Hitch and his McGuffins (was: Red Flags, Red Herrings)

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 19163

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Haggridd" <jkusalavagemd at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> > Joywitch wrote:
> > 
> > >But have there been any red herrings so far, i.e. items 
mentioned 
> > briefly that 
> > >later turned out to be UNimportant?  

There is a very interesting reference in Chapter One of PS/SS

"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the 
nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls 
normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there 
have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every 
direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls 
have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed 
himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with 
the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

Jim "McGuffin?" Hmmm.

Anyone Hitchcock fans out there? Titles like "Strangers on a Train,"
"Spellbound," "The Birds," "The Trouble With Harry," "The Wrong Man," 
(i.e., Sirius), "Rich and Strange," (i.e., Draco), "I Confess,"(i.e., 
Wormtail, certainly resonate with Potter-esque overtones. "MacGuffin" 
was a term that Hitch used for what he intended as his red herrings 
(e.g., the stolen money in Psycho, Laurence Olivier's supposed 
attachment to his late wife in Rebecca) that were intended to draw 
attention away from what the story was really about.  And the above 
paragraph certainly suggests Hitchcock's legendary 1962 esaay of 
avian terror.

See this link for more info on Hitch's MacGuffin:

http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~muffin/


   - CMC (if only Hitch were still around to direct HP!)