“Why Harry Potter kinda sucks” – A Response

Maybe I shouldn’t even be glorifying this post (by the user twigurrl) with a response, but I have way too much time on my hands, I think know. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, indeed – and I’m entitled to my own.

1. Theres too much swearing. Ron says “blo*dy H*ll” all the time, and Molly weasley calls Bellatrix Lestrange a B*TCH in the last book! Thats seriously unaceptable! I mean little kids are reading that stuff!!! That kind of language is really bad!

Uh, yes, swearing isn’t a good thing. But in the books and the movies, they don’t just throw cuss words around.  If there really is too much swearing as you believe, then most or at least some of the characters should be swearing on a regular basis. But no, it’s just Ron, because it’s part of his character. And even if it is part of his character, Ron only says it a few times, not all the time; he says it when he feels a particularly strong emotion, like shock or anger. Molly Weasley calls Bellatrix a bitch because Bellatrix tried to kill Ginny. Ginny is Molly’s only daughter. Of course, if Bellatrix tried to kill my daughter, then I would be furious. You should expect Molly to feel the same way.

2. Its too violent. Like people die in every book, i mean its just depressing! and good guys die too!! I mean lupin, fred (one of the best characters), tonks, etc. I mean little kinds and people shoudn’t have to read that kind of thing! that teaches people that death is ok and natural! I mean who WANTS to read about that kind of thing?

People die.

Yes, it’s sad when people die, especially when those people are good people like Lupin, Fred, and Tonks. But what makes the series different from “people shoudn’t have to read that kind of thing!” is the fact that it isn’t about that kind of thing. The Harry Potter series is not about death. It doesn’t put death or killing in a good light, and it sure doesn’t glorify torture or cruelty. You can see that because after characters die, there are people who mourn them, as there should be. That’s good, actually, because in the series, there could never be a clearer portrayal of how death affects people. Now, let me tell you this: killing is not okay, nor is it natural. That’s why Voldy’s the bad guy. Don’t get me wrong here. Death is alright, and it is definitely natural because it is what’s waiting to take us after sixty or seventy years, if we’re that lucky. Please – it’s very crucial that you don’t get me wrong in this part. Harry Potter doesn’t teach idealism: it teaches us that while killing is terrible and abnormal and cruel, death isn’t. It teaches us that we shouldn’t fear death, and that we should only fear not making the most of our lives before death finally does come to get us.

3.  TORTURE. in HP, people torture other peopls JUST FOR FUN! thats WRONG! Its going to teach people that torture is okay and it’s not! I mean like Voldemort and Bellatrix like to cause people pain an dHAVE FUN KILLING PEOPLE! Thats so horrible that they like get turned on by killing people. Thats SO HORRIBLE AND WRONG! Not to mention depressing and WAY 2 DARK! Thats not okay for people to read. And for the death thing see reason 2.

In Harry Potter, people torture people just for fun. Yes, it’s true, and yes, it’s wrong. Torture isn’t okay, and it will never be. Voldemort likes to cause people pain, and the poor Death Eaters were actually greedy/foolish/selfish enough to buy into his thing. It is horrible and it will never be accepted by society. Now, please remember one thing here: never in the books did J.K. Rowling say that Voldemort is the good guy. That’s what the plot revolves around, actually. Oh, wow, this is odd. Until now, I’ve been using the present tense to refer to Voldemort. Can’t do that anymore, though, because Voldemort is dead. Harry Potter destroyed him, because he, as well as everyone else, found the need to stop him because what he did was “SO HORRIBLE AND WRONG!” Everything Voldemort did was either one or both of those two things, not to mention “depressing and WAY 2 DARK!” Well, what did you expect? Voldemort is basically the Hitler of the wizarding world. I hope you didn’t expect sunshine and flowers because those weren’t what the Holocaust was about, either.

4. Its british. British stuff is never as good as american stuff. America is the top country in the world. I  mean, im not trying to brag or anything, but its just a fact that america is the most advanced and powerful country in the world. Twilight is American,  Harry Potter is british. Therefore, by logic, Twilight is better. And just because Twilight is american automatically makes it higher quality, just because its America, no matter what you think of the book. I mean, British people can be really bad, like they fought against us and LOST in WW2, right? So seriously, they just aren’t as good.

I cannot even begin to explain the bigotry in that statement, let alone the wrongness (for lack of a better term) of it. America may be advanced and powerful, but it’s not a reason to say that Twilight is better than Harry Potter because it’s American. It’s like saying you’re better than me because you’re (insert race here) and I’m Asian. “British people can be really bad, like they fought against us and LOST in WW2, right? So seriously, they just aren’t as good.” In your point of view, that may be true, but you aren’t the only person with an opinion that matters. Everyone’s opinion matters and you can’t judge Britain for doing something that it thought would be best for its own country. And besides, the past is the past and the BBC is really big in America, isn’t it? And you can trust me on this: British shows are really good. Sadly, though, that’s not the point. The point is, it’s discrimination and honey, I don’t know what planet you’re from because it sure isn’t fine here anymore.

