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Who else isn't enthusiastic about the new Harry Potter stuff?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by thepandaboss, Jul 5, 2016.

  1. thepandaboss

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    Alright, don't use Avada Kedavra on my ass but am I the only one who just can't summon up any real enthusiasm for the new Harry Potter stuff we're getting this year, like the play and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie?

    Harry Potter was a huge part of my childhood and I'm sure if this stuff was coming out a few years ago, younger-me would be thrilled. And I still love the books/movies. I went to Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Orlando earlier this year and spent the whole trip in utter awe. But the best feeling I can dig up about the play and the American wizarding school is a resounding meh.

    And maybe it's just because we're not seeing an actual true-blue book. We're getting a play script. Now, I love reading scripts personally but part of me feels that it's a bit of a cynical cash-grab (although, realistically, the script is the only way a lot of people are going to actually experience the play for a long time.

    The new movie? I'm sure I'll see it but I guess I just don't feel all that enthusiastic about seeing Eddie Redmayne play a relatively unfamiliar character (sure, the character wrote an in-universe textbook but that feels like the equivalent of giving the Bug Catcher on Route 2 in Pokemon Red his own solo game).

    Anyone else?
     
  2. rudysteiner

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    I'm really looking forward to seeing - err, reading - the play, but I'm not exactly ecstatic about the new movie coming out. We haven't got an actual novel to base Fantastic Beasts off of, just a list of magical creatures, and it feels like, to me, that JK Rowling came up with the story for Ilvermorny in less than 10 minutes. It just seems too rushed.
     
  3. thepandaboss

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    Yeah, I think my problem's that it feels like a copy/paste of Hogwarts, down to the whole "this was started by an Irish lady who copied it after what she hears about Hogwarts!" Doesn't feel like an authentically American magic school. I feel like the crap I made up when I was a teenager doing forum played out a little better as an American school versus...that. (For the record, my imagined American school was the Salem Witch Academy :lol: which might've been ripped from a brief mention in The Goblet of Fire now that I think about it).
     
    #3 thepandaboss, Jul 5, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2016
  4. CoderK

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    I hadn't heard about this until now, but given what you are saying about it, it sounds kinda like what Star Wars: Episode 7 is going to be like: over-hyped to the point where it won't be fun to watch. If it ends up being a copy of Hogwarts, I will be pretty disappointed, considering the genius writing that went into Hogwarts. It probably won't be the same, and will disappoint, so yeah, now that I am hearing about it, doesn't seem too good.
     
    #4 CoderK, Jul 5, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2016
  5. A Mindful Wolf

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    Harry Potter became garbage when the good child actors grew into subpar adult actors = harsh reality. The books also became terrible after the 4th one imo...
    First 4 amazing CHILDREN'S BOOKS. I view it on the same level as Twilight pretty much: go forth fans and love your universe, I'll get to actual good writing while avoiding that hot mess of shitty writing that is GoT.
    ^ unpopular opinion lol
     
  6. Lalayajen

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    I am not a fan of the new material too. Why can't they just let go! For me Harry Potter is finished. I love the books and movies. I don't need one more word.

    There are lots of other fantasy books that deserve attention too.

    Hunger games got attention and became a fan favorite. Old Kingdom series, Septimus Heap, etc.... all can provide nice material to work on instead of milking the already finished series.
     
  7. Gunsmoke

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    I'm not too enthusiastic either, to be honest. It's pretty much flown under my radar with everything that's been going on in my life recently, so I'm not really getting invested in any of it. Then again, this is coming from somebody who refuses to accept The Deathly Hallows epilogue as canon. ("Albus Severus"? Really?)
     
  8. thepandaboss

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    Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat. I also don't really have the time to get invested in a fandom like that anymore like I did when I was younger and actually reading the books as they came out, really.

    And yeah, all the epilogue kids had the dumbest names ever. I really think the books would've ended on a much better note if JK had refrained from the epilogue and just ended with the scene where Harry disposes of the Elder wand and reflects after the battle.

    [​IMG]

    All cool but ASOFI is one of my favorite series right now though. Although as far as YA goes, I just started reading Pierce Brown's "Red Rising" trilogy and I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised.

    But if you have recommendations for another book, I'm all ears.


    Yeah, that's how I feel. I just think Harry Potter needed to end on a good note. And I don't even think JK Rowling really even wanted to genuinely come back and write another book or story in the universe. Fan demand just got that high and when you're as devoted to your fans as she is, of course you're going to want to make them happy.

    It's really kind of a shame that she'll never be able to really step outside of HP's shadow. Lightning doesn't always strike twice and she's always gonna be under pressure, for the rest of her career, to either match or surpass the HP series' popularity.

    -

    Really, from what I've seen of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie, it just looks kinda mediorce. I guess if this wasn't 2016 and we weren't already drowning in CGI-laden blockbusters, I'd be a little more enthusiastic but we've already got Captain America: Civil War, Batman V Superman, Tarzan, Jungle Book, the Independence Day sequel, and so on. Fantastic Beasts really just looks like more of the same from the trailers and so on.

    (And I definitely preferred the books over the movies as far as Harry Potter goes, even though the movies weren't too bad).
     
