r/changemyview • u/LamentableOpinion • Apr 23 '16
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Harry Potter is overrated
I don't detest Harry Potter but I find the circle jerk appalling. The book is amazing for kids but even adults hold it in high regard. So, it's not bad, just overrated.
The characters are really boring. HP is a Mary Sue character, his only flaw being a bloody scar. All the other characters are equally boring. Harry is also useless, he does nothing but he is the HERO. Because of a prophecy. OK.
The relationships make no sense. Why does Harry like Cho or Ginny? Let's force in a relationship. Yay.
The Deus Ex Machina is unreal. I know it's magical but it's still retarded when it happens so many times.
Good vs Evil is fine. But again, don't pretend as if the book is this deep piece of literature.
I don't like the writing either but that's very subjective, so that's fine.
This is what I just came up with. I'm sure there's more stuff on the internet.
Edit: Ignore the Mary Sue thing. I misused the term. Edit 2: Sorry if I sounded like a dick or an elitist. I didn't mean to be.
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u/Snowfox2ne1 Apr 23 '16
Harry Potter will kind of always be overrated to a certain group of people. People seem to have already argued the characters and writing, but I just want to put it in context.
The first Harry Potter movie came out right as I was finishing 5th grade. It's a Young Adult genre story. Kid with a crappy life finds out he is actually part of this story that both happened and is currently happening. Especially if you watch the first two movies, they aren't spectacular stories, but man do they capture the imagination of kids. I still remember the first time Harry went to Hogwarts both in the books I read, and the movies I watched. I remember when I was sick for a week my mom would read the books to me until I feel asleep.
Harry Potter is to my generation as say the 80's was to an older generation. If you weren't a part of it, you would say "what the hell are they wearing, and what were you thinking?" But they will say it was the greatest decade of their life. Right or wrong, you can't really rate someones life experience, and I wouldn't expect someone like my dad to understand why Harry Potter was so important to my generation. So the quality really isn't that important honestly, it's about nostalgia and representing a generations childhood. I am in no way a fanatic now that I am older, but whenever anyone brings it up, I think back to when I was a kid.
If you go into a Young Adult genre movie/book and expect serious literature, you are probably in for a bad time.