Guilty confession: I’m a fan of the Harry Potter series. I’m an avid reader and Rowling’s Potter series was no different. They aren’t earthshaking in either literary quality or character development but they have proven to be very enjoyable to me. Before some of you out there start classifying me (as often happens when you make this kind of admission), I’m a big fan of many genres: Science Fiction, historical British naval action, a variety of detective series (English, ancient Roman, etc.) and yes, the occasional children’s or young adult’s series appeals to me. I’ve read all of J.R.R. Tolkein’s works (including the painful-to-read Silmarillion ) and enjoyed all of them very much (although parts of The Two Towers and the Return of the King novels dragged a bit).

So with the sixth (of seven books, likely eight movies) movie debuting last week, we now have the pundits coming out with a variety of “takes” on it and the series. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I find myself surprised reading summaries like this one. Maybe they didn’t read it well. Maybe they had some bent against it. Maybe that was their interpretation. Maybe they’re just looking for a rise out of people like me. I’d argue that the series has a fair number of positives starting with a premise that to do nothing in the face of evil is acquiescing to said evil. The hero doesn’t acquiesce at all, even from the initial book where he is 11 years old. He faces a powerful press and “government” that misinterprets and misleads the “public”. He is teased and put upon by the elite / snobby kids in school. But he has friends to help. Yes, at times you’ll make wrong choices, but in the end, you will make the right one and prevail.

We saw the movie last Thursday and it was well done. I walked out with mixed feelings about the littel nuances and subplots that were left out or cut, but quickly realized that, for the most part, you can’t shove all of those into a movie. There are various romantic relationships that develop that could have warranted more screen time but overall the entire family enjoyed it. What didn’t hit me until reflecting on the movie was how well it left you with the feeling (rightfully so) of how downbeaten the “good” characters were at this point in the series. Evil has seemed to gained the upper hand and little is going well. I look forward to seeing how the seventh book is adapted to the big screen.

On a side note, I’m a preview junkie. I don’t mind having six previews before the main film. We had a number of decent looking movies. Then, we saw the preview for this movie. If your kids are in the 3rd to 6th grade (and maybe older), I highly recommend the series – then go read it yourself. I love mythology and the author does a wonderful job wrapping a story around it. I’m excited for the release of this film.

GorT

GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.