# Hey Harry Potter! Shove your Sorcerer's Stone up yer secret passage. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730 "2001-11-06T04:11:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/1 "2001-11-06T04:11:57Z")
I don’t like to be a spoilsport but I’ve had enough already: A month from theatrical release and I’m ready to theatrically release my teevee out the window and onto an un-expectant public. This media hype is bollocks! How many hundreds of millions are forecast for merchandising, how many for ticket sales, will it be the most popular kids film of all time, blah, blah, bloody blah ? And don’t forget next years follow up, kiddies. Better start saving those pennies now! I just can’t get away from it – it’s like the friggin Spice Girls on steroids (hi Sporty! Nice triceps). I’m sure you’re a lovely lady, Ms Rowling-in-millions, but would you mind terribly if I plunged my Mary Poppins umbrella deep into your Chamber of Secrets, actually your Goblet of Fire would do, and fanned that cauldron of creative juices with impassioned vigour until you were as dry as witch’s snatch. Thanks awfully. That feels better. Now back to my video of ‘Grumpy Old Men’. Now that’s a _good_ film… ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/2 "2001-11-06T04:15:47Z")
Not watching any television for several months has its plusses, true. The downsides include the inability to relate to such rants as this. I have heard that the books offer intense occult training to their readers. The book is usually better than the movie, but it would be a shame if the movie doesn’t offer at least mild occult training. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/3 "2001-11-06T04:22:49Z")
If (to crib shamelessly from someone in the Chick thread) reading about pointing wands at things and saying a few words of garbled Latin counts as intense occult training, then yes, yes they do. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/4 "2001-11-06T04:26:55Z")
**YES YES YES YES YES!!** [does happy dance all over dining room] Yay!! I am not alone! Someone else has had the courage to stand up and say, “Bollocks!” And Hey!! The London Premiere!! All my favorite people! [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0111050175nov05.story?coll=chi-news-hed](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0111050175nov05.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed) > [@](#): > > Wild about Harry > When 10,000 wild British fans materialize for the London premier of the first Harry Potter movie–that’s a magical moment > > By Mark Caro > Tribune movie reporter > Published November 5, 2001 > > LONDON – What began as a single mother’s scribblings in an Edinburgh pub had come to this: 10,000 people crammed into Leicester Square on a Sunday afternoon surrounding a movie theater decorated with 10-story-high paintings of a castle, 3-story-tall flags depicting fictional wizard-school emblems, and a moonlike balloon floating above it all. > > These thousands of onlookers, kept away by barricades normally used at the front of major rock concerts, weren’t invited into the 2,100-seat Odeon theater for the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” – or “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” as the movie will be named when it opens in the U.S. on Nov. 16. But for a crisp several hours, they were just happy to be a part of their favorite wizard’s magical world. [torn between hysterical laughter and feelings of immense “get a life” pity for these thousands of people, who stood in line for HOURS, not to see the movie, but just to STAND THERE AND LOOK AT THE PLACE WHERE THE HARRY POTTER MOVIE WOULD BE PLAYING] And, hey, all my favorite people were there! Sting! Fergie! Cher! Michael Flatley! ---
**Author:** ![croaker67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@croaker67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/croaker67)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/5 "2001-11-06T04:31:47Z")
TWO WORDS…STAR WARS. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/6 "2001-11-06T04:53:43Z")
Isn’t this whole thing like a tool of Satan or some shit? I liked it better when it was all thinly veiled drug references. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/7 "2001-11-06T05:20:35Z")
JK Rowling has done something real magical, what was originally thought impossible: she has kids reading 800 page books. Kids!! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/8 "2001-11-06T05:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > And, hey, all my favorite people were there! Sting! Fergie! Cher! Michael Flatley! You know, it really, _really_ ruins my fantasy when they show Sting on tv with his _daughter_. He can’t be the star of my X-rated fantasy when I’m reminded that he is a _married man with children!_ Oh yeah, I’m really tired of Harry Potter too. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/9 "2001-11-06T05:40:18Z")
“Not watching any television for several months has its plusses, true” I dont own a tv for these very reasons. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/10 "2001-11-06T10:31:02Z")
A finely crafted piece of prose, Mr **L\_C**. I particularly liked the third paragraph. But strangely enough, I often rather _enjoy_ the hype. Go figure, eh? Not this time though. If I hear one more cretin say her books are “original”… THEY’RE NOT BLOODY ORIGINAL! WELL DONE, YES! CLEVERLY THOUGHT OUT, YES! BUT NOT ORIGINAL! IT’S ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE! Ahem. pan ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/11 "2001-11-06T11:49:18Z")
It could be worse, at least its not people queueing for the Spice Girls! Actually, L\_C, I’ll put money that you’d have a go at her “Goblet of Fire”, phfwar har har. nudge nudge wink wink. ---
