Harry Potter Vs. Twilight

This is spoiler free, but I can’t promise the comments are

Dear Harry & Edward (love me through that),

Damn you auto correct!

Yep. This is what we’re discussing today. The whole world is talking Harry Potter, so I’m using my Twilight blog to do that as well. Deal with it. I’m a “Harry Potter-Coma” having just seen the movie a few hours ago and I can’t get Ron and his BROAD SHOULDERS out of my head. I also love the irony that when I typed “RON IS SO HOT” in a text to someone on my iPhone, it auto-corrected that to “ROB IS SO HOT.” Apparently when I talk about Rob Pattinson, my phone wants me to call him Ron, but when Ron Weasley is the topic of conversation, the phone thinks he should be called “Rob.” Sigh… technology… All that to say, I love Rob & Ron and I don’t care what you call either- I still love them both.

Best Halloween ever

First on the agenda is how badly I wanted to wear my Hermione cape from Halloween a few years ago and my Harry Potter glasses to the movie, but we were rushing out the door & I couldn’t find them. (But my bff’s husband did show up to the movie wearing a “New Moon” baseball cap he stole from my “Box-o-crap” from Stephenie Meyer, cocked to the side. He’s 36 years old. And walked out after the movie, exclaiming loudly “That was good, but it’s no New Moon.” Jerk) And it got me thinking… why am I comfortable showing up to a Sunday matinee of Harry Potter dressed as a high school “logical” witch (loved that line) but would NEVER dress up like Bella and go see a Twilight film? Is it that I’m too invested in this fandom? I know “too much” (cue vampire killing scene)? And I fear that by showing a little Twilight spirit in the movie theater I’d be compared to That #1 Twilight fan who’s clearly on “The List?” I’ve seen too many Twi-crazies in my day & know better? But there are Harry Potter crazies too. Like this guy. In fact, Harry Potter crazies are probably weirder than Twi-crazies because of the magic-aspect. And their crazy fans tend to be boys who dress up like boy wizards. Weird. What if there is a LTHP (Letters to Harry Potter)-like site out there right now that makes fun of crazy Harry Potter fans like we do with Twi-fans? What if I had dressed up like Hermione & ended up on their site starring under the post “2nd-hand embarrassing grown Harry Potter fans?” I WOULDN’T CARE! I’d welcome that title. Seriously. I’d be proud. I’d tell my friends, I’d post a copy in the elevator of my building, I’d include it in my Christmas letter! Is that because I know deep down that despite being a huge fan, I’m not a crazy Harry Potter fan? And if so, does my lack of desire to dress in anything that connects me to the crazies of the Twilight fandom mean that I know, deep down, I really am a crazy Twi-fan? So many questions…. so little time. I need a time-turner. Hermione is so lucky.

As Mr. Choice & I were driving home, he mentioned that he thinks the story J.K. Rowling created was one of the best of the past 1,000 years. (Why the past 1,000 years and not the past 100? I have no idea. But I think it has something to do with the flask of whiskey he suck into the theater) And I agreed. The story is incredible. And he’s only seen the movies. That’s impressive and means the movies do a lot to pay tribute to the greatness of J.K. Rowling’s words. And so I told him that makes me even more convinced that Stephenie Meyer’s story is the sole reason for the success of the Twilight saga. After he was done rolling his eyes because I, once again, brought Twilight into something non-Twilight, he said, “Well, duh, it’s her story.” But no.. hear me out: He loves Harry Potter a TON and will never read the books. I know a lot of people like that. I cannot name one person who really enjoyed the Twilight saga movies and then didn’t read the books. I can name a LOT of people who didn’t read the books and also did not enjoy the movies. It’s possible for someone to see a Twilight movie & get interested in the story. But it isn’t until after they read the whole world Stephenie created that they are really entranced by Bella & Edward. I think the movie might wet their appetite & then the books seal the deal. And let’s be honest, the movies aren’t that great. I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again (unless there’s a sex scene like in The Notebook- should I even bother subliminally entering that into my letters? The scene was already shot- any room in the budget for re-shoots if I keep begging!?) So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that a lot of people are turned off by the movies & never give the books a chance. And despite the so-so films, Twilight has been one of the most wildly successful book series & sagas of recent memory. That is all due to one Miss- err Mrs. Stephenie Meyer. She created this story where WE feel like we’re Bella. We connect to her because it could have been our teenaged-selves! Everything is full of angst when you’re a teenager! And I think that’s hard to translate to the movie screen- maybe even harder than apparating in the middle of a wand fight or flushing someone down the toilet. Okay, maybe that’s hard too, but you know what I’m saying…..

Team Edward, we have competition. And she's rich

And speaking of comparing “Twilight vs. Harry Potter” (as I’ve called today’s letter) WHY IS ANYONE DOING THAT!? There is NO comparison. They are SO completely different! Sure, we can compare box office numbers: Last year New Moon opened this same weekend with almost 20 million more in revenue. WIN for Twilight. We can compare book sales: J.K. Rowling has sold more than 400 million. Stephenie has only sold 100 million plus. WIN for HP. We can compare how we feel after seeing each movie: During Eclipse I shed a few tears & felt gooey in my insides for “Ron.” During Harry Potter yesterday I cried like 4 times and felt gooey for “Rob.” It’s a tie. Why do people feel the need to compare & contrast two successful franchises? Can’t they both just be successful & yet completely different? Does one have to be “better” than the other? I write a Twilight blog, not a Harry Potter blog, does that mean I decided Twilight was better? I LOVE Harry Potter. I LOVE Twilight. Don’t make me choose between them!! That’s like saying choose between Rob Pattinson & Ryan Gosling. Why do I have to choose? I’ll take them both! You can find similar traits the guys share- or similar themes or qualities of the movies & books and then decide what excels in certain categories, but overall, they are what they are: Twilight has emerged as the best vampire series. Harry Potter is the best for the boy Wizards of the world. Oh, and don’t forget Hunger Games- that’s the best story of societal downfall & oppression of people. And Lords of the Rings wins for religious themes! And sometimes when you want a good cry, you just want to crack open a Nicolas Sparks book and watch him kill off your favorite character. Dammit- let me love what I love!!

That felt good. I like Harry Potter vs. Twilight days.
In conclusion, this video rules if you haven’t seen it yet. If you have, watch again. Pay attention to the last part. Twilight & Harry Potter just can’t escape each other:

Riddikulus,
UnintendedChoice

What do you think the fascination of comparing Harry Potter & Twilight stems from? Can we blame it on Rob Pattinson aka Cedric Diggory? Would YOU Dress up to go see either movie?

FYI: If you discuss a spoiler, make sure to mark it  SPOILER nice & big & leave a few blank lines in the comments so no one gets spoiled!!!

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