So, it’s been a week or so since the last episode of HPProgs; while you were waiting for the next show, and even larger wait was sprung upon you: Half Blood Prince, The Movie, was delayed from 2008 to 2000-and-freakin-9. Penny’s been covering developments on the HPProgs blog, and even managed to unearth one of the most ferverent reactions to the delay.
In this episode, we discuss the delay, assorted other goings-on, along with a tangential discussion on the recurring occurrences of eyes in Deathly Hallows (first spotted by John Granger – sorry I can’t find the exact link), and what this might (or mightn’t) mean.
Stay tuned for details on our Beedle the Bard contest, we will be putting out rules in the coming days.
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One of the over-arching meta-themes of the Harry Potter books is, without a doubt, choice. From early on the books the theme of choice is empasised, when the Sorting Hat defers to Harry’s wish to be in Gryffindor, or when Dumbledore makes it clear to Harry that it is his choices, far more than abilities that make him the wizard that he is. It’s clear that J.K. Rowling is a proponent of the idea that we make ourselves who we are and are ultimately responsible for who we become.
Putting aside a scientific discussion of free will and determinism, a greater question, from within the stories themselves, comes to light. With the conclusion of Book 7, and the revelation of Dumbledore’s less than altruistic motives, does J.K. Rowling’s position on free will and choice change? Did Harry, in fact, make all those choices of his own free will, or, perhaps, was he influenced by forces beyond his control? Despite Dumbledore’s protestations to the contrary, could Harry ever have avoided the final showdown with the Dark Lord, had he simply chosen to walk away?
In this week’s episode, we examine the nature of free will and choice as presented in the books after Book 7, and what J.K. Rowling might be saying about what it means to be free.
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We’re back for another action-packed episode of Patterns in Potter. This time, we take on the latest contender in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows. We begin with an analysis of the prologue, of both The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus, and William Penn’s More Fruits of Solitude. From there, we discuss the apparent connection to Chapters 2 and 3, and how they relate to what might be the theme of the book: trust, faith or death. We haven’t quite decided yet. Have any thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.
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It is official, the LA Times has reported that WB will be making the announcement tomorrow that Deathly Hallows will be split into two movies with David Yates directing them. Here is what the article says:
WATFORD, England — It’s official: Eight will be the magic number for the “Harry Potter” film franchise.
After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final “Potter” novel, into two blockbuster films — one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.
The films will be titled, simply, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II,” according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both “Deathly Hallows” films, which will be filmed concurrently. Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films.
This announcement will bring a flurry of opinions and emotions from hard core Harry Potter fans. I personally think it is a great idea and am hopeful that this means that they will stay as close to the original story line as possible. Plus, this means that there will be continued excitement until at least May 2011 for all of us Potter fans! (hat tip to Nathalie for pointing us to this!)
It’s finally time. It’s been several months since Deathly Hallows came out, we’ve discussed most of what there is to discuss relating to the characters, the themes, the news that came out after the book was released. It’s time to move on. But don’t worry, by move on, we don’t mean stop talking about Harry Potter! No, it’s time to go back, back to the beginning…where it all…began. It’s time to start talking about, what I humbly have dubbed (and have been hinting at for a while): Patterns in Potter (can you hear the echo of ominousness?). In this episode, we introduce the Patterns in Potter theory, and give some examples. For the next few weeks we’re going to be discussing the books, in order, using the Patterns in Potter pattern. So make sure to listen, because this stuff will be on the final exam.
And: we want your help! For each episode, we want your thoughts, comments and ideas. Either email them to us (harrypotterprogs AT yahoo DOT com) or record your thoughts on an mp3 and email them to us. We’ll incorporate them into the show.
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What makes a leader? For centuries, philosophers have debated the essential qualities of a leader (the differences in what a culture values in it’s leaders is often a good indication of the values of said culture). When looking at Harry Potter, what are the qualities that J.K. Rowling seems to show as making a good leader? How do the characters in leadership roles respond to the power and authority they are given? In this podcast, we discuss all these issues. Many thanks to Greg from Toronto for joining us for this discussion.
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There comes a time in a person’s life when they realize, for the first time, that the world is not actually the way they thought it was. That the picture they had in their mind about how the world works, the rules of the game, are suddenly gone. It is the end of innocence. When does this end of innocence occur for Harry, and for the series? In this week’s show, we discuss when Harry Potter first comes face to face with a picture of the wizarding world that is not what he thought he knew.
