Am I the only one

i never read the books, but i have seen a few of the movies.

the first couple were pretty entertaining, but once the kids were in puberty it kinda went downhill for me.

We watched the first movie and it was good but not great for us.  I can see the attraction but it's just not our taste. 

Nope.  You can add me to that list, too.  Haven't read a book and haven't seen a movie.  I can just tell that it's not really my cup of tea.
 
Joyce

I've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. But then, I've never seen the original Star Wars. Sometimes I just have to be perverse and refuse to see/read the "in" thing.

Am I the only person who hasn't read or seen anything Harry Potter? Am I missing something? I thought that it was a kid's series, but now I'm wondering if I am missing soemthing wonderful.

Yeah, they are kids books.  Whenever a new book comes out, it's custom for me to save it until our annual summer vacation at the cottage, during which time I don't really want heavy reading, so HP is perfect.  I see the movies b/c I've done a lot of babysitting/nannying.  Really the only reason my family got into HP was waaaaaay back before they were even published, my aunt who reads new children's books and reviews them told us HP was going to be BIG.  Sure enough, about a year later the fad exploded.  At the time, we thought it sounded dumb, so my mom had to read it to us to get us into it.  That's how long ago that was....my mom was still reading it to us!

If you want "kids" books with an adult theme and you're into Christianity/the Christian god (either for or against), read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.  Infintely better than HP...a much deeper, darker purpose.

i say try them out. dont let someone else tell you its great, or that it stunk.. some HATE HP.. some love him a lil bit TOO much.... (i've seen people with lightenign scars on their foreheads) but in the end its up to you []
i will say the "art factor" is great... if you like movies like that. you cant quite compare it to anything... well...POC comes close, but only as far as "art" goes.

You're missing something wonderful!!! I mean, check it out when you get a chance. [] When the first one came out I thought the same thing- that it was a movie based on a kid's book. But, I saw the first one and I've been hooked ever since. I actually just saw the latest one in the theater today. I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love the Harry Potter movies.

I was one of those kids who thought I was WAY more mature than my age (and I probably was, but the point is I knew it), and I thought HP was totally a kid's series, I was almost 12, was too damn cool for kid stuff, so I downright refused to read them for months and months while my cousins and aunts harassed the crap out of me. One day, I was extremely bored, picked up the first book, read the first page, and was literally hooked from there. I read the first three within weeks, and waited very impatiently for the fourth. It's been that way since, I've gone to the midnight Barnes & Noble thing for the 4th, 5th, 6th, and I'm going for the 7th.

Anyway, let's just say that since I picked up that first book, I've not been at all embarassed to announce what a fan I am, and that's saying something when you're a "mature" 11-19 year old. [] I think the first is way more geared towards kids than any of the others, so keep that in mind if you do decide to read them, but it's not embarassingly so.

The movies don't do much for me though, honestly, and I don't think they'd do anything for me if I didn't read the books.
 
Oh yeah, my whole point was I don't think it's really a kiddy series. My Mom, both my aunts, my much-older sister and her husband have all read and LOVED them. In fact my sister and brother-in-law are coming to the midnight release with me. []

i couldnt get past the first page of the first book for the longest time... "wth is a muggle?!" i never have liked outofthisworld fantasy books with their own languages and "realms", what ever you call it. i cant relate to it... i have yet to read lord of the rings.. but i saw the movies... still not really sure why either... those movies made me horridly depressed....

what i did like about HP, when i finally got around to reading the books, is that they grow with the kids who read them. not many books do that. Indian in the Cubbard was a series that came close... KINDA.... but they only did one movie of that and boy did it stink!

i never have liked outofthisworld fantasy books with their own languages and "realms", what ever you call it.

 
Me neither. At all. Most of the books I read are firmly grounded in reality (I'm a "great American novel" kind of girl). I think I just adore HP so much because it's like..he's got this very harsh reality, a really sucky life, and then he's rescued into this wonderful secret world of magic and fabulousness. But oddly, it doesn't even seem THAT unrealistic to me. Sometimes I look around and think "Good gravy there's a lot of muggles here... Oh..wait..." [] 
 
I don't know, I just love it to pieces and can't get enough. I'm seriously depressed about the 7th book coming.

I resisted for the longest time -- and then read the first book.  They're kind of aimed at the younger set, but they are incredibly well written -- very similar to JRR Tolkein.  You related because it's so how you have felt -- but you actually can 'see' all the detail thru their eyes.  It's just the mark of an excellent writer.  I'm far more a books fan than a movie fan, but in this particular case today's movie technology actually can do justice to the movie.
 
VERY much for me like the cartoons about Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit failed miserably because they just couldn't capture what you really 'saw' in the books. But when done a few years ago the technology was able to "show" what we'd all had in our minds for so many years.
 
I wouldn't get a thing out of Harry Potter if I just tried to watch the movies.  IT's the books that do it for me.

read the books....join the cult...LOL! Come on...join us!....you'll like it...we have T shirts!

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

read the books....join the cult...LOL! Come on...join us!....you'll like it...we have T shirts!

i will be worried when you bring out the kool-aid! []

Not Koolaid....bertie bott's every flavor beans! []
 
ETA: ooh we have coloring books too...shall I dance now....whee...