Posted on 07/18/2005 9:57:30 PM PDT by Eurotwit
So you haven't read the books, then? You cannot have read the books, and yet you are posting as if you are an authority on their content.
Most of the books take place in a school. Why would the wimpy little twit in question have to attend a school? He's got all the shortcuts, right?
I have no problem with discussing controversial aspects of the books, but when it comes to discussing the actual content, it sure helps to discuss it with someone who has read them, not merely assumed them.
I scarfed LoTR down at 15 -- all three books -- in less than a month. I ripped through all 12 of E.R. Burroughs Mars novels in about a semester when I was 17. I recently picked up LoTR and one of the Mars novels at a bookstore and found that, at the ripe old age of 40, I simply could not read what I've taken to referring to as "stultifyingly thick" prose.
"So you haven't read the books, then? You cannot have read the books, and yet you are posting as if you are an authority on their content."
You Potter apologists always level that accusation at us Potter poopers. What is it, just a desperate attempt to deny that intelligent, educated people could possibly disagree with you?
"Most of the books take place in a school. Why would the wimpy little twit in question have to attend a school? He's got all the shortcuts, right?"
He's got special powers that the school is merely refining and developing. And along the way, we see him breaking school rules, disobeying teachers, lying, and doing things that the dumb old teachers couldn't get done. Those things completely undermine your argument.
"I have no problem with discussing controversial aspects of the books"
Yeah, you do. This is like arguing with Apple computer true believers.
"but when it comes to discussing the actual content, it sure helps to discuss it with someone who has read them, not merely assumed them."
Nah, you can just assume that the Potter poopers haven't read any part of any HP book, and use that as an excuse to give any real thought to the "controversial issues."
By the way, how many times did you see Farenheit 9/11?
I would have to call ERB mostly a writer for young adolescents.
But you might download "The Mucker" and see what you think. I'd be interested to hear if you think it's any better than the Barsoom books.
Well, the downside is that it might make kids have unreasonable and grandiose occult expectations about the abilities of ectomorphic nerdy dorks with glasses.
I think that is the real issue. We homeschool so of course we are very involved with our kids in every facet of life. We talk about and verify everything before our children read or see it. Unfortunately that's not true for many families, but as you said, we cannot hold literature responsible for bad parenting.
Parenting the right way is a job that requires a lot of work. Since kids are our legacy we do what we think is best, no matter how much work it is or how inconvenient that makes our lives. For us we don't really see any difference between Harry Potter and the 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
We try to be open to instruction in all ways. That is, we try to remain teachable in case we're wrong somewhere. But... If there are valid arguments against letting children watch Harry Potter than I haven't yet seen them.
Zinger! The media has chosen to blow up a personal opinion expressed by Cardinal Ratzinger into a "ruling by the Pope." It's hogwash.
So do the other students. Indeed, HP comes across as a pretty piss-poor pupil (say that five times fast) when it comes to the magical arts.
LOL! My daughter could write that, only she's too young to remember Buddy Holly!
His glasses are certainly reminiscent of Clark Kent.
"I think you overstate the case."
That would be nice.
"To an element of our society, as illustrated by Hollyweird today and the gangsta-rap bling-bling culture, those schmoes are heroes. But only to an element of our society."
It's easy for a person to get a distorted picture, but I work with a bunch of younger people, all college graduates, some Americans, Australians, Englanders, Gaynadians...trying to have a discussion with them is like talking with people who have lived their lives in caves.
Just this morning we were talking about the Sopranos, and I brought up Hannah Arendt (blank looks) describing Adolf Eichmann (blank looks) as representing "the Banality of Evil" (looks so blank I wondered if I had given them a hernia of the frontal lobes).
I mentioned Walter Mitty (blank looks). I used the phrase "hoist with my own petard" (blank looks). I mentioned that the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" was a ripoff of "Taming of the Shrew" (never heard of it).
I said to one of them, "Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?" (Do what?) Fulda Gap (never heard of it). Bay of Pigs (heard of it, but no idea what it was about or what happened). Douglas MacArthur's father Arthur (never heard of him). The Spanish didn't completely throw the mooselimbs out of Spain until 1492 (amazement). American Indians practiced slavery (No!). Audie Murphy? Never heard of him.
Casablanca? 12 O'Clock High? High Noon? Treasure of the Sierra Madre? From Here to Eternity? Fergit it. And don't even get me started on the books they never even heard of.
Their schools may have taught them to think, though I doubt it, but their schools certainly didn't give them anything to think *about*.
They don't know how many people there are in congress. They don't know how many Supreme Court justices there are, nor do they recognize their names when I bring them up.
I passed around the book, "Cultural Literacy," and the only response I got was, "Man, I don't know *any* of that stuff."
They are functional morons, and yet they are convinced that they are among the best and the brightest. The frightening thing is that they may be.
"So do the other students."
Who are a tiny fraction of the population.
Most of all, they are not "muggles." They are *special.*
He could be a nuclear engineer with a secret identity as a rock star who saves the world from George Soros.
"He didn't wear pants either, so he was clearly some kind of swinger."
How could I miss that? It's even worse than I thought.
And most are completely lost when dealing with the real (muggle) world. Mr. Weasely's fondest dream is figuring out how airplanes fly.
Actually Egon's Ghostbuster laser might work well on the Soros types. [irony]
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