As mentioned before on HP Progs, JK Rowling came in 3rd for Time’s Person of the Year. Better luck next time you finish writing the world’s most popular book series that turned a generation back on to reading and inspired millions of people, Jo.
We are happy to announce that we will be attending Portus 2008, the Harry Potter symposium which will be held in Dallas, TX from July 10-13, 2008. We will also be taking part in the Portus Podcast Palooza while we are there. You may remember what a fantastic time we had at Prophecy 2007- we hope you can join us this year!!
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Was it just us, or was Draco’s finale just a bit disappointing? By the end of Book 6, it looked like Draco was prime for some kind of glorious and game-changing redemption. His failure to off Dumbledore left him in a bad place, but it was clear that there was still some good left in him. Along with the hints that, in order to prevail, Hogwarts would have to unite against a common threat, we had all the signs that Draco was going to turn coats at a crucial moment, a la Darth Vader, and help Harry save the day. But alas, all we get is a mopey blond kid, more scared than anything else. What happened? How did Draco lose his mojo?
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The more interviews J.K. Rowling gives, the more show topics we get. This time, J.K. Rowling spoke with the Dutch newspaper Volksrant (not to be confused with Volkswagon or Voltron) and discussed many topics. Amongst them were the issues of life after death in the Harry Potter books, as well as more details on Nazi parallels and her religious background. In this week’s episode, we explore and plumb the depths opened by these recent comments.
UPDATE: We appreciate everyone’s patience with this week’s podcast. Unfortunately the podcast hosting service we were using was a bit messed up so the podcast wasn’t working- but we think it is fixed now. Please let us know if you have any more difficulty with it!
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Last week we discussed love, and focused on the distinctly maternal focus taken by J.K. Rowling. This week, we examine the father figures in Harry’s life. From his actual, albeit ephermeral father James, to surrogates in Lupin, Sirius and even, to some extent Snape, we take a look at Harry’s bevy or male role models, how they shaped his character and how they contributed to his being what appears to be, for all that we can tell, a good father to his children as well.
There’s news this week, but we’re on the road, so we can’t provide links. Suffice it to say, Penny, at least, will be traveling to New York when Equus comes to town.
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Although in English we have one basic term for love, there’s really all different kinds of love: brotherly love, selfless love, erotic love, and all make some kind of appearance in the Harry Potter novels. In this week’s show, we take a look at love in Harry Potter and how the various relationships are expressed, and what the nature of those loves might be. Are all loves good? Can love in fact be bad?
Plus: the Top 5 tear-jerker moments from Deathly Hallows. Vote for yours below.
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At the New York City stop on J.K. Rowling’s Open Book Tour, J.K. Rowling announced (in response to a question from the audience) that Dumbledore was gay. For various reasons, this has caused quite a stir. How does this change, if at all, how we perceive Dumbledore, how we view his childhood pursuit of power? Does this change the nature of the books, their appropriateness for children, or their religious character? All these questions, and a few others, are discussed in this week’s episode.
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J.K. Rowling has begin her Open Book Tour, with stops in Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York City. At the press conference at the LA appearance, J.K. Rowling spoke for the first time at length on the religious themes of the Harry Potter books, speaking openly about the Christian themes and references in Book 7. She also spoke about Snape, Dumbledore, the Harry Potter Encyclopedia and how she broke the news of the fate of the trio to the actors who portrayed them.
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One of our most favorite characters from the Harry Potter series is the one and only Neville Longbottom. From a shy, sheepish kid in the first book, to Snake-Killer, Neville goes through one of the most noticeable transformations of any other character in the book. In this episode, we take a look back at Neville, the significant moments in his life, both before and at Hogwarts, and how he progressed from less than a wizard to a full-fledged Wizard Hero. In particular, we examine how J.K. Rowling uses Neville to show how cultures and societies reinforce images of acceptable traits and tacitly punish or stigmatize those that fail to embody those traits; also, we discuss Neville’s character as a mirror of Harry’s character.
I had to resist the urge to entitle this episode “Neville Longbottom: From Zero to Hero.”
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. From there, we discuss the apparent connection to Chapters 2 and 3, and how they relate to what might be the theme of the book: trust, faith or death. We haven’t quite decided yet. Have any thoughts? We’d love to hear from you.
