Why do we get so het up about Harry Potter?

[zanelupin]

No: HPFGUIDX 71158

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sueeeyqbong" <sue at s...> wrote:
 
> I really do feel that people are taking the books way too seriously 
> sometimes, (myself included) and forget that we originally read 
them 
> for fun. And when people get so easily offended, participating in 
> this discussion group stops being fun. 
> Recently I read a well though out and (I thought) fair post 
> criticising certain aspects of the HP books, and OoP in particular. 
> I never once felt that she was implying criticism of HP fans when 
> she was criticisng the books, though I think that some may have 
> taken her comments that way. It led me to wonder why people are so 
> quick to assume that because someone is criticising the HP books, 
> they are also criticising the many fans who love the books? I am 
one 
> of those people who finds much to criticise in the books, and yet 
> loves reading them to bits, and enjoy them immensely. I probably 
> enjoy them so much because I don't expect them to live up to high 
> literary standards, and therefore I don't feel it a slur on my 
> judgement when someone else also finds them lacking. I for one 
> though, am aware of feeling slightly self conscious at being a 
grown 
> up and yet loving to read children's books, and I definitely feel a 
> bit defensive/ feel like I need to justify myself.. in front of my 
> non HP reading friends. Does anyone else feel this way? I think 
that 
> this embarassment factor may be why a very few people get a bit 
> defensive when confronted with criticism of the books - AS Byatt's 
> recent opinions (which I thought really were unfair and cruel) 
> haven't helped this much, either, but I just wanted to
say

please 
> don't tar all of us HP criticisers with the same brush - some of us 
> may find flaws in the books but still can appreciate the immense 
> skill and appeal of JKR's work. And really enjoy participating n 
> this discussion group.
> ------
> I know that feeling a bit embarassed at reading HP is silly (I'm 
> anticipating getting responses telling me I've nothing to be 
> embarrassed about here), and honestly, I KNOW I haven't...know in 
my 
> head, at least. I just can't stop having a slightly embarrassed gut 
> feeling about it all. Does anyone else feel the same way?
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts,
> 
> Sue

I never thought of myself as so invested in these books and 
characters that I would be offended by fair, constructive criticism 
of Harry Potter.  But as I was reading some of the posts yesterday, I 
did feel some anger and resentment simmering for those criticisms.  I 
disagreed with much that was said, because I love these books, even 
OOP, which is not my favorite but is not at the bottom, either.  
What's not to love?  I realized that I was getting too involved in 
the books, because the criticisms did feel personal.  How could there 
be anything wrong with something I enjoy so much? So I took a step 
back and tried to be more objective.  From there, I could see where 
the criticism comes from, particularly about OOP.  So I calmed down 
and told myself, "I can still love Harry Potter.  Just because there 
are problems with the books doesn't mean they're not as entertaining 
or fun to read."  Plus, these criticisms give me something to think 
about.  It's been a while since I've read anything critically, and it 
makes me feel lazy now that I had not thought to do this with Harry 
Potter when there is so much to explore in this series.
As far as feeling defensive about reading Harry Potter in front of 
non-HP reading adult friends, I don't feel much shame in it, or a 
need to defend myself.  I do fight them if they try to tell me these 
are children's books when clearly they are not.  But they just smile 
and nod, generally, as they're used to me being a fan of kids things 
(Disney's Emperorer's New Groove is one of my favorite movies, for 
instance) and chalk it up to my general tastes.  So I roll my eyes at 
them and try and convince them to read HP for themselves and then 
tell me they are for children.

Thank you, Sue, for sharing *your* thoughts,

KathyK (who doesn't think she's mentioned before how much she enjoys 
this group)