**Author:** ![Caiata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@Caiata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caiata)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/12 "2001-11-06T12:12:21Z")
[off-topic]I just wanted to post at **pepperlandgirl** , and let her know that I feel her pain. Oh yes, indeed I do. Sting is the second-sexiest … err … third-sexiest man in the world as far as I’m concerned. MmmmmSting … he just drives me wild with “Hungry For You”! Growr! Perhaps we should join forces to topple evil Sting-wife Trudie, and seduce him away from her with our own organic brand of olive oil. I’m willing to share my X-rated fantasies… :)[/off-topic] I haven’t seen any Harry Potter references _at all_, anywhere really. Then again I turn the television on only so I can ignore it while I write. Maybe they’re not hyping it in Indiana? I find it odd that the whole world is inundated with it and I haven’t seen _any_ … And yes, L\_C, I agree with kabbes - that third paragraph is exceptionally good 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/13 "2001-11-06T13:33:05Z")
I don’t watch TV so I’ve missed the hype. Though I am going to see the movie when I go home for Thanksgiving. Hype is usually silly, but some people get off on it. Let 'em. No skin off your teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/14 "2001-11-06T13:47:18Z")
I turned mine off again a few months ago, and have missed all the wonderful hype that Hollywood is so skilled at shovelling. I can go see the movie without the bad taste of a metric fuck-ton of hype in my mouth. My first (and likely only) exposure to the hype was a trailer shown before _Monsters, Inc._ I can live with that. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/15 "2001-11-06T14:06:17Z")
I do think it’s wonderful that kids are reading books thicker than a terrorist’s bunker ceiling. I also hope the film works for them (it seems to have been a close adaptation) but I don’t think I need the media circus reporting on how the media’s reporting media reporting of the friggin Premiere. Is that life reporting on art reporting on life ? Whatever it is, it does indicate to me more than a little barrel scraping. Thanks for the support, **Goosie**. If you barricade the front door, I’ll take the back and, if we can get **SK** wasted, we’ll put him up on the roof behind a few sandbags. Remeber: Aim low – these people are short. **Kabbes** you’re not well, lad. **Twisty** , no comment 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/16 "2001-11-06T15:36:14Z")
[leaps up and does happy dance around the dining room again] Yay!! I’m not the only one who noticed that Rowling wasn’t original!! Not a speck! [sits back down again] Whew. You know, I finally got around to reading the first book, months after the “Here comes the second book!” hullabaloo was over, and I sat there reading it and thinking, “This isn’t original. This is a complete pastiche of every fairy tale I ever read. Every storytelling archetype you can name is in here.” All I could figure is that the folks who hailed it as an original masterpiece have never read anything other than their own bylines in _Time_ magazine. But you know, I don’t _object_ to the Harry Potter books. It’s not that they’re _bad_ books. I’ve read all of them, and they’re actually pretty good, as fairy tales full of standard character archetypes and plot lines go. It’s just that they’re not “masterpieces”. They’re the equivalent of Dominick Dunne or Danielle Steele or Stephen King, for fifth-graders who like stories about magic. No, what LC and I object to is the media hype surrounding the movie release. I was watching Pokemon with Bonzo the other day, and no kidding, _every single commercial break_ in that 26-minute show had one plug for a Harry Potter-related product, if not for the movie itself, then for McDonalds or Burger King or whoever it is who got the fast-food toy license, or for one of all the other merchandising tie-ins. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/17 "2001-11-06T16:10:08Z")
Yes, the books were well-written but utterly unoriginal. As movies aimed at children go, however, the film looks like it might be really outstanding. John Hurt, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, John Cleese, and of course, my personal hero, Alan Rickman, are all in the cast. With an lineup like that, how bad can it possibly be? - Frank ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/18 "2001-11-06T16:21:39Z")
It would seem, **Duckie** , that you need to immediately come over to London to be surrounded by similar-thinking folks. Namely **L\_C** and I. Originality? Pah. One of the favorite stories back when I was a kid was “_The Worst Witch_” about… (wait for it)… a school for witches! They even made a TV series about it, or something. And it’s not like anyone was even claiming _that_ was original at the time! The goodies are stereotypical goodies. The baddies are stereotypical baddies. Archetype? Too bloody right archetype. What she’s done so well is provide lots of _details_. Kids like details. I found the books enormously good fun for a week’s holiday reading. Well done Rowling. Now off you go and write a staggeringly original piece of literature about little piggies who have houses built out of straw, twigs and bricks. And we can all marvel at where you get your ideas from. Now pass me that medicine. pan ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/19 "2001-11-06T17:32:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by croaker67 \* > \*\*TWO WORDS…STAR WARS. \*\* Ten words: Fuck **Star Wars** and **Harry Potter**. **Lord of the Rings** ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730/20 "2001-11-06T17:54:14Z")
> [@](#): > > The goodies Goody Goody yum yum? The Funky Gibbon? ? Ogre: you are so right. you are now my own personal Jesus. (but only if you get the reference) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-harry-potter-shove-your-sorcerers-stone-up-yer-secret-passage/91730.md?page=2)