2008 Woodie Awards
I confess that I have never read a single Harry Potter book (I think I saw one of the movies) and only have the foggiest idea of what the plot entails (it involves a boy wizard I take it?) but even so, I was intrigued by the buzz surrounding J.K. Rowling’s admission that two central characters die in the final installment of her immensely successful series.
One of Rowling’s rationales for taking this rather drastic route is that “killing[ing] them off…means there can be no non-author-written sequels.” In other words, she hopes to prevent other individuals from drafting future Harry Potter books and mooching off her ingenuity. But let’s be realistic – does anyone truly believe that killing Harry, Hermione, and/or Ron will stop starved (or not so starved) writers from earning a buck and seizing an opportunity when they see one?
How hard is it to write prequels, new novels that develop existing storylines or, take a page out of the Hogwarts’ method by exercising the mighty power of the pen to pull off a magic act of the writer’s own invention, à la “actually, Harry was still alive and trapped in another dimension!” Granted, I have no idea how the characters die but I can probably envision a half dozen ways to resurrect the hapless victims. At the risk of going out on a limb, I’m guessing, so can all would-be authors.
Rowling also revealed that she didn’t specify which characters meet their maker, partly out of a desire not “to receive hate mail.” Come on. Did Rowling honestly think that simply informing fans that two of their beloved protagonists die wouldn’t incite angry letters? I imagine that by now the endless string of burlap mail bags have started to arrive. Remember the famous scene in “Miracle on 34th Street”? Yea, something like that.
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