[Fwd: Found the article]

Tue Oct 31 00:11:14 UTC 2000

No: HPFGUIDX 4892

Hi, list. Sally of the Rickman newsletter found the article she got the
Satanist reference from; here it is. FWIW.

--Amanda

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Found the article
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 14:28:51 -0800 (PST)
From: "Sally G." <rickmanfans at yahoo.com>
To: Amanda Lewanski <editor at texas.net>

Hi Amaanda

Ok, following up to being unable to find the article -
I did. This is it in the full - and you can see where
the inferences came in...

Sally

(From Empire Online;
http://www.empireonline.co.uk/news/news.asp?2654)

Is Harry Potter The Devil?
27/10/2000

It often seems that the whole world is falling well
and truly under the spell of Harry Potter. As the hype
machine builds, fans collectively hold their breath in
anticipation of the wizards arrival on the silver
screen. However, some detractors detect a more
nefarious objective behind the adventures of Harry and
his chums. Potter, it would seem, is the instrument of
Satan and is calling his fans to drop everything and
pledge allegiance to the prince of darkness.

Or so author JK Rowling was informed when she gave a
special reading from Harry Potter and The Goblet of
Fire at the International Festival of Authors in
Toronto. Left stunned in front of 10,000 fans, Rowling
was barely able to respond to accusations that Harry
encourages Satanism, responding to one such
allegation: No. You are a lunatic. Rowling went on
to deny any belief in the occult and any connection
whatsoever to Lucifer and his wicked minions. 

Slurs of evil content seem to be plaguing poor Harry
after the film shoot was forced to abandon its
proposed filming at Gloucester Cathedral amid a sea of
similar accusations. Parishioners, concerned about the
books promotion of pagan ideals, staged protests
which forced the crew to relocate to Durham instead.
However, with excitement over the upcoming film of
Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone growing
exponentially and fresh converts picking up his books
every day, it would seem that the threat of hell and
damnation is simply not what it used to be.

--- Amanda Lewanski <editor at texas.net> wrote:
> Hey, Sally, a correction on a bit of the movie
> stuff. Doesn't have to do
> with Alan Rickman, just Jo Rowling, but I thought
> you'd want to know.
> 
> --Amanda
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [HPforGrownups] Movie stuff
> Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 04:18:46 -0800 (PST)
> From: Sheryll Townsend <s_ings at yahoo.com>
> Reply-To: HPforGrownups at egroups.com
> To: HPforGrownups at egroups.com
> 
> 
> --- Amanda Lewanski <editor at texas.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> > 
> > -- Author of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, gave a
> > speech at the International Festival of Authors in
> > Toronto (26th October, 2000). In front of 10,000
> > fans
> > in the Sky Dome, Rowling was left stunned when
> > accusations began to fly that encourages Satanism.
> > She
> > recovered enough to defend that she has no belief
> in
> > the occult and any connection with Lucifer.
> > Fortunately, it would appear that most of the
> world
> > -
> > and the children - don't side with the radical
> few
> > ----------------------------------------
> > 
> I don't know where this article came from, but it is
> totally inaccurate. I was at the International
> Festival of Authors for JKR's reading (not speech -
> she read chapter 4 of GoF). The attendance was
> actually 15,000+, making it the largest public
> reading
> in history (which may put her into the Guiness Book
> of
> World Records). 
> There were no accusations of Satanism at this event.
> What happened was, after reading chapter 4, she said
> she would take the time to answer some of the
> questions she'd been asked by reporters while in
> Toronto. One of these questions was:
>  "Do you believe these books encourage Satanism?"
> Her response? "No, you are a lunatic."
> 
> It was a fantastic reading and I loved her addition
> of
> the questions at the end (the reading went by too
> quickly and none of us were in a hurry to see her
> leave the stage). As I said in a brief report on the
> event (posted last week to this group) she was also
> asked if she thought the movie would ruin the books.
> Her response? "No, the readers aren't idiots." I
> loved
> it.
> 
> Sorry to be repetitive (most of this was in my
> previous post on the event), but I didn't want to
> let
> the inaccuracies in the above article pass
> uncorrected.
> 
> Sheryll
> 
> =====
> "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou
> art crunchy and taste
> good with ketchup."
> 
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