As we steamroll straight on towards July 21st, fandom is abuzz with last minute analysis and speculation. John Granger is on a roll at HogPro, with some of his own work as well as a few excellent guest essays. I commend them all to you, but two posts are of particular interest to me:
- Dumbledore as Christian Mystic, by Sally Palmer
- St. Severus’ Feast Day, by John
I almost got two media exposures – one on TV and one in print, and both thanks to John Granger’s referring folks to me. CTV, which is basically CNN Canada, contacted me to join a panel discussion on July 20 with one of their anchors and an anti-Potter Christian whom I would be debating. Things were almost set to go, and I was gearing up for a trip to the CNN studio in New York City, when I got the call saying the producer had changed his mind and wanted to do a non-religious take on the series (”Why are the books so popular?”). Ah, well. My 3-5 minutes of fame canceled.
I also recently spent about an hour on the phone with Jared Binder, reporter for the Dallas Observer, discussing the Christian controversy surround the series. Alas, I did not make the article, but Mr. Binder did a fine job with it, quoting folks whose voices deserve to be in print far more than my own. You can read the article here.
On a positive note, I was contacted today by Rochester’s own Democrat and Chronicle to be interviewed for Monday’s paper. I’ll link it from here (whether or not I get quoted in this one!) so you can get an idea of how my neck of the woods reports on Potter.
Other things of interest:
- Part II and III of Pat’s reflections on Order.
- A&E’s “Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter” now on YouTube.
- New Poll is up on the sidebar. Make sure you’ve actually seen Order before you vote.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry to hear that CNN dropped their plans; that would have been a fun segment.
Awww…no debate? Well, it’s probably just as well. That particular debate rages onwards and never gets anywhere, televised or not. Debates can be dividing, too, and I don’t think that’s what we need.
Nevertheless I would have liked to cheer you on if it hadn’t been canceled. I’ve never been very good at verbal debate myself and I admire those who are.
wuz this thread
Ronald, it’s just a list of links to other places where you can read and then do cell phone speak in little comment boxes like this one.
so does that mean we can write nEthang we want to. u deleted my old comment dood!
n y u keep bolding muy name
no, it doesn’t. you can talk about the Harry Potter series, and in this thread, you can talk about things related to what I wrote above. this is not a chat room.
Ronald, look at the sidebar on the right. There are “Rules for Commenting.” Read those before making any more comments.
Thanks.
I watched the A&E show on the Sunday night it debuted. I was a little disappointed. It was mostly a promo for the new film. Anything Travis has posted (or many of you have commented on) has been far more illuminating than that special.
Travis, it sucks you’ve been cut from these articles/debates, but at least you’re being asked. That’s a good sign. And as a fellow lit geek who likes to discuss and debate everything, I’m a wee bit jealous!