Keep up the good work!!

P.S I think you were right about ambiguous being the theme to book 6… even if no one agrees with me

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they are emphasizing the theme of free will (which btw Greg – does not at all conflict with having to go back to the past to understand the future – that does not have to mean that the future is predetermined, rather, it could mean that in order to understand Voldy of the present we must understand the path he took and the choices he made along the way).

I also noticed the addition of “people who are mean to me,” and I really am kind of surprised that they substituted it. Even just visually, I don’t think you see a kid like Riddle and come at him from a perspective of “He’s totally evil.” In fact, I think you need to counter the aspects that might lead one to be LESS “morally ambiguous” about him, on the positive side (the depressing childhood, the good looks, the fact that he’s a smooth-faced little boy…) with the more telling signs of his malevolence, and I thought that Jo was very deft at managing our reactions of pity and fear. So I hope they don’t sacrifice what is genuine malice for the sake of “moral ambiguity.”

(Specifically, it’s a very important fact (I think) that Riddle was a bully at the orphanage. Substituting this with the idea that he was instead picked on, and probably acting in self defense seems like the wrong way to go, to me, at least. All this based on the few lines we’ve seen, obviously. The complete scene could give off a completely different impression.)

Annie- that’s a good point, I just hesitate to think that Dumbledore would express such alarm at this revelation. We know from Dumbledore himself that the possession of Parseltounge in itself is pretty much meaningless. More significant, I think, would be signs that Riddle enjoyed dominating and inflicting pain on others.

Regarding your other point that “they focused on the wrong dialogue for Riddle, though. The snake thing is really of minimal importance– the warning signs, obviously, were his aptitudes for causing pain”

Here is something else interesting that I noticed – in the book Tom says “I can make bad things happen to people who ANNOY me” while in the trailer it is “to people who ARE MEAN to me”

I think they are definately aiming to portray young Tom Riddle as a much much more innocent figure – perhaps (and maybe I shouldn’t be admitting this) to play up the moral ambiguity element and make it more pronounced.

And thanks for the fun podcast!

it won’t be Hermione that Harry ends up snogging during the film.

Love,
~Annie

I absolutely loved the trailer! I just sat next to my computer watching the clock, waiting for it to come onto AOL at 9 pm. I have some thoughts and comments to your podcast, which i also loved!

You were talking about how different the reactions were between Harry and Tom when they both found out that they were “different”. Harry was overjoyed and excited to learn that he could get out of his abusive household and into a world that he loved. Tom needed to be shown Dumbledore’s power before he even believed him. Look at the expression on his face when he sees that bureau on fire. You can see the hunger for power in his eyes. And I can also see the relationship between Tom and Anakin Skywalker now. That was really clever! And what I also thought was funny was that in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie, when Harry goes back 50 years ago into the diary, Dumbledore’s hair is fully grown out, and is also auburn. I just thought of that actually. And it is grey when he goes to meet Tom for the first time a few years earlier. But I did like the fact that they made his hair shorter. I don’t know why. I just thought it worked.

The woman who plays Mrs. Cole, the woman from the Orphanage, is named Amelda Brown, according to imdb.com. I will keep a look out for any info about JKR’s voice possibly being in the trailer for you guys though. I think that would be really cool!

As for the scene with Harry running through the field and with Ginny standing in the swampish-area, I think you guys are right about that being the additional scene added to the movie of the attack on The Burrow. There is also footage on youtube.com showing an “almost kiss” between Harry and Ginny, that David Yates commented on saying something like, “They are just about to kiss, and then the Death Eaters show up and start creating chaos” or something like that. So I think this “almost kiss” scene must be the prequel to all of the running and standing in swamps in bathrobes. Also when Harry is running through the field, we see an odd-looking creature turn its head. If this is the attack on The Burrow, then is this creature Fenir Greyback the werewolf?

And about the train at the beginning, (I was actually thinking about this earlier today) I think it is important in every movie to have some footage on the Hogwarts Express. As Greg said, it’s the leaving of one world to enter another world. I feel like if we didn’t see the characters travelling to Hogwarts, then we wouldn’t feel like Hogwarts is really any different from the real world, if that makes sense.

Anyways, I’ve rambled on for way too long now, and thank you guys again for letting me know about the trailer being available on Tuesday. If I go see the Mummy 3, I’ll let you guys know if it is worth actually seeing the trailer on the big screen.

Happy 43rd Birthday to J.K. Rowling and Happy 28th Birthday to Harry Potter today!!!!

Love,
~Annie

One thing I noticed about the trailer was that in the first lines, Dumbledore says that this is the most important memory he has collected, and what follows is the memory of Dumbledore meeting Tom Riddle for the first time.

I believe ( because I cannot confirm in my books… I finally got my little sister to read HP in exchange for me reading Twilight, but now she’s taken my books to summer camp with her!) that this is one of the first memories Dumbledore shows Harry, perhaps during their first lesson. However, the memory that Dumbledore refers to as the most important he’s collected is the altered memory that he got from Slughorn (if i remember correctly).

I wonder if the two lines/scenes were spliced together for the sake of setting up the trailer in a certain way, or if movie Dumbledore actually presents this memory as the most important.

I’m not suggesting that one is more or less desirable, just an interesting change.

I found young Tom Riddle to be really convincing! It’s too bad that he’s only depicted in this one movie. I’d say he’s the best young actor that this franchise has seen (including the trio in their earliest movies, and yes, even Nigel).

Kira

PS- My only beef with moral ambiguity is that it’s waaaay too easy, and much too applicable to the whole series (or a “meta-theme” as you call it).

I know you like to get suggestions for episodes, so here’s my two cents. You rarely talk about Fred and George. Is there more to them? Can you go indepth about your thoughts on an Anamagus? Is it personality, is it choice, or more how the person looks that determines the shape they change into?

You guys totally rock!

-Jessica Age 13 ohio
P.S. If it were up to me I would give you 10+ stars out of 5.

(“What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?” said Black, with a terrible fury in his face.) page 375

Of course Sirius said this in a very stressful situation so it could have easily been a hyperbole, but it is another example of how superlatives were used to express this idea.

Great podcast, Greg and Penny. I have to reorder my thoughts on the themes for the more recent books to see if I can provide some insight (Although probably won’t be profound).

I, also, admit that I encourage the decapitation of animal crackers…