Monday, August 18, 2008

This is What Happens When Muggles Write Stories About Harry Potter

Even The Daily Prophet's Rita Skeeter Would Have Known Better Than A.P.

Sometimes you need to be right before you're cute.
In a story about how Entertainment Weekly put Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe on the cover for its fall movie preview without knowing its sister company Warner Bros. had postponed the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to next summer, the A.P. led with:

Maybe Harry Potter should have brought a note from his parents saying he would be missing school.

Hardy, har, har. Except that the eight jillion people who've read the Potter books know up, down and sideways that one of the pillars the franchise rests on is the fact that Harry's parents were murdered by He Who Must Not Be Named (Ralph Fiennes).
Therefore, no note.
Minor point. Not really, when you're dealing with the masses who inhabit Potterdom.
It's not hard to be true to the narrative and pithy at the same time.

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