Denise Roper's Blog, page 25

New Harry Potter Posters and Lord of the Hallows News

I love the new posters from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One that have been appearing online.

Apparently Harry, Ron, and Hermione aren't safe anywhere, not even in the Muggle world.

I like this one of the Trio on the run. It really sums up the whole movie.

Now for some local news concerning The Lord of the Hallows that may be of interest to my friends in Louisiana.

A photo of me at a recent book signing at Houma's "Art After Dark" is in this month's issue of Point of Vue magazine. I picked up a copy of this free Houma-Thibodaux area magazine at the Nicholls State University library today.

Baton Rouge's latest issue of Town Favorites magazine has an interview with me concerning The Lord of the Hallows. If you live in the Baton Rouge area, please look for this free publication. Here's a link to the magazine's distribution locations: http://townfavorites.com/locations.htm

I'll be giving a lecture presentation on Christian symbolism and themes in Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia on December 11, 2010 at 02:00 P. M. at the Lafourche Parish Public Library, located at 314 St. Mary St. Thibodaux, LA. The presentation will be followed by a book signing and refreshments for all the muggles and wizards who attend.

Don't forget to enter the drawing to win a FREE copy of The Lord of the Hallows at http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/4742-the-lord-of-the-hallows-christian-symbolism-and-themes-in-j-k-rowling. The giveaway ends November 19, the day that the new Harry Potter film is released.

Exciting Narnia News and the Deeper Meaning of The Silver Chair and Harry Potter

Here's a link to some really wonderful news for Narnia fans! The film series may continue after the upcoming Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Follow this link to read an interview with the film's producer Mark Johnson and director Michael Apted, and then answer a survey. Which of C. S. Lewis's Narnia books should be made into a film next, The Silver Chair or The Magician's Nephew?

http://www.narniafans.com/archives/9433/comment-page-1#comment-176821

For a detailed description of the September 27 preview of Voyage of the Dawn Treader including a spoiler-free summary of the film's plot (which does differ from the book in some surprising ways), and a spoilery summary of the clips shown at the sneak preview event, click this link:

http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-q-a-in-national/michael-apted-mark-johnson-make-narnia-sequel-magic-with-dawn-treader

Scroll down at the link above to read a review of the nine film clips that were shown at the preview event and to read the interviews with Mark Johnson and Michael Apted.

The Magician's Nephew has never been made into a film, but The Silver Chair was adapted for television by the BBC in 1990. If you are not familiar with that film, please visit this link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098912/

Harry Potter's own Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick) played the Talking Owl Glimfeather in this television movie version of The Silver Chair. Davis later returned to the world of Narnia in the 2008 Prince Caspian film, portraying the wicked dwarf Nikabrik.

My favorite bit of casting in the BBC's version of The Silver Chair was Doctor Who's Tom Baker as Puddleglum. The best part of the film is his confrontation with the Green Witch, who has tried to cast a spell on Jill and Eustace to make them doubt the existence of Aslan and Narnia. Puddleglum's heroic speech in the defense of Narnia breaks the spell that has been placed on the children.

The Green Witch's "kingdom of darkness" may be viewed as the nihilistic, Post-Christian, atheistic world in which we live. A belief in "Narnia" is analogous to a belief in the Heaven of Christianity. Puddleglum's brave statement of faith in Aslan–his decision to "live like a Narnian even if there isn't any Narnia"– can be viewed as Lewis's own advice to people who are in doubt about their religious belief. His advice to them to live like a Christian even if they think they are losing their faith in Christ, and by doing so their faith may return and thus their salvation can occur. In summary, religious faith is making a choice to believe. This is one of the major themes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that author John Granger identified in his excellent book The Deathly Hallows Lectures. J. K. Rowling's own struggles with her faith and her "choice to believe" in Christ is mirrored by Harry's loss of faith in Albus Dumbledore after discovering many of the shocking secrets of his former mentor. Harry Potter makes the "choice to believe" in the truth of Dumbledore's wisdom and decides to complete the task of destroying the Horcruxes, a mission that ultimately leads Harry to a heroic self-sacrificial "death" that saves the Wizarding World.

Puddleglum's rousing speech in The Silver Chair is followed by the Green Witch's monstrous transformation into a great serpent, a symbol of Satan. Prince Rillian defeats her by decapitating the snake with his sword.

