Potter Peculiarity

[Alondro]

As I always do when I see minor similarities between two completely different shows, books and/or movies, my twisted little mind has thought up something delightful to ring in the soon-coming release of the last Harry Potter Book, possibly triggered by re-reading the Torg Potter farces from "Sluggy Freelance".

It seemed to me that "Bleach" has a lot in common with Harry Potter!  I mean, kid with mysterious background not fully explained (Ichigo-Harry), dead parents (both of Harry's-Ichigo's mother... and his father must have been originally if we's a shinigami!), hidden evil guy with a powerful group of henchmen who looks like he could win (Aizen and the Arrancar, Voldemort and the Death Eaters), secret good-guy group holding special training (The Order of the Phoenix, the Vizard).

So, after putting everything in my mental blender, this is the discolored viscous ooze that poured out:  Ichigo Potter and the Deadly Hollows.

Ichigo Kurosaki discoverd that not only is his father a shinigami, but was also a wizard named Potter in his former life!  And his mom was a witch!  ZOMFG!  Having been the only one to survive an encounter with the Grand Fisher, the event at which his mother met her fateful end, who was servant of the Secret-One-Who'll-Be-Revealed-Later, Ichigo bore the strawberry hair mark of that fateful day all his life, ever teased and taunted by his classmates.

One day however, he received an invitation he couldn't refuse from Rukia Kootchie to awaken his dormant magical Death God powers.  He couldn't refuse cuz if he had, he woulda kinda died with the hollow right there and all... Anyway, he's sent to Soulworts College for Convenient Plot Devices and learns to use his powers to fight the Secret-One-Who'll-Be-Revealed-In-About-Three-Words-After-This: none other than Lord Aizenmort!  Years before, under the filthy living world name of Sours K. Aizenbergersteingoldsen, the former shinigami Potions captain, fed up with the limits of his power and non-union pay scale decided to give evil a try instead... and found it very profitable (after investing in the start up of both Microsoft and Walmart!)    But he needed more, more, MORE (of that Dr. Pepper flavor he was looking for *SLAP!*)  Ow!  Er... uhm... Charning his name to Aizenmort, the evil one began to form a legion of minions to do his bidding, the Soul Eaters, also known as the Melancars (due to the always dour expression of one Uglyorra Shi... errr, PG-13, right.)

Aizenmort was able to do this because Ichigo and his pals had a major case of FAIL when they were supposed to stop him from obtaining the powerful Hokeyoke, a strange little ball-thingee made by Kisuke Uraharador long ago.  Now, Ichigo Potter must embark on a wayyyy more dangerous mission to prevent Aizenmort from fully activating the Hokeyoke or else all the world will perish under the onslaught of Aizenmort's completed army of Soul Eaters and the crippling economic effects of Aizen's plan to give union-level wages to everyone!   And of course, he'll collect all the union dues and become nauseatingly stinking rich!   

And then he'll just buy a copy of the King Key and become god and blah blah blah... whatever else you want to throw in, it's all good!  Meh, I've temporarily run out of insanity.  I wonder if that's admissible in court...

[rabid_fox]

Harry's pretty much a stock character with a stock history. As most kid's characters are.

[Alondro]

Harry's pretty much a stock character with a stock history. As most kid's characters are.

*glances at Rabid's avatar*  And you're IN stocks, so that makes you wurstest of all!   

[Brunhidden]

It is said that old Willy did every plot known to man when he put together the collective works that make up Shakespearian literature/plays. this is a lie, some of the plot lines he did existed long before he was born, and maybe five or six were invented later.

sheesh, even John Ron Reuel recreated existing stories, being compared both to the Ring de  Nibelung and the legend of a Celtic cauldron which coincidently also inspired the holy grail legend and Lloyd Alexander's books.

if you think about the analogy of an infinite number of monkeys put to keyboards will eventually reproduce ever piece of great literature, remember that number needs to be infinite- we've had a long history of people making stuff up and its just to hard not to accidentally reproduce somebody else.

Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement.

