I have yet to meet anyone who has started reading Harry Potter and not fallen in love. Except me. I pushed myself through the first 3 books, always thinking that it's got to get good eventually, but in 3 books, it never did for me. There are just too many logical inconsistencies. And no, I'm not just a fantasy hater - I'm talking about internal, logical consistencies. For those not familiar, that means it has to make sense within the rules that the author has set up for their world. From my experience, most things in Harry Potter don't happen because they make sense. They happen because it'll keep up suspense or create a conflict. My suite mates are watching a Harry Potter film (one I've already seen - I've been forced to continue watching the films by friends) in the kitchen really loudly and I can hear all the dialog. In this film, the ministry has apparently gone insane. I don't understand why. I tried to think about it from the author's point of view and here's the only thinking that makes sense to me:
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Author: "Ok, how about we create conflict this time by suddenly making the ministry act crazy?"
Reason: "Why is the ministry acting crazy?"
Author: "Umm...because they're in denial about Voldemorte coming back."
Reason: "They're in denial? The whole ministry? Why? Wouldn't it be best for them to address the problem?"
Author: "Sure, that'd be best, but they're scared, so they don't want to face it."
Reason: "So the entire ministry just unanimously decided to bury their heads in the sand, pretend the problem doesn't exist, and tell anyone who says otherwise to shut up? EVERYONE elected to the government? And they're doing this because fear has made them all insane? And when they're insane, they apparently act like 4-year-olds? But EVERYONE ELSE is still sane? People don't even react that way to fear. If I'm afraid of the dark, I don't try to convince myself and the rest of the world that the dark doesn't exist. Can you think of one historical example where a government has acted this way in a similar situation?"
Author: "Hey...shut up! It makes sense, ok?! IT MAKES SENSE!!"
Reason: "I can see you put a lot of yourself in your work."
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Now, my girlfriend tried pointing out to me that there has been a historical example of this: the USA ignoring WWII for a long time. However, for anyone else with the same idea, that situation is completely different. First of all, I believe the USA actually did help supply at least Britain before intervening themselves (but not completely sure). Second of all, the USA didn't deny the existence of WWII and try to silence anyone who said otherwise. They knew WWII existed but wasn't happening in the USA. It was happening in Europe. They didn't want to devote unnecessary resources to something that Europe might be able to resolve internally. The threat was recognized and calculated to not be worth the risk and resources at that time.
Also, for anyone who might want to accuse me of not liking Harry Potter because I don't find magic logical, don't waste your time. I have no problem with the magic part of Harry Potter. It's mostly the decisions and actions of the characters. I do like other fantasy - books, shows, and movies. And hey, some logical inconsistency I can deal with - like almost all planets inexplicably speaking English in Stargate. I understand that they need an easy way to communicate with other peoples without it being cumbersome. Personally, I would have preferred that they found some technology or something early on that would do the translating for them somehow - like Star Trek, Farscape, and or even Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But that little thing I can deal with to enjoy an otherwise fairly consistent show (at least until they apparently stopped worrying about that - ugh, and don't even get me started on Stargate Atlantis nowadays).
SO, am I crazy? Or does Harry Potter really make no sense even within itself?
Posted by anonymous at July 14, 2008 2:38 PMI read the first 3 or 4 books and enjoyed them, but then they just got boring, which was really disappointing because I love fantasy. I watched the first two movies, but totally could not get into the third one. It's a case of too much of a good thing spoiling it. One or two books would have been enough, 'cos after that, it just gets old.
On a side note, I was once (shudder) married to a man who turned out to be a total perv. I've done everything I can to forget all of it, but once in a while, the subject comes up, and I refer to him as "He Who Shall Not Be Named." Now I just call him Voldemort.
Posted by: at July 23, 2008 8:22 AM