Poll: Harry Potter problem

[Jaime_Wolf]

End-of-series depression for Harry Potter tends to be particularly strong. Especially if you actually read them as they came out. ESPECIALLY if you were roughly the age of Harry and grew up alongside him.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

hmm........I'm not sure if I would want to go back and be a wizard instead. Magic is !@#$ing awesome, but...I'm a tech junkie. I need my gaming and my internet!

...On further thought...nah, I wouldn't do it. Going back and changing time that drastically might mean that I wouldn't have been able to keep in such good contact with my close friends, I might not have gotten over a big personal issue I have, I would not have met this one great friend of mine in college, and I wouldn't have met my girlfriend. ...Oh, and instead of being emotionally abused by asshole jocks, I would instead be MAGICALLY abused by Slitherins. So, no, I'll stick to my boring and annoying muggle life.

That being said, I would LOVE to work for my local muggle relations bureau. I know technology, I'm a muggle, and I have an open enough mind to deal with magic. I could probably handle that job pretty well. As long as they magic me up a computer that doesn't glitch up when near magic. I'll need one for TV-tro-...I MEAN TO CHECK THE INTERNET for unusual and possibly magical news!

 

[maddawg IAJI]

She

No Im thinking creators, once they get rich and famous enough alter the characters that were for shock and awe(which I think was the case of Dumby) or to make a statement that nobody really cared about or unnecessarily add extra stuff(clone wars).

She can't alter a character she creates if she only adds more to his backstory and his character. Altering would require that he was originally straight, but since his sexual orientation was never specified in the books, its not altering. Honestly man, I don't know why you just refuse to accept that J.K Rowling has the final say on what is and isn't canon in the harry potter book series.

 

[oppp7]

I went through this phase (including the obsessive rereading and predicting) back right before the 7th book came out. Good times...

But ya, if you want closure, you probably won't get it. She still hasn't said what happened to several of the characters.

And on a final note. Spoiler tags. Don't know if anyone here hasn't read the books but use courtesy.

 

[rosemystica]

If you want more details, she has stated some of the stuff that happened to other characters in podcasts and stuff.

Like, Harry and Ron became aurors. Cho Chang married a muggle. Etc.

I really would have liked for that kind of stuff (at least "Harry and Ron become Aurors") to be mentioned in the epilogue, rather than "Harry had a football team full of children named after dead people."

 

[Singularly Datarific]

I want to be an aerospace engineer. Regardless of any potential magic I may or may not have, I have a hell of a knack for math and science, and I want to use it. Besides, isn't it heresy or something to be a scientist after a degree in magic?

 

[RachaelIsaacHill]

I refuse to believe Dumbledores gay, sorry not in the main books not canon.
As far as Im concerned he and McGonagall were banging every other week.

As far as these things are concerned, TvTropes has a good page on it. It's called 'Word of God' when an author of a piece states more information on it after the fact. Another example of this is the movie Cloverfield. It was never stated in the movie, but Word of God from J.J. Abrams is that the monster was a baby suffering from separation anxiety.

Lots of people don't like Word of God, but unfortunately you don't get to choose. If the creator has stated something about their intellectual property, even after the fact, it's pretty much cannon.

Also, there were definitely strong hints in the last book at Dumbledore's sexual preferences.

 

[CODE-D]

I refuse to believe Dumbledores gay, sorry not in the main books not canon.
As far as Im concerned he and McGonagall were banging every other week.

As far as these things are concerned, TvTropes has a good page on it. It's called 'Word of God' when an author of a piece states more information on it after the fact. Another example of this is the movie Cloverfield. It was never stated in the movie, but Word of God from J.J. Abrams is that the monster was a baby suffering from separation anxiety.

Lots of people don't like Word of God, but unfortunately you don't get to choose. If the creator has stated something about their intellectual property, even after the fact, it's pretty much cannon.

Also, there were definitely strong hints in the last book at Dumbledore's sexual preferences.

Im fully acquainted with tv tropes and word of god, didnt it also say the creature was always on earth just submerged under water and awakened to wreak havoc on Ny. I thought it was an alien and still prefer to. I have no reason to because its not in the story.

 

[llubtoille]

The harry potter series is set in a pretty rough time for the wizard world,
would I generally speaking, like to be a wizard? sure!
would I like to be a wizard in the midst of essentially a civil war? not so much.