[Zina]

Kid with mysterious background not fully explained... dead parents.... hidden evil guy with a powerful group of henchmen who looks like he could win.... secret good-guy group holding special training.

You just described a countless number of stories.

Joseph Campbell wrote a book called "The Hero With a Thousand Faces". In it, he attempts to prove that every story has been told, and every "new" story is just a recreation of older myths and legends. He called it the "monomyth". Give it a read sometime, it's pretty interesting.

[RJ]

If I remember rightly, Naruto's creator, Masashi Kishimoto was going to create a wizard-type manga, but he gave up on the idea when he discovered Harry Potter.

[Brunhidden]

fun fact- the animes known as saiyuki, dragon ball and all of its affiliates, gokudo, and about a quarter of all anime and a third of all manga are ALL based on the same story.

this story is 'journey west' and actually originates from India. 'goku' in all of them was based off of hanuman the monkey king, who, pardon my leet, pawnzored any of his less devout copies. its been forever sinse i read the original, but i seem to recall in the middle of a duel hanuman punched his opponent in the face and then held him under his elbow to pause the battle while he preformed his daily Hindu prayers for the next hour.

furry prawns are not all that sexy, I wonder what all the hype was about

[King Of Hearts]

I thought Saiyuki was a Chinese novel? among the other 4 great stories... Hoshin Engi, Suikoden... and I forget the fourth.

[kaskar]

       So what do we do now ? Put in a few selected names and places, the type of novel, and general background flavor, and do we get instant novel ?  I wonder if Mill's and Boon used this formula in their books ? And what market was Pottter aimed for ? Stock system, as with Mill's and boon.

[Zina]

I thought Saiyuki was a Chinese novel? among the other 4 great stories... Hoshin Engi, Suikoden... and I forget the fourth.

Yeah, I could have sworn Journey to the West was a Chinese story based off a monk's journey to India to receive "enlightenment" there.

       So what do we do now ? Put in a few selected names and places, the type of novel, and general background flavor, and do we get instant novel ?  I wonder if Mill's and Boon used this formula in their books ? And what market was Pottter aimed for ? Stock system, as with Mill's and boon.

....what.

[Alondro]

There's only one way to be original anymore, and that's to enter into areas most writers have been historically too scared to enter.  Thus, "Hostel". 

Yep, basically all we're left with is psychotic perversion.   

[Netrogo]

       So what do we do now ? Put in a few selected names and places, the type of novel, and general background flavor, and do we get instant novel ?  I wonder if Mill's and Boon used this formula in their books ? And what market was Pottter aimed for ? Stock system, as with Mill's and boon.

I couldn't follow any of that

[Kasarn]

If it helps any, Mills and Boon is a publisher of romance fiction. Their novels are oft derided as being very cliche with every novel following a similar plot featuring a cookie cutter cast of characters.

My grandma had a box full of them

[RJ]

There's only one way to be original anymore, and that's to enter into areas most writers have been historically too scared to enter.  Thus, "Hostel". 

Yep, basically all we're left with is psychotic perversion.   

Ugh, I need to do a rant on that. Horror movies are just full of long, drawn-out gore now. It's a total ripoff and not scary in the least. It might make you squirm in your seat, but not make you jump out of it. What happened to that?

[Alondro]

There's only one way to be original anymore, and that's to enter into areas most writers have been historically too scared to enter.  Thus, "Hostel". 

Yep, basically all we're left with is psychotic perversion.   

Ugh, I need to do a rant on that. Horror movies are just full of long, drawn-out gore now. It's a total ripoff and not scary in the least. It might make you squirm in your seat, but not make you jump out of it. What happened to that?

Well, I think the lack of literacy has something to do with it.  The horror movie writers don't seem to know the difference between 'horror' and 'horrible'.   

[Zina]

There's only one way to be original anymore, and that's to enter into areas most writers have been historically too scared to enter.  Thus, "Hostel". 

Yep, basically all we're left with is psychotic perversion.   

Ugh, I need to do a rant on that. Horror movies are just full of long, drawn-out gore now. It's a total ripoff and not scary in the least. It might make you squirm in your seat, but not make you jump out of it. What happened to that?

