Talk has been swirling around. The other kids in the neighbourhood are already getting restless. As it turns out, Harry Potter is coming back. This will be Harry Potter number 6 for those of you counting. Rumor has it, that Harry Potter's latest adventure, The Half Blood Prince will be hitting theatres in July of 2009.
I don't want to say I'm excited. What kind of parent gets all excited about an upcoming Harry Potter movie. It isn't as if we don't already have all the Harry Potter books, the Harry Potter costumes and the Harry Potter make-up. So what if it happens that Harry Potter just so happens to be the biggest phenomenon to come along since fairy tales and ghost stories were first written. None of us grown ups really care. OK, so we do.
There is no escaping that Harry Potter is incredibly well written and I'm sure The Half Blood Prince will be no different. What is amazing about this series is how well the creators of the films have captured the idea on the screen. I won't say that I have enjoyed all the films equally. In fact, I would probably say the first one was my favorite. Specifically, how they captured the life of the students at Hogwarts. That is a pretty amazing place. I don't think if I had read the book to my little girl before seeing the film that I would have been able to imagine such a great backdrop.
The story behind Harry Potter always amazes me. That fact that the author, J.K. Rowling was on the dole, that's welfare U.K. style, when she was writing it is amazing. Now supposedly she is work hundreds of millions of dollars. I wonder how many professionals decided to take a swing at becoming child fantasy writers after hearing that success story. What is even more amazing to me is how successful she was considering all the other children's fantasy series that are already out there in book stores.
Regardless, my little girl loves the films. She is not thrilled however about Voldemort. She does have a tendency to look away when he comes around and clearly doesn't like the episodes that are a little more dark. That being said, I am sure I would not be successful discouraging her from seeing Harry Potter 6 the movie even if I tried. I have just accepted the fact that Harry Potter movies are a fixture in my kid's childhood and The Half Blood Prince will be no exception.
