George Lucas’ Star Wars — a Ring Composition? You Betcha!

December 23, 2014 by 2 Comments

The Disney Corporation has purchased the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas and the rumor is that they have finished filming the first of a new set of three films that will complete the grand trilogy of trilogies. I cannot help but think that the legion of Star Wars fanatics (and the millions of us who are old to remember with joy the first films’ release dates) are anticipating the new adventure with the excitement and speculative frenzy that Harry Potter fandom experienced before a new book publication.

Why do I bring this up on a web site for serious readers? No, I haven’t decided that movies are texts to be interpreted the same way as novels, plays, and poetry. Really, they’re not. But there is a close reader of the Star Wars films who believes that filmmaker Lucas incorporated traditional story-telling features into his six-part single-movie epic. Not just soul triptychs, though, and themes of redemption and resurrection.

Mike Klimo at www.StarWarsRingTheory.com explains the nitty gritty ABCC’B’A’ correspondences that makes the movies work — and which the critics who dismiss the first trilogy as trash have failed to appreciate. If you’re a Star Wars fan, a serious reader of Harry Potter (which means, of course, that you’re fascinated by Ring Composition), or just curious what all the fuss has been for close to four decades about the Skywalker clan, you need to check out Mr. Klimo’s website.  It’s not just another analysis of the epic film franchise in light of Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’ topoi and Jungian archetypes (praise God).

And there is a Harry Potter connection, believe it or not. For that, make the jump!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Ring Composition

The Advent Wreath and Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

December 4, 2014 by 1 Comment

I am giving a talk tomorrow night in Washington, DC, about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It is part of the St Columba’s Episcopal Church’s Advent Retreat; learn all about it here.

If you live in the District of Columbia or close environs, I hope to see you there! If you cannot make it, enjoy Jim Dale reading Christmas Carol here so you can join us in spirit…

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Welcome, Mockingjay Movie Fans! Here is a Shortcut to the Best of Hogwarts Professor on ‘The Hunger Games’ Books & Films

December 1, 2014 by 1 Comment

Do you love Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy? Well, you’ve come to the right place for serious readers’ discussion of the artistry and meaning of these best-selling books and the blockbuster movies!

For the round-up of 30 posts about Mockingjay, the book, head here. The ‘Greatest Hits’ from that set include:

For the round-up of 35 posts about the first films, check this out. The best from that lot, I think, are:

There are a lot more that are just as good or better — dig in! Scroll down, too, for Elizabeth Baird-Hardy’s review of the latest film.

Welcome to Hogwarts Professor, your best online resource for in-depth discussion of The Hunger Games!

Filed Under: Hunger Games

Narrative Misdirection via Personal Appearance: J. K. Rowling, Mrs. N. M. Murray, and the Author’s Life as Metamorphmagus

November 8, 2014 by 6 Comments

I received a brief but pointed note yesterday from a friend in the UK, a correspondent I admire very much for his insights not only about Harry Potter and all things literary but also the postmodern world we live in. We had exchanged notes with attached pictures and links to videos previously about whether J. K. Rowling had had cosmetic surgery after her great success as author of the Hogwarts Saga. He wrote:

John — I think these two videos will persuade you.
In the first vid she has an ‘underbite’ malocclusion which gave her a slight speech impediment – she has since had her jaw made smaller, and set back.
 
And she has clearly had something done to enhance the cheekbones – so her face has a completely different shape now – wider cheekbones and a smaller narrower chin.
 
Also the skin is now shiny and smooth. The eyes look different.
 
In short, the modern JKR just looks like a different person – and *superficially* has not aged or has got younger over 15 years.
 
Myself, I prefer the 1998 JKR in every way, but especially as a person!

In our previous notes, I’d shared the famous Daily Mail take-down detailing her transformations (Rowling makes Uncle Vernon a Daily Mail reader in Goblet to make her feelings clear — if her several suits against the paper weren’t sufficient — about this newspaper). I’d included as a counter-weight, however, a link to a video of what must assume is her intentionally frumpy look in court in 2011 when she testified about the excesses of the Third Estate (picture, left) to note that she just dresses up nicely when that suits her purpose.

I responded to the Before and After videos I was sent with these three notes: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Guest Post: ‘Real or Not Real (Again)’

October 24, 2014 by 1 Comment

Friend-of-this-blog Chaya Golan sent me these notes on Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swann. I thought them so good that I begged her to let me share them with you. Enjoy!

Real or Not Real (again)

In The Hunger Games, as John and others participating in the discussion on this site have noted, one major theme is “real or not real”.  In Mockingjay, Peeta is characterized as the person who has trouble determining reality because he was “highjacked”.  While the brainwashing and memory tampering he has suffered is certainly a violation and a weapon used against Katniss that she and her team are challenged to overcome, I would like to discuss a second person who throughout the series appears to have a problem with “real or not real”: that person is Katniss herself.

As the ultimate survivor, Katniss would appear to have a good grip on reality.  And she does on certain aspects of it.  But her survival and her ultimate redemption are dependent on Peeta’s love for her (and then her love for him) – and his love she is oblivious to for a long time.  That might not be so odd – except that everyone around her is aware of it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Posts