Eh, it's a new genre of horror films called "Gornography" or "Torture Porn". For whatever reason, it's popular these days. =/

[Brunhidden]

i find some form of perverse irony in things which are popular only because people are told they are popular and pretend to like it otherwise people think they're weird. its astonishing how many things fit into this category, which desperately needs a clinical name so sociologists can make fun of them.

and i too agree there should be a big difference between scary and gross. scary movies are more about the fear of pain then the actual pain, the whole movie kind of ends when everyone dies instead of starting when the murderer ties everyone down.

if you are familliar with some of the oldest classic horror stories they actually make a point of describing the bodies, method of death, and whatever kind of monster as loosely as possible- the terror you dont know is worse then the terror you do because your mind can paint a much better picture then foam rubber and fake blood.

And then there was one

[Zina]

if you are familliar with some of the oldest classic horror stories they actually make a point of describing the bodies, method of death, and whatever kind of monster as loosely as possible- the terror you dont know is worse then the terror you do because your mind can paint a much better picture then foam rubber and fake blood.

Agreed. Some of the best horror films show very little violence or even death. But those tend to rely on good writing and acting. Something so hard to come by these days.
Although, on the other hand, I think it'd be incredibly fun to be in a slasher or B-horror film. I'd want to die in the most ridiculous way the writers could think of. It be great.

[Jigsaw Forte]

There's only one way to be original anymore, and that's to enter into areas most writers have been historically too scared to enter.  Thus, "Hostel". 

Yep, basically all we're left with is psychotic perversion.   

Or 'The Running Man'. Pretty sure Shakespere didn't do anything like that.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Wanna bet?

The Running Man is simple The Great Hunt, an old Faery story, writ large.

Old old stories are the best. And the most gruesome, even...

[Zedd]

As soon the final book comes along..Done reading it all..Or it probley be like last year...Stupid collage nerds spoiling it all for people...Driving along the block

[superluser]

If it helps any, Mills and Boon is a publisher of romance fiction. Their novels are oft derided as being very cliche with every novel following a similar plot featuring a cookie cutter cast of characters.

They are apparently a subsidiary of Harlequin.  I remember Newsday writers came up with a romance novel (not Harlequin style, specifically) with no plot, literary significance, or any other redeeming value.  Each chapter was written by a different author and had to have two love scenes, one kinky.  They called it Naked Came the Stranger.

It made the New York Times Bestseller list.

Or 'The Running Man'. Pretty sure Shakespere didn't do anything like that.

I'm not sure how you mean The Running Man, here.  Are you talking about reality TV style?

As for Shakespeare, he did do a slasher, Titus Andronicus.  The Reduced Shakespeare Company did a production as a cooking show.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

"Ah, Shakespeare. Whatta pornographer."
"What?"
"Haven't you heard of his plays? Titus Andronicus? Tight As Andronicus, geddit?"

[GabrielsThoughts]

I believe that JK whatever her name is was zinged for copyright infringement of  a book written in 1984 86 and 87 by Nancy Kathleen Stouffer anyway. What I found most shocking was despite the similarities the Judge ruled in favor of JK because she had more money and only filed a slander lawsuit.

despite billions of similarities between the two stories the one written in 86 was considered similar but "too intellectual" for children...because children have the intelligence of a cow apparently.

[Alondro]

I believe that JK whatever her name is was zinged for copyright infringement of  a book written in 1984 86 and 87 by Nancy Kathleen Stouffer anyway. What I found most shocking was despite the similarities the Judge ruled in favor of JK because she had more money and only filed a slander lawsuit.

despite billions of similarities between the two stories the one written in 86 was considered similar but "too intellectual" for children...because children have the intelligence of a cow apparently.

