Taylor-made for each other Whatever happened to polio? Vested interest in Wal-Mart's new look If you are any age between eight and 88, today is the day you’ve been waiting for. That’s because the newest installment in the Harry Potter movie series officially debuts today (thought many theaters had a midnight showing Tuesday) and the final novel in the series is released next Saturday.
Do you have your ticket yet for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”? Have you ordered your copy of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”? The series about an unloved orphan who discovers he is a wizard has sold 325 million copies and the films have grossed $3.
5 billion — so far — making author J.K. Rowling a wealthier woman than the Queen of England.
Most of us would agree she has earned it. Rowling, whose given name is Joanne, was a welfare mother who wrote “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” in an Edinburgh café belonging to her brother-in-law. The book became a huge favorite in England before being published in the United States as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in 1998.
Rowling’s fertile imagination has given us Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione, the magical school Hogwarts, dozens of new words such as “muggles” (non-magical folk) and “Quidditch” (a team sport played on broomsticks) and more curious creatures, places and characters than you can shake a wand at. Her greatest magic trick is turning a whole generation of children on to the love of reading. While a few stick-in-the-muds continue to grumble and protest that the Harry Potter books are the “work of the devil,” most people have loved the generation-bridging stories.
The books have spawned read-aloud times in uncounted numbers of families and made the Harry Potter midnight book launch parties the highlight of many children’s summers. Even though Hogwarts doesn’t have a chapel — though its students do celebrate Christmas — those of us who love Harry Potter know that these books are about good vs. Harry and his friends and most of the Hogwarts teachers are constantly at battle with the evil wizard Voldemart and his cohorts.
And as the series has progressed, the bad guys have made some serious inroads, killing off Harry’s guardian Sirius Black and the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore. There is even a lot of debate about whether Harry survives the last book — though the plot is kept under such a blanket of security that this is still a subject for speculation. (There were speculations over the weekend that this may not be the last book.
Rowling won’t confirm or deny, but if indeed the series does continue, we can’t see it without Harry.) To its credit, the movie series has been of such high quality and so faithful to the books that there has been little to complain about. The three young actors who star — Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron and Emma Watson as Hermione — have committed to finish the series, and they have aged appropriately.
They are wholesome role models, exemplifying such traits as loyalty and intelligence over cunning and sex appeal. (We do wish, however, that Parade magazine had not chosen to present Emma Watson in a cover story last Sunday tarted up in short-shorts, high-heeled shoes and a glittery tank top showing a hint of cleavage. What were they thinking?
What was Emma thinking?) So here’s to Harry and all his magical friends. We hope the movie and book meet the expectations of legions of fans.
And we count ourselves among them. This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below -- responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Read our privacy agreement.
News RSS