The MSN Mom & Pop Culture Blog for Family Entertainment has an opinion piece today based on the question " 'Has Harry Potter Lost His Magic?.' " The article starts by mentioning the huge interest and media attention paid to the Twilight series, then discusses the delay of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, wondering if this would cause waning in the love of the series and films. The author notes that while some had been planning a boycott when the movie opens next month, the magic remains strong and firm for many of us, and mentions our own recent LeakyCon convention held last month in Boston. Quotage:But on the other hand, there is reality. Harry Potter still has passionate fans. The Web site, TheLeakyCauldron.org reports more than 75,000 members in its online discussion community. These fans not only have no plans to boycott Warner Bros. for delaying the movie, some of them also traveled to Boston a couple of months ago for "LeakyCon," a convention that raised money for charities and featured the musical stylings of an astonishing number of Harry Potter tribute bands....
The event, put on by TheLeakyCauldron.org, wasn't just about bands, though. Two major names in young adult literature, Cheryl Klein and John Green, gave a keynote speech on the writing process. Klein was on the U.S. editing team for Harry Potter, and Green is author of "Looking for Alaska" and "An Abundance of Katherines" and "Paper Towns."
The author then goes on to note a feeling that is shared by so many of us:
As impressive as this is, conventions aren't proof that the boy wizard retains his magic. That lies in the stories themselves, where the magic remains in abundance...I picked up "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" again to get myself ready for the movie, and loved it more this time than I did the first. Once you know how the series ends, you can see the incredibly way Rowling structured the story, weaving little bits into the tapestry that would have great meaning later. All the while, she stayed true to her central theme: that a mother's love is the most powerful magic of all. And she keeps things refreshingly complex. Many secondary characters are a mix of good and evil -- sort of like how people are in the real world.
These books are good enough that they should be considered classics. The movies, for the most part, have been good, too. This is why I'll be at the theater the day "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opens. For me, at least, the magic is as strong as ever.
Hear Hear! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens July 15th.
(SOURCE: THE LEAKY CAULDRON)
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