. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/28 "2006-06-28T00:58:29Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not being snarky: this is a genuine enquiry: I’ve heard of “anymore” being misused in the US on these boards, so I’m prepared to see it out of context, but I honestly have no idea what this adjective is meant to mean. [/quote] The phrase means "I am cynical these days, " or “I am cynical now,” or “I used to not be cynical, but now I am.” And it’s not _misused_. It’s a dialectic usage that happens to not be yours. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/29 "2006-06-28T01:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Not being snarky: this is a genuine enquiry: I’ve heard of “anymore” being misused in the US on these boards, so I’m prepared to see it out of context, but I honestly have no idea what this adjective is meant to mean. [/QUOTE] It’s an adverb, and it’s properly used in Sattua’s dialect, albeit not so in yours, I’m guessing. At a guess, it’ll be informally acceptable in most American dialects within a few years, max. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/30 "2006-06-28T01:01:51Z")
If she had definitely said that Harry lives, that would ruin the suspense, and make the experience not as gripping. I think Snape is dead meat myself - no spoiler box, since I’m usually wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/31 "2006-06-28T01:10:55Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Maybe the poster just wants a piece of happiness, a ray of hope in an otherwise dim world. [/QUOTE] I wish I had a bit of good magic in my world right now. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/32 "2006-06-28T01:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=Idlewild] If Harry Potter dying would upset you, never, ever, ever read Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. Sob. [/QUOTE] Harry Potter dies in that one? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/33 "2006-06-28T01:21:31Z")
Tell it to the following: Superman Sherlock Holmes Willy Loman Romeo Juliet R.P. McMurphy Paul Baumer Jurgis Rudkos You get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/34 "2006-06-28T01:25:07Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Harry Potter dies in that one? [/QUOTE] Yes, and he’s not even in it! Up until the part where he dies. It’s horrible! ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/35 "2006-06-28T01:29:52Z")
If we’re guessing, I think Draco’s the character who gets the reprieve and the two who she didn’t intend to die will be Ron + Neville. I think Snape is toast and she planned that all along (and actually I suspect Snape is not exactly Snape, if you know what I mean, but he dies, so to speak.) And, still speculating, I think Rowling has obviously set Harry & Hermione up for post-grad work + adventures (IE, sequels), although not as a couple. I really think Harry & Ginny will end up together. There’s just so much to tie up in this next book it’s either going to be the size of a bowling ball or some stuff will have to wait for later. All of the above is sure to be wrong of course. I can’t wait to find out. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/36 "2006-06-28T01:38:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Every year of his adolescence and childhood he’s saved the wizarding world. And no one believes him, and he…he spends his entire life saving the world, and then next term he’s just back at school being bullied. Reminds me of my favorite _Howard the Duck_ comic book, titled “Where do you go, what do you do, the night after you’ve saved the Universe?” There wasn’t any big karmic reward for Howard for saving the universe, either. And my money’s on at least one of Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny dying, maybe two. I think Rowling’s got that ol’ Joss spirit, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/37 "2006-06-28T01:47:14Z")
I’d be shocked if Harry, Ron, or Hermione die. Mostly because that would make a happy ending pretty much impossible, and I doubt Rowling wants to end the series on a melancholy note. I think she’s just trying to keep us wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/38 "2006-06-28T01:58:08Z")
Count me as a vote for “Rowling _may_ kill off Harry, but it’s far from guarenteed, and any mention at this point counts more as hype than as promise” Count me also as a vote for “the book can end on a note of hope with potential for future happiness of most concerned or a truly depressing note _regardless_ of whether Harry lives or dies” And count me as a vote for “I think I’d rather have a book where Harry dies (preferably a nice, sacrificial death and kills off Voldemort in the process) but Hermione and Ron live than a book where Harry lives but one or both of Hermione and Ron die stupid, wasteful deaths” Finally, count me as a vote for “Let’s wait till the book gets printed before we get too worked up about the contents, OK?” ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/39 "2006-06-28T02:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=pudytat72] I wish I had a bit of good magic in my world right now. [/QUOTE] I wish I had a pony. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414/40 "2006-06-28T02:32:40Z")
[QUOTE=Idlewild] If Harry Potter dying would upset you, never, ever, ever read Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry. Sob. [/QUOTE] Heh. First thing I thought of when I was reading the OP, too… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-j-k-rowling-potentially/362414.md?page=3)