In my book The Lord of the Hallows: Christian Symbolism and Themes in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter, I pointed out the similarities between Prince Rillian's and Neville Longbottom's battles with the Great Serpent.

"Neville the Snake Slayer" by Fandarts at deviantart.com

In my previous blog post about the quest for the Grail Hallows, I identified a Christian hero, Sir Perceval, who slays the serpent by slicing off its head. The heroics of Perceval, Rillian, and Neville should all be examined in the light of Genesis 3:15: the Serpent's head has been struck by the Son of Adam and Eve. Note that the weapon that slays the serpent in both the Grail legend and in the story of Harry Potter is a sword in the shape of a cross. The Cross is the weapon that defeated that great serpent and Father of Lies…

Philosopher Peter Kreeft said it best in Catholic Christianity:

"The Cross is God's sword, held at the hilt by the hand of Heaven and plunged into the world not to take our blood, but to give us His. "

Make the choice to believe.

As for me, I'm going to "live like a Narnian even if there isn't any Narnia." I've made my choice.

"It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are far more than our abilities."–Albus Dumbledore

The Deeper Meaning of the Quest for the Deathly Hallows

 Most of the information in the following blog post is can be found in my book, The Lord of the Hallows: Christian Symbolism and Themes in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter. There are many new tidbits to be found here as well, so even if you have read my book, there's more new information to discover in this post. Enjoy!

     Have you ever wondered about the deeper meaning of the Deathly Hallows symbol? First we must answer the question, "What are hallows?" 

What is Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian...

"This Is War" Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Fan Video

I just found this fan-made video made from clips from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on YouTube. It also contains some behind-the-scenes footage from the Deathly Hallows sneak previews that were televised several weeks ago. The music for this fan video is the song "This Is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars, and I thought it was a very appropriate song, especially the lyrics that refer to "pariah," "victim," and "Messiah" that can be heard during moments when film clips of Harry are shown...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One Trailer and Screencaps

The long wait is over! Here's the official trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. It looks like this film will be a very faithful adaptation of the book.

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You watch the fullscreen version of this epic trailer at the film's website. http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/

The "Seven Harry Potters" scene looks really funny, and just how I imagined it.

Some of my favorite moments from the trailer include the graveyard scene in Godric's Hollow on...

The Narnia Code

I recently discovered that there is a BBC documentary about Michael Ward's excellent book Planet Narnia. The film is entitled The Narnia Code and you can find out more about it at www.narniacode.com. Here's the preview trailer for the documentary.

I read Planet Narnia and enjoyed it very much. Michael Ward's amazing theories forever altered my view of C. S. Lewis's fictional worlds, including that of the Ransom Trilogy (or "Space Trilogy"), which is rich in Christian themes and symbolism.

...

New Book About Harry Potter Films

This is the book trailer for Harry Potter Film Wizardry, a book that will be of interest to fans of the sucessful film series. I've already pre-ordered my copy from amazon.com.

Will John Williams compose the score for Deathly Hallows 2?

I have been a devoted admirer of Oscar-winning film composer John Williams for many years, and like many others in the Harry Potter fandom, I have been hoping that he would return to the series to write the score for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I read this brief bit of encouraging news on Wikipedia:

"Harry Potter producer David Heyman stated that, dependent on his schedule, Williams may return to compose score for the two-part finale of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly...

First Deathly Hallows TV Spot

Here's the first Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows television spot, which recently aired on American television.

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This little preview makes me even more excited about the new film. I think it is going to look really spectacular in 3-D.

Later this month Warner Brothers is releasing the official trailer for Deathly Hallows Part One. Besides this, the fans are eagerly awaiting the publication of the 2011 Deathly Hallows calendars. (I've pre-ordered mine from amazon.com!) I'm looking forward to a...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Action Figures

I read this today at http://www.necaonline.com/article/detail/305 . It seems that the soon-to-be-released European Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows toys will also be available in the United States. This is great news for American Harry Potter collectors! Teaming With TOMYNECA Announces Harry Potter Partnership08/30/2010

In a multinational collaborative effort to continue to bring you the coolest and most up-to-date righteous entertainment memorabilia, NECA has partnered with TOMY to...