Harry Potter + other JK Rowling

[Schlauer Fuchs]

Just tell her you watched the first film (and do watch it!) and that you didn't like the acting so much / the story wasn't intriguing for you or whatever. I understand it's difficult to say that you don't like something someone else deeply loves, and that you don't want them to think you dislike them (rather than just this particular film). But it's usually better to tell the truth than pretend to like something and then be stuck with this lie forever (next thing she'll give you the books, ask you to join her when she goes to see the new movie in the cinema, ...).

[Carol the Dabbler]

I agree with Schlauer Fuchs -- be tactfully honest.  It might also help to be fairly vague, like "it just isn't my cup of tea," and don't let yourself be buffaloed into being specific.  If you mention any particulars, she might want to explain them to you.  So I'd advise you to just stick with the ol' broken-record technique.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Awwwww, thanks for the advice, everybody!

 

I actually started out with the last installment (the two films they made from the last book), because I thought the more grown-up, dark version would suit me better, and I'd heard that there's not so much boarding-school stuff in it. I read boarding-school novels when I was between 11 and 14, and I really have no desire for more.

 

I've almost finished "The Deathly Hollows" part 1, and while I still neither like nor care about Harry (I don't even think he's got a personality to speak of) and cannot for the life of me fathom what Hermione sees in Ron, I really love her. Emma Watson is a wonderful actress. I already admired her hugely in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (now, there's a good film ), and her performance here is great. The main story does nothing for me - horwhatevers bla, sword bla, evil bla bla bla and somebody has been watching a lot of Lord of the Rings before he made these movies - but I am beginning to find the dynamic between the three main characters rather interesting.

 

And anything that has Alan Rickman in it has some merit.

 

The colleague in question has been subjecting me to some pretty severe Harry Potter related cross questioning, and I know I should tell her straight out that I don't much like it, but I'm too shy and she's too pushy. So I just try to get her to talk about it instead, and listen politely and nod along, thinking how would you like it lady if I shoved Sherlock in your face like that, but then I'd never let a stranger anywhere near my precious British import DVDs and my missionary zeal when it comes to things I like is below zero, anyway.

 

[Arcadia]

If it helps, I feel pretty much the same way about the whole Harry Potter enterprise as you do. I just tell people something that I did like, then admit I just couldn't get into it. At least they know I tried. Then I try to change the subject. Sooooooo, does anyone know a good way to get this coffee stain out of my shirt?

[T.o.b.y]

If it helps, I feel pretty much the same way about the whole Harry Potter enterprise as you do. I just tell people something that I did like, then admit I just couldn't get into it. At least they know I tried. Then I try to change the subject. Sooooooo, does anyone know a good way to get this coffee stain out of my shirt?

 

I often feel tempted to say "sooooooo, how about we do some work", but I daren't.

 

I think my problem is I was so unpopular as a kid that now I am too terribly grateful for any kind of friendly attention to put up much of a fight against it, even though I might feel like Sherlock on the inside all through.

 

Besides, not liking Harry Potter seems like such a sacrilege. There appears to be this general consensus that Harry Potter is great, I am almost ashamed to admit I don't like it. Where I live, I'd sooner say something disparaging about the pope than about Harry.

[Arcadia]

Besides, not liking Harry Potter seems like such a sacrilege.....

I know, I don't think my nephews will ever forgive me for not agreeing it's the best thing in the world. Their aunt's so weird, how can she possibly not love Harry!!!!

[Carol the Dabbler]

... somebody has been watching a lot of Lord of the Rings before he made these movies ....

 

That's pretty much straight from the books, actually. Tolkien based his stories on ancient European mythology, and I think Rowling is a fan of both Tolkien and ancient mythology -- so that flavor was found to find its way into her stories.

 

And anything that has Alan Rickman in it has some merit.

 

Yes indeedy! 

 

... I just try to get her to talk about it instead, and listen politely and nod along....

 

Sure, as long as you've got the patience, that's a viable option. 

 

I think my problem is I was so unpopular as a kid that now I am too terribly grateful for any kind of friendly attention to put up much of a fight against it, even though I might feel like Sherlock on the inside all through.

 

Like this?

 

 

I uploaded a GIF!!!    (Which I found here.)

 

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Fun Fact: In Order of the Phoenix, "Umbridge" is the first word on page 666.

 

 

 

 

 

On a side note: Sherlock's Magnussen seems to have become the fandom's own Umbridge.

[Schlauer Fuchs]

Fun Fact: In Order of the Phoenix, "Umbridge" is the first word on page 666.

 

Not in my editions (in the British it's "Undersecretary" and in the German just some word, probably not interesting for you). But still a nice fun fact that I'll remember!

 

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Well, in the American version, it's there.

[Carol the Dabbler]

For anyone who may be puzzled by the preceding posts, in the last book of the Christian Bible, 666 is "the number of the beast" -- basically a code word for Satan.

 

One place where I worked, we software engineers would hand our finished software over to a fellow whose job it was to try and "break" it -- i.e., expose any hidden bugs.  His phone extension was 666.

 

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

One time I got a call from a phone number marked 666-666-6666 and didn't sleep well for the next two nights.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Who was it?  Or were you afraid to answer?

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

One time I got a call from a phone number marked 666-666-6666 and didn't sleep well for the next two nights.

 

According to whitepages.com, there is no such Area Code, and the consensus on various forums appears to be that someone is spoofing that number as a prank.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Oh thank goodness. *phew*

[Carol the Dabbler]

What show is it that does skits where Satan's phone number is 666, but he keeps getting wrong-number calls, and it really pisses him off?

[T.o.b.y]

So, I finally managed to see all of the last two films, and while I'm still far from enthusiastic on the whole, it was totally worth it just for this scene:

 

 

Plus, I now have a crush on Emma Watson as Hermione. Send help (or don't - it's quite pleasant, actually).

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Psst -- Emma Watson also played as Sam in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Am I the only one who worries that the dragon would get that chain caught on something?  Poor thing, I just want him to be really free!

 

[T.o.b.y]

Psst -- Emma Watson also played as Sam in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

 

Yup, that's the first film I ever saw her in. One of my favorites, actually. One of my favorite books, too. She did the American accent so well that I didn't realize she was British until I looked her up after wards.

 

Am I the only one who worries that the dragon would get that chain caught on something?  Poor thing, I just want him to be really free!

 

Oh, I am sure he will be, eventually. I watched that scene with my husband, and he was chuckling the whole time, because the second I saw the dragon, I went, I want that beast to run amok and burn the whole place down. I didn't think it was going to happen, but he did, he's read all the books like a good kid, and so it cracked him up to no end that for one time in watching-movies-with-me history, I was actually going to get my wish. It made me so happy when he finally broke through the glass, climbed out on to the roof and took off.

[Ruthyone]

ITV are showing all the films, except one - they did this a short while back too! I think the films will be regularly shown every year now.

 

 

    :brit: 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Nice of them to show the movies, but odd that they would show almost all of them.  Which one are they omitting?

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

What show is it that does skits where Satan's phone number is 666, but he keeps getting wrong-number calls, and it really pisses him off?

 

It was Bruiser, in a skit with only a brief appearance by Martin Freeman.  (Freeman's other skits -- among the funniest in the whole series -- are also available on YouTube.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DJmY9gtJP4&feature=player_detailpage

[Shadow Dweller]

Ravenclaw, the House of the Intelligents or the place for ivory tower thinkers? :p J/K :D

 

 

[Caya]

No reason it can't be both .