J.K. Rowling and the many Potter fans–don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the stories to a certain extent–even though most Harry Potter fans are fucking infuriating. What’s my beef with Rowling? She really is just a rip-off artist and unlike most writers who take inspiration from elsewhere, she gave no credit to anyone but herself. My proof? First, Neil Gaiman, one of the best writers alive. Many Many moons ago, long before Mr. Potter came into being, he created and wrote a comic series titled “The Books of Magic” (1994-2000).
This series featured a teenager named Tim Hunter who is basically destined to be the most powerful wizard ever. He’s skinny, has messy brown, large glasses and a pet owl. He is accepted in to a school of magic, he has to confront an evil dark magician, he has hints of becoming a magician which he’s hiding. Secondly, there is the cult classic movie, “Troll” (1986), a movie about a troll trying to revive faerie creatures in an apartment building. What does this have to do with Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter actually–the main character–is a 12-13 year old kid–named… Harry Potter. Not only that, but he wants to be a wizard. This movie (circa 1986) is from my childhood so it sure as hell didn’t rip Rowling off.
Third, stale plotlines. Zomg! Snape! He killed someone! Fuck off, this is so damned lame. Wow, the evil guy finally killed a main character. Shocker. R-i-i-i-ght. The character she chose to off was so damned stereotypical of these stories, too. Fail, Ms. Rowling. Fail hard. What’s even more upsetting to me is the endless drones whom now claim only Rowling’s versions of fantasy creatures to be the true depictions! You people need to be shot on sight. Even “Lord of the Rings” enthusiasts aren’t as bad as these “Potheads”. Rowling, has brought down the fantasy genre. Her writing has made for some rather horrible copycats that are following in this new and freshly stale dumbed down writing ability, as if to say it’s ok to not be more original.
I am a writer, even though I’m not a published author, yet I still struggle to make sure I’m not ripping off another writer’s work. Piggybacking on real talent is truly heinous shit. But, I’m not saying we should hang Rowling or burn her at the stake. The “Potheads”, yes, but not the writer. We just need to remind her that originality and creativity are far more important than book sales and merchandising deals. So, in closing I will speak my final word on this subject:
Read the books if you want, but please make sure to read something better later, and don’t mimic Rowling. Adhmor.