5. Its comfusing. See above about it being british. But basically to go along with that, BECAUSE its britis, the stuff is confusing. like they use slang and stuff that doesnt make sense to ANYONE BUT BRITISH PEOPLE! and like the stuff they talk baout that is british and hard to understand. You shouldn’t have to use a fucking SLANG DICTIONARY when reading!!!!

It does have slang words that are really British. But what do you expect? The characters are British and honestly, I would be very surprised if they started speaking Chinese or on a less extreme scale, start using American slang words. It would be completely off-character. Besides, they have another version, one using American English instead of British English, if you’re talking about spelling too, I guess…

6.  The movies are crap. So like they’re made by an american compeny, but why the hell do they have funny accents? I hate watching movyes and not being able 2 understand the people in them!!!! I mean siriusly, WTF?! I always have to rewind and use subtittles when I watch the movies, because of the funny accents! I mean cant the actors talk normally? whyd they get weirdos for the parts anyways? They should of gotten normal people who can FUCKING TALK RIGHT!!!!!

They have “funny accents” because the characters they’re playing are British! The actors are truly talented and they play their characters beautifully. Not to mention the fact that they’re British themselves, so it would be quite difficult for them to adopt an American accent. Now, I’m sorry if they didn’t make a version with your accent in play, because they sure didn’t make one for mine. Yet that’s why they have subtitles, to make everyone of all nationalities happy. Subtitles rock. Oh yeah!

7. The chracters are ugly. Hermione is a frizzy haired dork. Luna is a weirdo and dresses like shes color blind. Rons a ginger, and we all know that gingers don’t have souns, thank to South Park… JUST KIDDING!  That part was a joke, of course, but still, he’s ugly. Harry is just a weirdo wit glasses and a freakish scar.

The characters are ugly. So what? Their physical appearance does not matter. You wouldn’t want anyone hating you just because you’re ugly. And besides, beauty is relative. Everyone has a different view of true beauty and as they say, “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I wouldn’t want to apply that in the series, though, because the characters, all physical appearances aside, are beautiful. They’re full of potential and they teach everyone that both beauty and empowerment come from within, not from what other people think. Hermione is frizzy haired but that doesn’t mean that she can’t be beautiful. She’s very intelligent and she’s my role model because despite what other people thought of her, she still used what she had to save the world. Luna is the same way. She doesn’t care what other people think, because they don’t matter. She’s self-confident and she loves herself enough to dress the way she wants. Self-love would be pretty high on my important things list, if it wasn’t at the top spot. Ron is ginger, yes, and he’s actually not that bad looking. Yet I promised: physical appearances aside. He would have been in Hufflepuff, the House that values loyalty and kindness, if he wasn’t so, very brave. His friends truly matter to him because in the seventh book, he returned even after he had a fight with them. Harry Potter may be a weirdo with glasses and a freakish scar, as you say, but so what? He defeated Voldemort. He saved the world with his courage and his love for humankind. And to me and to all other Potterheads out there, that is enough.

Oh dear, there’s a second part. Didn’t notice. Sorry.

And Dumbledore is creepy too. He has a beard, beards are creepy! And he has a mustache too, that makes him look like hes evil!! We all know beards are creepy, and he wears a freaking DRESS! THATS SICK, MEN DO NOT WEAR DRESSES!!!!!!!! Also hes gay. thats creepy because hes so old! Old peopla rent supposed to be gay! nothin against homosexals, btw.

Dumbledore has a beard. MEN have beards. It’s normal and it actually depends on a person’s preference. He wants to have a beard and a mustache because he wants to have a beard and a mustache. What’s it to you? And he doesn’t wear a dress. It’s a robe. Wizards wear robes because they want to, too. Also, Dumbledore’s a homosexual, and he’s old. Well, he’s been a homosexual since he was young and since homosexuals are part of everybody else, they grow old if they’re lucky. It’s not creepy. If you like Math, then you’ll love this, I hope: age + homosexual = an old homosexual.

8. the villains are unrealistic. WHat kind of sadistic creepy fucking moron kills people and tortured them FOR FUN?!??! WTF?! And besides, its soooooo unrealistic i mean a REAL villain (like the Volturi) wouldn’t be considerate enough to wait until the end of the school year before enacting their evil plot. thats just unrealistic. And they’s just creepy losers with bad hair in cloaks. Yuk.

Voldemort is a sadist and he kills people and he tortures them for fun. That’s him. Definitely him. It’s his character. That’s what makes him different from the other terrible wizards in the series. He’s not human; he can’t feel love. And BECAUSE he can’t feel love, he’s not considerate enough to wait until the end of the school year to do the evil thing he always does. That’s just a coincidence, and it’s a running joke in the Harry Potter fandom. But it’s not true. He waits to do it because he needs time to prepare. I mean, honestly. Do you really think that a villain can devise a seemingly foolproof plan in five minutes, or five months, for that matter? Waiting… good things come to those who wait because they get to truly prepare for what is to come. That’s what Voldemort did, and he did it for himself. Definitely not for Harry.