Topic: School trip to see Harry Potter has been canceled because it was a violation of C&S?
MIB
Ex-Member
posted
My question is why they felt it was necessary to replace all the British-English words with an American-English equivalent. Do they think that we are stupid hicks who wouldn't be able to understand English when we hear it?
*Suddenly remembers that the U.S. has the poorest quality of education in the entire first world and that most of the kids in the area he lives in can't read nor speak English in the first place.*
*sigh* Nevermind. I'll be in Canada if you need me.
posted
You better get here fast we are changing our immigration and refugee requirements and I don't think that literate would qualify you as a refugee.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Reason for change to "Sorcerer's Stone": American kids have never heard of alchemy and the things derived from it.
Reason for this: Substandard literary/scientific education.
Reason for this: combined influence of ultraright and ultraleft wings. Ultraright doesn't want anything taught that might have even the slightest connection to science OR non-Fundie magic, Ultraleft favors ignorance of cultural background of Europe (where alchemy, true philosophy, and 'Philosopher's stone' concepts flourished) in favor of manufactured pseudo-plurality.
posted
It still doesn't make much sense. I mean, it had to be explained, anyway. Why just make up a previously-nonexistant name for it that lends absolutely nothing to understanding it?
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Well, every kid knows what a sorcerer is. Not every kid knows what a philosopher is. And a sorcerer's stone, being a stone made my sorcers, make a little more modern semantic sense than a philosopher's stone, given the modern meaning of 'philosopher.'
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Yes, but that's still not a good reason to change it. "We thought it would make more sense". If we used that logic, every film and TV show would have Friends-style titles.
"First Contact" would be "The One where the Borg attack".
"The Search for Spock" would be "We know where Spock is. We're not searching for him. We're going to pick him up. Duh."
"Insurrection" would be "Small upset that's not really important at all, and certainly doesn't warrent such a grand term as Insurrection".
"American kids have never heard of alchemy and the things derived from it."
While that's probably true, I'd say that most British kids have never heard of alchemy either. It didn't make them throw the book down in disgust.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
"Sorcerer" has one less syllable than "Philosopher," so it's easier to remember / pronounce / talk about in this day of TV saturation when kids have a attention span of a nanosecond.
Plus, 'Sorcerers' are cool, and throw lightning and make brooms carry water, while 'philosophers' suggests old guys who talk a lot, which, while still an audience-holder in the UK, isn't as attractive in the quick-gimmie USA. Hence the marketing change.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
posted
Shouldn't "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" be changed to "Tim Pot and the room of kick-boxing" then?
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
No, kickboxing is not a secret, but it once was many years ago. Then there came the savior of kickboxing who brought it to the masses.
That savior's name was none other than Jean Claude Van Damme. Or as I call him, the greatest thespian/kick boxing/Belgium Waffle to ever grace the silver screen.
no offense to anyone from Belgium
In fact, I believe he saves Harry Potter in the fifth installment by kick boxing the muggles into the ocean.
oh, should i put spoilers there?
[ November 28, 2001: Message edited by: USS Vanguard ]
-------------------- "Tragedy is when I cut my finger, Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."-Mel Brooks
Registered: May 1999
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posted
I got "Tim" from "Harry" because "Tim" is a shorter word, thus helping those children whose attention spans are too short to get through a 5 letter name.
I changed "secrets" to "Kick-boxing" because secrets are what girls whisper about on the playground, and kick-boxing is violent and cool.
Duh.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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