JKR backlash

[Hella Fakhro]

Interesting point, Al. I hesitate to compare JKR to Barbara Streisand or Jennifer Lopez <bg> just because I don't think she's *saturating* the media with herself as much as they do. I believe she only did one TV special (the BBC one) but I may be wrong. Even if she is living it up, I don't see anything wrong with it. If we think about it - once Harry Potter is over, what's she going to do? It's going to be extremely difficult to live up to Harry (hopefully!) Although I wish she would produce the books once a year I kind of am happy for her that she did receive this success and that she's enjoying it. And let her take her time, her (working) life will never be the same after Harry.

The merchandise is another question - the saving grace is I suppose that although she gets a lot of say into what is made and what isn't, she doesn't get the last word. I remember an article in the Wall Street Journal and they said that WB wanted to make Harry Potter sunglasses and scar-shaped cookie cutters. She asked that they make neither one, so they threw out the sunglasses but kept the cookie cutters. So while HP skateboards sound incredibly tacky, it doesn't mean she personally approved every piece out there. And I thank her from the bottom of my heart that McDonalds didn't get their hands on Harry Potter and that Coca-Cola ads are quite tastefully done. It could have been worse!

The other thing I want to ask myself is, why do we have these expectations from her? She *never* promised a book a year, and she's made it very clear that she doesn't know when book 5 will be done. Perhaps the impatience is due to our own expectations that we have put on her, none that she promised. Perhaps it is the fandom, the daily discussion of everything in the Potter books that is making us crazy with anticipation. I think she deserves to work on something frivolous, like a movie of her book; in fact I would prefer she does something like that than burn out while continuously writing, writing, writing about Harry if she's *not* enthusiastic about it, so that when she turns her attention back to him she will produce something outstanding rather than something forced. The GoF fiasco is not something she will want to repeat, I'm sure. I would prefer book 5 to be done with a lot of love, enthusiasm, and care rather than to meet a deadline, because it will affect the quality. Maybe she has writer's block, maybe the plot is extremely complex, and she really has to be careful what she reveals in this book so that she can continue to surprise us in books 6 and 7. I don't know, but from the amount of fame, money, and attention that she has received, I am surprised she's not a lot more obnoxious. She's extremely level-headed I think, and I'm not too worried about her resistance to it. The fact is we really don't know what she's doing, and I'd rather give her the benefit of the doubt. But that's just me!

Take care,

Hella, feeling very optimistic and long-winded today



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