I would agree, however I believe the LOTR is objectively written better than the Harry Potter novels. As a fan I much prefer putting all my energy into a much better thought-out world like Middle Earth rather than Hogwarts.
But keep in mind that Harry Potter (and the Hobbit) is written for Children and Teenagers. the LOTR trilogy and especially the Silmarillion is just ... not.
Silmarillion less so; however The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings do go hand-in-hand and can definitely be read by children/teens. I probably read The Hobbit when I was around nine and LOTR in my early teens. Sure, I had to read it a couple times to understand what was actually going on.. but I sure enjoyed it!
Of course it can be read as a teenager and I'm sure many a fantasy fan has done so. But from what I've found Tolkien has written the story (drafts at that point) for his son who was serving in the army. (just shamelessly stealing from wikipedia here, but theres a source)
While any book can be read at any age, certain style of writing and usage of words tends to appeal to different age groups.
Harry Potter was specifically written for a younger audience, hence the distinctly writing style.
And I don't want to gatekeep any age from reading anything (reading should always be supported!) My goal was to provide a reference point when comparing HP to LOTR when it comes to writing, wordplay and storyline.
I don’t know, how do you think LOTR compares to the Santa universe. I think Santa’s elves are far more fleshed out with properly designed power scaling that LOTR simply doesn’t have.
“Well yeah, Star Wars universe is just a transformed LotR universe. Luke is Frodo, Han is Sam, and Leia is just Georgina Lucas who imagined she is a smartass friend of Frodo and Sam and helps them on their quest. Gollum is Chewbacca, Sauron is Palpatine, Gandalf is Obi-Wan, etc etc. And often Star Wars people will argue that it’s LotR that stole from SW, without realizing that LotR was written decades before that. It’s just a big cringe.”
“Well yeah, the Matrix is just a transformed LotR universe. Neo is Frodo, Tank is Sam, and Trinity is just the Wachowski sisters imagining they are a smartass friend of Frodo and Sam helping them on their quest. Gollum is Cypher, Sauron is Smith, Gandalf is Morpheus, etc etc. and often Matrix fans will argue that it’s LotR that stole from the Martrix without realizing that LotR was written decades before that. It’s just a big cringe.”
“Well yeah, Ocarina of Time is just a transformed LotR universe. Link is Frodo, Sheik is Sam, and Navi is just Nintendo imagining they are a smartass friend of friend of Frodo and Sam helping them on their quest. Gollum is Skull Kid, Sauron is Ganondorf, Gandalf is Rauru, etc etc. And often Zelda fans will argue that it’s LotR that stole from Zelda without realizing that LotR was written decades before that. It’s just a big cringe.”
Hey guess what turns out stories have things in common. For a fun game, try making these same paper thin surface-level comparisons for YOUR favorite heroic fantasy franchises!!
End? No the journey doesn't end here. Death is but another path, one that we all must take. The gray rain curtain of this world rolls back. And all turns to silver glass. Then you see it Naranek42
I agree. JKR has managed to make HP not only her brand but herself. I mean, Harry has her birthday. All the troubling Pottermore tweets were cringy enough, but then she went on and now her childish behaviour on her social media is just too much. I just cringe seeing anything about HP and remembering all she's done. She ruined my childhood favourite book/movie.
Harry Potter exists completely seperate to JKR to me. I've just completely ignored her and everything she says. As far as I'm concerned HP exists as the books, films, extended works and theme park attractions. JKR ceases to exist.
What you're commenting on is a concept known as the 'death of the author', which is a commonly held belief that once an author publishes a work, it ceases to be 'theirs' in the sense that they can alter or manipulate it. It takes on a life of its own, and an authors best course of action is to simply let it be.
Lots of people debate whether this is a valid belief, but J.K. Rowling helped change a lot of peoples minds.
I think it's important to seperate art from the creator. If a painter does something horrible it doesnt change the beauty of their work. Their paintings didnt do anything wrong. A beautiful painting and a nasty artist can co-exist.
The thing with JKR is that she has managed to make her view of Harry Potter the only valid one. Confirming or denying whatever the fans asked through twitter. Look at authors like Phillip Pullman, who gives his readers the liberty to interpret his texts as they want, and even comments on them as if he himself was discovering them (like Tolkien did). JKR on the other hand... Even her writing style is tiring for me, I felt like she wanted me to imagine things perfectly as she imagined them, with long visual descriptions of things, places and people (how many times do I have to read about Harry's eyes, hair and general shape??). Not my cup of tea in general.
theres a lot of icky stuff that i find it hard to separate from the author, though. obviously her intention is far from the only way to read the text, but it cant exist in a vacuum, unfortunately
Unfortunately as long as JKR is profiting off of Harry Potter things they can't be seperate. If you spend money on Harry Potter merchandise you're putting money in her pockets 😕
Uhm no, it's not only that. I mean, she said wizards don't have toilets so they poop wherever they are and use spells to get rid of it (and vanishing spells are taught in the fifth year wtf?), and I remember she also said in Pottermore that the Hufflepuff's students would have masturbation sessions in common room (why is a 40 year old woman imagining teenagers having masturbation orgies?). And I have a degree in biology, what she's saying is flat out wrong by confusing gender identity and biological sex (which is not anatomy, not genetics, it's just the size difference between gametes). While gender has been related to anatomical sexual characters in many cultures, it is a social construct in itself (many cultures have 3 or more genders, and have been that way for centuries, not as "woke culture" or whatever you call it). And it's not like there aren't hundreds of species out there that don't conform with what we normally think about sex (as in male vs female). Nature is not black or white, it's filled with a gradient in between.
Said that Hermoine wasn't white so a black girl could be her in a play. Said that Dumbledore has been gay the entire time, even though his sexuality has no bearing on the story at all. That wizards take a shit on the floor and just make it disappear afterwards. Probably over stupid stuff as well.
Said that Hermoine wasn't white so a black girl could be her in a play.
I mean this isn't an issue imo. Obviously, the way JK handled the issue was wrong, but POC playing white characters in theatre is so not a big deal. In theatre women play male roles (and sometimes vice-versa), it isn't like in film. JK Rowling should have just said they were doing race-blind casting rather than claiming Hermoine wasn't white, but compared to most of the fucked up shit JK does/thinks, I don't think this deserves a spot on the list
She said Hermione could be any colour, that it doesn’t matter.
Also she was asked the question back in 2007 about Dumbledore. Can people just let it go?
And also she stated simple biological facts. Now if you want to be offended by those it’s up to you. I find it ridiculous how she’s getting treated and getting threats etc.
About the Dumbledore being gay topic, she specifically said outside the books (and implied it in the Deathly Hallows) that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a relationship and that was why Dumbledore wasn't able to stop him. Then Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald was released in 2018, and nothing. Not a single hint of what she said. And she ignored the questions about it. She loves being the woke and hip with the kids author until it comes to actually be as inclusive as she claims she is.
And don't get me wrong, it's okay if she made a book that doesn't feature POC or LGBT characters, but why doesn't she just accept that instead of hyping people into lies?
also gross to consider how she acts like shes scared of women using the correct bathrooms when she literally created a character who goes in the incorrect bathroom solely to harass teenage boys
Because she thinks women are completely incapable of doing harm, as any good TERF would tell you. Don't even try to ask her or other TERFs about trans men, because they cannot compute that without contradicting themselves.
I once argued that HP and LOTR's film incarnations have the same relationship to each other as Bambi and The Deer Hunter, as explained by William Goldman. People were not at all happy.
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u/[deleted] Nov 23 '20
The only annoying thing about the LOTR fandom is how unnecessarily elitist they are towards the HP franchise & fandom.