 

[mega48man]

i'm sorry, but this is a pretty stupid poll. my choices are either no or i've been in a coma since BIRTH.

but i'm not about to put up with all the harry potter fans and nerds who dressed up for part 2. i felt so awesome that i got to see an hour early screening before the midnight screening, those poor dumb bastards.

 

[coolkirb]

Well I personally think she should leave it as is. She finished the main story, people can let their imaginations fill in the rest.

 

[Vault101]

I would also point out that the wizarding world kind of sucks when you think about it

its full of rasicm against non huma/wizard creatures...not to mention idiotic levels of elitism present

its all run rather incompetantly..main example is when wizard hitler comes back to life...the best resposnse is to PRETEND IT ISNT HAPPENING...regardless of ho much voldemort fucked up everything up first time around

life and death situation are par for course when being a wizard/witch

I cant really tell but it seems they have somthing of cultral stagnation

in fact finally the only reason you could say that the wizarding world is more "exciting" than our muggle world is because the wizarding world in run by incompetant idiots

 

[Evil Alpaca]

It doesn't matter if it was in the books or not, it came from the creator of the canon, who is the only person who can edit, create and delete said canon. Therefore, it becomes canon. You can call it cheesy, but you can't deny its validity.

Meesa Jar Jar Binks. Meesa going to crap on your favorite movies.


I understand your point about the creator having full rights to alter their work as they see fit, but as my above sentence shows, it can be a painful process.


OT:
I think most of the people who rage about Dumbledore's preferences do so because it doesn't fit their perception of the character; and there is a grain of truth to it.

Dumbledore's sexuality didn't really need explaining for most of the books because he was this mysterious wizard that Harry never truly knew. It seemed tacked on, in part because there was little evidence in the books that Dumbledore even knew what sex was, let alone had any. His sexuality was not a defining characteristic and so, when Rowling announces that he is gay, it seemed less about Dumbledore's character than grabbing real-world headlines. Since, his sexuality is never blatantly stated in the books, it becomes easier for fans to ignore Rowling's statements and interpret the book as they want.

 

[Yearlongjester]

So the question is, do I want to be able to use FREAKING AWESOME MAGIC or keep my current life?

Look I'm happy with my life, I've gone through a ton of hurdles and am a better person for it. And I would've had the same issues but throw magic into the mix and it's probably 10,000 times worse.

But I could use freaking magic, that's beyond insanely awesome. The guy from the Dos Equis commercials would give you the look of death if you DIDN'T go back and become a wizard.

Now would I use my magic prowess for good, or for selfish? That's a more interesting question

 

[Infernai]

As far as Im concerned he and McGonagall were banging every other week.

*Shudders* URRGHHHH!!! Great! Now you've gone and placed that picture into my mind, I HOPE YOU'RE PROUD OF YOURSELF! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a cold shower and cry myself to sleep so i can eradicate the image of that....coupling from my mind.

*goes into shower and screams* THE DIRT WON'T COME OOOOOFFFFFF!!!!

 

[Fanfic_warper]

you know what, frak what anyone says, I love the books and I'm 21, considered to be wierd if I get into the children's books section at my local B&N. I'd love to have recieved a hogwarts letter, though for as much as I love Gryffndor, I'd be in Ravenclaw.

 

[silent-treatment]

*sigh* Is there like a rule kind of like Godwin's Law except the topic of Homosexuality? Jeepers can we get through a simple topic without an overly long conversation about homophobia?

OT: I just got back from Comikaze and it made me realize that in like 10 years, Harry P. is still gonna have conventions. So many others can be obsessed like you...and half the world.

 

[NightHawk21]

It doesn't matter if it was in the books or not, it came from the creator of the canon, who is the only person who can edit, create and delete said canon. Therefore, it becomes canon. You can call it cheesy, but you can't deny its validity.

Meesa Jar Jar Binks. Meesa going to crap on your favorite movies.


I understand your point about the creator having full rights to alter their work as they see fit, but as my above sentence shows, it can be a painful process.


OT:
I think most of the people who rage about Dumbledore's preferences do so because it doesn't fit their perception of the character; and there is a grain of truth to it.

