2003-02-23 - 2:10 p.m.

I am sick and tired of hearing Harry Potter being regarded as dangerous and inappropriate for children. We've seen countless stories, videos, speeches, books all trying to prove that Harry Potter is, indeed, wrong for children.
I'm going to try to organize my thoughts on this, but please forgive me if I'm a little jumpy.
My main thought is, if you have a problem with Harry Potter, DO NOT READ THE BOOKS! It is as simple as that. What did I do when I couldn't stand the Pokemon craze? I simply IGNORED it. It's not always easy, but it CAN be done. I was about 15 or 16 at the time. And if this is something a 15 or 16-year-old can do, then I should hope that an adult can do so, and just as well.

JK Rowling has stated that the "books [are] primarily about death and dying, therefore death must be portrayed graphically."
"Death is an extremely important thing throughout the seven books. I would say possibly the most important thing. If you are writing about evil, which I am, and if you're writing about someone who is essentially a psychopath, you have a duty to show the real evil in taking human life."
"More people are going to die, and, um, [a little stuttering/thinking out loud] there's going to be at least one death that is going to be horrible to write; to re-write, actually, because it's already written. But, um, it has to be."

"It's very interesting how parents think that they have the right to dictate to you, because you're writing reading materials for their children. I got a horrible letter on book two, very, very stuffy letter from a mother saying, 'this was a very disturbing ending. And I'm sure [with] your ability you'll think of a better way to end the next book. So basically [not understood], if you could address this issue in the future, and I'll be back in touch if I find you unacceptable.' And it was at that point that I snapped, and I wrote back, [...] "Don't read the rest of the books. Yours sincerely, J. Rowling." There's no point, I mean there's no point, I'm not taking dictation here."
"Do I care about my readers? Profoundly, and deeply, but do I ultimately think that they should dictate a single word of what I write? No. No, I'm the only one who should be in control of that. And I'm not writing to make anyone's children feel safe."
Of course, now, these ridiculous people who feel the need to condemn the Harry Potter books, and JKR's series, found this statement to be cause for attack. They now say she is writing TO harm children, to make them NOT feel safe.
This irks me, and sure, my opinion cannot change how the world views this goddess with a pen, but I truly believe that she is simply being a writer. Does anyone write to John Grisham, or Stephen King, and tell them their stories are too grisly for their children to read? Or that they found their stories unacceptable? Perhaps, but those letters would simply be disregarded, or laughed at.

Please visit therealpotter.com if you have not done so already, and you can see all about this...

JKR is writing books, for her own amusement, and happened to land into stardom. That's great! Go her!
She's inspiring thousands of young adults and children, who otherwise would have allowed their imagination to slowly leave, and talents to go to waste, to WRITE, and READ, roleplay and create.
Take ME as an example. Ever since I was in elementary school, I've had a post high school graduate reading level. HOWEVER, I decided, around junior high school, that I hated reading. I found it a waste of time.
In late 2000, I was inspired by a 6-year-old I knew, who had taught himself to read so he could read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and decided to pick myself up a copy of the first book.
Immediately, although I hid the book when I was in school, I was hooked. The book was a quick read (took me about a week, being able to do only about a chapter at a time, morning, afternoon, and sometimes at night, as I was waking up at 5:30, going to school, going to work, and coming home about 10 pm), and was extremely entertaining. Being a fan of the darker side of stories and movies, I immdiately fell in love with the characters Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape. They were similar to some roleplaying characters I was quite fond of at the time.
I convinced a very good friend of mine to read the books, who, in turn, convinced other people to read the books. We all were hooked onto the Harry Potter craze.
But what has it done to me? It's made me write, and inspired pictures and paintings and creations...I've read more books this past year, out of my own free will, than I have in probably the past five years.

Anyway, the point of this whole ramble is, if you don't like the books, don't read'm, and don't spoil things for others.

But unfortunately, I think this thing with Harry Potter can be compared to that of homophobia.

People fear what they do not understand, and that is that.

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