    #8 thepandaboss, Jul 5, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2016
  9. Alfhild

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    A lot of the Harry Potter Franchise has become somewhat money grabbing, I think when I first heard about it I was super excited, until I heard it was a play. I still really like the series, but I think this is taking it a little too far. I still may read it but it seems little low.
    Besides, I liked how it ended in the Deathly Hallows... and after all that was the end.
     
  10. mmmelody

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    I loved Harry Potter when I was younger too, but I have given up on keeping track of the new stuff. I'm an acting major so I have read sooo many play scripts, so the format doesn't necessarily bother me; but I think the fact that it's just going to be this one-off thing is a big downside. Also, even if Cursed Child was a series, I don't know if I could read a series about an 11-year-old again.

    I personally would have loved if the Ilvermorny story was a book series - I could relate to an older female protagonist. Reading it as a summary on a single webpage wasn't as fun as a book series would have been.
     
  11. Jellal

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    The new stuff is pretty cool I guess, but like everyone has said, Deathly Hallows was the true end of the story we had been given. This extra content is nice but nothing to be hyped over.
     
  12. Gunsmoke

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    To be fair, calling it a "harsh reality" is still a personal opinion, I have to disagree with you on that point. Sure, they're not going to break any records, but everyone's going to have different opinions about how good they are. But everyone's entitled to their opinion, and personally - even as someone who enjoys the series - I think the whole universe is pretty overhyped, as far as I'm concerned, people are neglecting new and better material in favour of childhood nostalgia. That basically sums up how I feel about the entire franchise, especially the new stuff that's coming out.
    But hey, live and let live, it's not hurting anybody.
     
    #12 Gunsmoke, Jul 6, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2016
  13. plant

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    Personally, I couldn't care less about Ilvermorny. It seems like a subpar Hogwarts with less interesting characters and little plot/character development. No one is going to read The Cursed Child and think "Wow, this is better than the original Harry Potter series!" Anything that JK Rowling does after the original series is going to be seen as subpar because Harry Potter is held to such a high esteem that no one will be believe that anything can top it.
     
  14. thepandaboss

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    Yes. I'm actually really tired of nostalgia culture too. Between Jurassic World, talks of Liza Frank coming back, Buzzfeed listicles- I'm tired of franchises and I'm tired of people constantly throwing a fresh coat of paint over things we all idolized as kids.

    And you put it really well. Takes a lot of attention away from new ideas and fresh perspectives. There's a reason why we're swarmed by sequels in Hollywood and it's because Hollywood's afraid to put big money into anything new (of course it doesn't help we have stuff like John Cartner to show how risky untested franchises and concepts with big money behind them can be).
     
  15. Pret Allez

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    There's new Harry Potter stuff? I was hoping for another Final Destination. Or maybe The Purge.
     
  16. SillyGoose

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    You're all blasphemous
     
  17. Cassiopeia

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    I sadly have to agree. I was obsessed with Harry Potter and it was a big part of my childhood. I always had to wait a year until the next book was published, I stayed up until midnight and waited for the postman to bring the special delivery of the newest one, I read the series multiple times, I was discussing possible theories in fan forums, etc.... I was a HUGE fan.

    But the new stuff? It's just... eh. It doesn't really seem connected to the Harry Potter I grew up with. What I had hoped for when it became known that JKR was working on something new HP-related was maybe a book series about the past, about the time of the Marauders. How the Marauders met, the pranks they did, growing up in a world where prejudices were growing and fear was slowly spreading, James' and Sirius' development of brotherhood, James trying to woo Lily and for them to fall in love, Severus' and Lily's friendship, more information about Peter and Remus, Sirius' struggle of being the first Black in Gryffindor and being the disappointment of the family, and so on... I would buy books like that. I'd even go to the cinema and watch the movies if they're good. It would be incredible to read some sort of prequel. And I still kinda hope that one day she'll write it...
     
  18. PrettyinPunk

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    It's not that I'm not excited it's just I'm not 'as' excited. Before as soon as a teaser trailer was released for a HP movie I'd be super excited up until the movie came out. Now I'm mildly excited about something HP related to look forward to.

    I'm glad it's a thing, I think it's a good way to reconnect fans back to the wizarding world, even if it's different or (hopefully not) handled poorly.

    Gotta say, I'd rather JK Rowling start writing the next HP series following the epilogue of the last book...but I guess a play script is best we'll get.
     
  19. Argentwing

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    Why does everything have to continue ad infinitum? The best works of art are of a time, but timeless, able to be enjoyed by anyone and remembered after the end. If you keep them going forever, they become less of a statement and are just sort of... there. Star Wars is suffering from a major case of this as of late.

    I know it's not quite right to say any new work cheapens the old, but I agree with plant for saying nobody will like the new setting more. JKR caught lighting in a bottle (on a forehead) with Potter, and as much as I adore her and the world she created, it isn't immortal.
     
    #19 Argentwing, Jul 21, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2016
  20. Daydreamer1

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    I read a synopsis for the play adaptation of The Cursed Child, and if it's 100% accurate with the book, then it's terrible.