Dumbledore's sexuality didn't really need explaining for most of the books because he was this mysterious wizard that Harry never truly knew. It seemed tacked on, in part because there was little evidence in the books that Dumbledore even knew what sex was, let alone had any. His sexuality was not a defining characteristic and so, when Rowling announces that he is gay, it seemed less about Dumbledore's character than grabbing real-world headlines. Since, his sexuality is never blatantly stated in the books, it becomes easier for fans to ignore Rowling's statements and interpret the book as they want.

That's pretty much how it was with me. As soon as she said that and it got all this attention it became a almost like a forced defining trait of the character. I don't know how to really explain it, but it killed some of the mystery that surrounded him for me.

I refuse to believe Dumbledores gay, sorry not in the main books not canon.
As far as Im concerned he and McGonagall were banging every other week.

So your ok with non canon hetrosexual relationships but not that he was gay? You disgusting homophobe. Just shut the fuck up, JK says he was gay, that means he was gay. At any rate McGonagall was married before she was at Hogwarts, she wouldn't be having sex with Dumbledore.

Reported, and I hope you get some of the good old mod wrath. You deserve it.

OT: I really like the books, the films kinda suck, and boy oh boy the ending in both the films and the books sucks ass. Why the fuck did he come back to life? If you ask me, he should have stayed dead. Would have been perfect. Instead we get some super happy fun time bullshit. Rowling seems to have forgotten that the main audience for the books is now actually teenagers and adults. Most of us fans were kids when the first book hit the shelfs, but adults or damn near adults now.

Sorry? I deserve mod wrath? Really?? Homophobia doesn't but defending gays does?

Because saying you dont want a character to be different from an image you held throughout your entire childhood is SO homophobic, right? Did he say that Dumbledore deserved to die because he was gay? Did he say that he refused to believe it because he hated homosexuals? He said nothing of the sort.

So yes, you do. When you get your suspension/ban, use the free time to google "homophobia", since you obviously have no idea what it means. The guy you replied to may well be homophobic, I have no idea, but nothing he said hinted toward it.

The ponts he made were
1. I dont believe anything not in the books
2. Dumbledore can't be gay because it wasnt in the books
3. I believe he was Fucking McGonnagal

I see a slight disagreementr between 2 of the the 3 statements there. The fact that hes will to believe in a non cannon Heterosexual relationship but not a gay one, infact, doesn't only make him a homophobe but also a bit of a hypocrite.

Actually, I'm going to disagree with you Kill. All he said was that Dumbledore being gay wasn't in the books and he chooses to believe that he and Minerva were in some sort of relationship in "his interpretation of the events". So no, its no hypocritical.

Also, I tend to agree with Smash and CODE. I never got the hint of him being gay in the books I read, and I did sort of get the feeling that he and minerva were "really" close throughout the books (maybe sometime in the past). So my opinion is that Rowling's statement much like MW2's No Russian mission was just a publicity stunt to stir up free advertising.

Also you got mod wrath cause you were a downright prick in your first response.

 

[LobsterFeng]

I still think the final fight with Voldemort was the most anti-climatic thing ever. I liked how they tried to make it cooler in the movie, but even still you're thinking "That's it?! That's how he defeats the most powerful dark wizard of all time?!?!"

 

[Veylon]

Harry Potter had kind of a rough landing at the end. I'm not sure whether it was carelessness or Rowling came up against a deadline suddenly or what, but it was very rushed. I felt a bit disappointed that Draco never got a "turn over a new leaf" moment, nor Slytherin in general. A solid showing on the good side by that house in the final battle would've explained why on earth Hogwarts keeps educating them.

The epilogue was, well, bad, almost painfully so. If we're going to spend seven books following these characters and now we get a X years later bit, shouldn't we know a bit more about them? Hermionie, being the magic expert, would probably have done more than have Ron's baby. I was half-expecting her to be Minister of Magic or something. Then there's the reaction of Harry's son to being in House Slytherin, showing that the fear and resentment continues and that his father has taught him nothing. If Rowling wants to edit something out, why not the ending?

As for Dumbledore being gay, that was pointless. It's remniscent of the Catholic stance that "gay is okay: as long as you don't do anything gay". Naming someone as gay when that doesn't matter is doubly spineless. She can cave in to gay activists by offering a token gay and cave in to the anti-gay by avoiding anything gay "on stage". It's like the token Black Guy who gets shot first in the monster movie. If she wants to take a stand, let her put a homosexual relationship in the book and stand by it. She obviously wanted to pair people up at the end, so there's no lack of material.