Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, July 21, 2005
■ In my opinion
RYAN NYBURG
BUDGET RACK
Harry Potter
is kids' fluff,
not a savior
of literature
Summer puts me in a bad mood. Funny, isn’t
it? I mean humidity and sunburn, what is not to
like about that combination?
Maybe this is why I’m feeling particularly re
sentful toward the “Harry Potter” books right
now. Just as a disclaimer, let me say that I have
never, in fact, read any of the books beyond a brief
skimming and am only aware of the plots through
the films, about which my opinions are mixed.
But right now every other person in this country is
buying a copy of the latest installment, and I feel a
need to chime in.
These days criticizing Harry Potter is somewhat
akin to dissing Mother Teresa. There is an almost
religious zealotry behind the devotion some peo
ple have for these books and saying a foul word
in their direction could potentially lead to wizard
hat-clad preteens driving car bombs into my
apartment. But what the hell.
My initial dislike of these books stems first from
the ceaseless insistence from every single person I
have ever had a moment’s contact with that I
must read them all immediately, regardless of
whatever else I am doing at the time. (“But I’m
right in the middle of this Henry James novel,” “It
doesn’t matter, you HAVE to read these books.
They are SO good.”) Naturally, I tend to avoid
anything that is recommended so emphatically
the same way I would avoid plague-ridden
vermin. I don’t mind a book recommendation
every now and then, but I do mind when people
get all freaky and crazy-eyed about it. I hate to
feel forced.
What really started to put me off about the
books was that their astounding rise in popularity
among children caused people to praise the series
as a sort of literary savior, moving kids away from
television, video games and the Internet and back
to reading as a popular activity. This movement
to make children love reading has a note of self
importance to it that really irritates me. The fact
that its proponents are so desperate for some sort
of successes that they will cling to anything that
rouses kids’ interest in the printed word is kind of
pathetic. You don’t see people talking about the
rise in American literacy every time The Da Vinci
Code” sells another million units.
I can already hear people whine, “But the Harry
Potter books are actually good.”
That may be, but they’re still fluff.
I’m not making the tired old “high vs. low” cul
ture argument here; I just like to believe there is
an artistic distinction between works that are intel
lectually stimulating and works that are merely
comfortable. “Harry Potter and the Whatever” is
comfortable. James Joyce is intellectually stimu
lating. When kids drop their “Manga” and start
picking up copies of “Dubliners” I’ll be impressed,
but you and I both know that this scenario is not
likely to occur.
Reading is not going to save the world, as some
of these “magic of reading” jack-offs are fond of
saying. Novels have been around for ages, and yet
we still have wars, pollution and bundles of hu
man misery to deal with. Reading does not in and
of itself make you a better, more intelligent per
son. Intellectual curiosity does that, from which
reading is an offshoot. Thousands of kids have
picked up the Harry Potter books, been satisfied
NYBURG, page 10
Los Angeles
native, Folk
singer/song
writer Shane
Alexander
recently
released his
first full
length
album "The
Middle Way.”
Courtesy
Survival of the songwriter
Up-and-coming folk artist Shane Alexander will share
his "strong melodies" tonight at Lackey's in Eugene
BY JASON DRONKOWSKI
FREELANCE REPORTER
The music “cult” enamored with
folk and the personality of the
singer/songwriter has survived
through decades of contradicting
pop music; everyone can recall the
songs by Simon & Garfunkel and
Bob Dylan that once ruled radio air
waves so long ago.
Presently, it may be apparent to the
general listener of the Top 40 count
down that folk music is dead and the
singer/songwriter is scarce. This is a
misconception. Right now, folk mu
sic and singer/songwriters are con
quering indie audiences everywhere
under names such as Iron & Wine
and Irish sensation Damien Rice.
Among this crowd of new folk artists
lies an up-and-coming singer/song
writer from Los Angeles, Calif. His
name is Shane Alexander, and he has
recently released his first full-length
album “The Middle Way. ”
Shane Alexander’s musical talent
and singer/songwriter career were
bom from several relocations with his
father, who was in the army. Being a
stranger in a new place and having to
cope with family drama, Alexander re
members turning to music.
“I kind of hid in my room and lis
tened to whatever records were in the
house. (My father’s) record collection
was really, really good... I grew up
with really good input from the
Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, Harry
Chapin and Zeppelin and Sabbath. I
became really musically well-bal
anced,” Alexander said.
Alexander now refers to his
FOLK, page 10
■ Movie review
Director
Tim
Burton’s
remake of
“Charlie
and the
Chocolate
Factory" is
currently
playing in
three
theaters at
Cinemark
17 in the
Gateway
Mall in
Springfield.
Depp s performance steals the
show in Burton's flawed remake
Willy Wonka and the movie's visuals overshadow the
other characters in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
BY RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
Tim Burton has created some of the
most distinct and fascinating images
of recent film history and has crafted
some of the most interesting charac
ters to fill them. Pee Wee and his
strange inventions, Edward Scis
sorhands and his dark castle, Jack
Skellington and his Halloween world;
these characters and images all stem
from the same imagination. Now Bur
ton has given us one of his most visu
ally complex worlds and, with John
ny Depp, managed to place within it a
character stranger than any of the
bizarre visuals. Unfortunately this
comes at the expense of well-paced
plotting and depth.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
is one of the most eagerly anticipated,
not to mention useless, remakes of the
year (following only Peter Jackson’s
superfluous remake of “King Kong,”
though that looks rather exciting as
well). While the original film hardly
required improvement, Burton has
created something very engaging out
of the material. Candy entrepreneur
Willy Wonka (Depp), whose factory
has been closed for years, sends out
five golden tickets hidden in candy
bars and will allow those who find
them to have a one-day tour of his
factory. The five eventual winners in
clude four rotten little brats and
Charlie (Freddie Highmore), a wide
eyed and impossibly sincere young
lad who lives just down the street
from the factory.
Things move along pleasantly
enough for the first 20 minutes or so,
and then Depp appears in full. As
Wonka, Depp has created another of
his delightfully eccentric characters.
The performance is almost intoxicat
ing to watch as he guides the chil
dren and their parents through the
factory, acting like a man so
wrapped up in what he has created
that he can’t understand why any
one else might not find it interesting.
His clothing, his voice and his man
nerisms all point to the old adage
CHARLIE, page 9
Need New Body
WOW Hall
8 p.m., $8
Rock
Friday
Lo Nuestro
Luna
9:30 p.m., $6
Latin dance
Saturday
Yeltsin
Sam Bond's Garage
9 p.m., Free
Rock
Sunday
Faun Fables
John Henry's
7:30 p.m., $5
Singer/songwriter
TOP 5 MOVIES
Top five films
1. "Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory"
2. "Wedding Crashers"
3. "Fantastic Four"
4. "War of the Worlds"
5. "Batman Begins"
NEWYORKTIMES
BEST-SELLERS
1. Janet Evanovich,
"Eleven On Top"
2. Elizabeth Kostova,
"The Historian"
3. Dan Brown,
"The Da Vinci Code"
4. Danielle Steel,
"Miracle"
5. Su Monk Kidd, "The
Mermaid Chair"
BILLBOARDTOP 5
1.R. Kelly,
"TP.3 Reloaded"
Z Missy Elliott, "The
Cookbook”
3. Coldplay, "X&Y"
4. MariahCarey, "The
Emancipation of Mimi"
5. Ying Yang Twins,
"U.S.A.: United States
of Atlanta"