Well, the case was actually thrown out because no one could prove that JK, or anyone else on Earth for that matter, had ever heard of her Stouffer's book.  The Legend of Rah and the Muggles wasn't even published until 2001, and save for the term 'Muggles' and a character named Larry Potter who was a character in a series of activity books created by Stouffer and reprinted recently (though the originals can't be found by Stouffer... how interesting.  A writer who doesn't even have a copy of her own book?  Please.)  The few people who remembered it couldn't even be sure 'Larry" even had a last name in the original printing.  Neither book bears any similarity at all to JK Rowling's works.  Stouffer's book about Muggles is about a race of mutants living on an island after a nuclear war... rather different than witches and wizards.   

In fact, several appeals courts found that Stouffer had altered her manuscripts falsely to support her claims.  The word 'Muggles' may have never appeared in the work at all!  Again, Stouffer can't seem to find any copies... how convenient.

That facts are, the woman had no credible evidence, and what she presented was likely forged.  She's nothing more than a failed writer trying to cash in on someone else's fame and luck.  A modern-day grifter, nothing more.

[Netrogo]

That facts are, the woman had no credible evidence, and what she presented was likely forged.  She's nothing more than a failed writer trying to cash in on someone else's fame and luck.  A modern-day grifter, nothing more.

Wow, what a bitch. I understand the need for money as well as the next guy but going to such lengths to not only get money but tarnish someone's reputation is horrible. No matter what people say about it the fact that JK Rowling managed to take the Harry Potter series so far makes her an amazing woman. She created a series that has captivated millions, like Lord of the Rings and Narnia before it. I hate these douche bags who see someone with money and instantly picture a giant freaking lottery ticket just ripe for the scratching >.<

[GabrielsThoughts]

Still, the idea of anything being "to intellectual" for children, could cause mental retardation. look at  the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, that show was awful, but the draw it was was like watching Godzilla it had this geeky paranormal aspect  "it's just so bad that it is good" is all I can say about the series. Nothing was overly explained, and while the acting was horrible, it is still more intellectual than any of the shows that have come out within the last ten years.

Now look at Mystic Force,the current Power Rangers, and tell me they all don't act like they got their brains handed to them out of a tree stump. The acting has improved but the storylines of the two I actually saw at random intervals were awful.  The characters themselves act like eleven or twelve year olds, often younger, and let's not discuss the annoying guy dressed as the cat thing. What is the cat guy supposed to be the new Alpha?

anyway the point I'm trying to make is there is almost no quality entertainment anymore, Arrested development was cancelled, Kyle XY is a remake of John Doe, and I hope somebody took Barney off the air.

[bill]

There's The Wire. That show fucking rocks.

[Zina]

Still, the idea of anything being "to intellectual" for children, could cause mental retardation.

What.

Look at  the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, that show was awful, but the draw it was was like watching Godzilla it had this geeky paranormal aspect  "it's just so bad that it is good" is all I can say about the series. Nothing was overly explained, and while the acting was horrible, it is still more intellectual than any of the shows that have come out within the last ten years.

Now look at Mystic Force,the current Power Rangers, and tell me they all don't act like they got their brains handed to them out of a tree stump. The acting has improved but the storylines of the two I actually saw at random intervals were awful.  The characters themselves act like eleven or twelve year olds, often younger, and let's not discuss the annoying guy dressed as the cat thing. What is the cat guy supposed to be the new Alpha?

Oh wow, Power Rangers is a dumb show. Who would have thought.
I really, really don't think the writers and actors were trying to win some kind of award. The fact you're even still watching it to begin with is beyond me. Seriously. You're watching a stupid kid's show, and are upset that it's a stupid kid show. What the hell.

anyway the point I'm trying to make is there is almost no quality entertainment anymore, Arrested development was cancelled, Kyle XY is a remake of John Doe, and I hope somebody took Barney off the air.

Are you serious? There are SO MANY good, quality programs on TV these days. Yes, there's a lot of crap. There's ALWAYS been crap. And there's always some good things among the crap. Ever since TV shows have been around, that's the way it's been.

Seriously, I just have this picture in my head of a grouchy old man shaking his cane and ranting about how things were "Back in his day" and muttering about "Kids these days" or whatever.
Just saying.

[GabrielsThoughts]

can you direct me to these quality shows? I haven't seen anything good on TV in ages.