The Movie Evangelist

BlogalongaPotter: Why I’m Not Sure I Can, But You Probably Should

Posted on December 21, 2011 Updated on December 21, 2011

I always wondered, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone when I was younger, why any evil geniuses never tried the same scheme twice. Admittedly they had a second crack at the Death Star, but surely if an idea’s good enough, it’s worth trying more than once? And that doesn’t even cover the ideas which actually work. So of course, when an idea’s as good as BlogalongaBond, the creation of evil genius The Incredible Suit, it must be worth doing several times. Earlier this year, I leaped at the opportunity to shamelessly rip-off another person’s good idea when I created, with BlogalongaMuppets, which has been at least one-eleventh as successful as the original.

Inevitably, since BlogalongaMuppets wasn’t even the second coming of the Blogalong (for that was BlogalongaRusskie), others would decide to follow in its stead. So now two people who prefer to be known as @billowl and @ChrisSykes108 who between them created the blog All Of Whine And Space have also created BlogalongaPotter. It’s fantastic to think that the thing I inventively copied off someone else has now, along with that thing, inspired others to create their own Blogalong. Hopefully this is just the next step in a long tradition of monthly blogging events, but while I’m not sure I can join in this one, I thought I’d take a minute to explain why I can’t, but you probably should.

1. I may have exceeded the limit for the target demographic

Let’s be honest about it, I don’t think J.K. Rowling particularly had the 37 year old married man demographic particularly in mind when she wrote the Potter books; if she did, then she was horribly misguided. It’s easy to denigrate Potter and its fandom, much in the same way as it’s easy to knock Coldplay. Well, I happen to like Coldplay – so sue me – and I did enjoy the Potter films, but the only time I ever read any part of the books was when trying to make sense of Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and resorting to Mrs Evangelist’s copy. If she was a blogger, then this might be ideal for her as she bought most of the books, and read them, on day of release. So if you’re that kind of person – and there’s a LOT of you out there, if you’re willing to admit to it – then you might be just the kind of person to write for BlogalongaPotter.

2. I don’t work well without pressure

BlogalongaBond was created with a specific purpose – to blog about the Bond films at the rate of one a month. When BlogalongaBond started, there were 23 months to go until the release of the new film, and 23 Bond films – you do the maths. The benefit of this is that it doesn’t give any concession to the lackadaisical; if you don’t do one a month, then you don’t hit the number, it’s as simple as that. (That said, I’ve so far done two double bills becuase I didn’t have time to write one in two months this year…) It became slightly more complex when they moved the UK release of Skyfall forward a month, but thankfully The Suit once again demonstrated his genius by deciding to ignore this problem completely.

I also started BlogalongaMuppets along the same principle, in that I started in September, and the four of us on this epic journey will cover all of the theatrical releases by February, when the confusingly-titled The Muppets hits cinemas in the UK. I do find that the principle of having something to work to keeps my mind generally focused, and idea of having something new at the end of it gives the Blogalong almost the feeling of a delightful bloggy Advent Calendar, with the new film being a sort of Christmas at the end.

But that’s not to say it has to be like that – BlogalongaRusskie wasn’t working towards a new Tarkovsky film, and the Blogalong should be a chance to explore a complete body of work, whether or not there’s a new film at the end of that. So if you fancy the chance to revisit the Potters with fresh eyes, then now is as good a time as any.

3. How much is there to say about a boy and his wand?

The biggest reason that I don’t feel I can commit t BlogalongaPotter, to be honest, is that I’m not sure what else I’ve got to say about the franchise. I’ve already posted a summary of all of the films, and a detailed review of both parts of Deathly Hallows (part 1 and part 2). While I did thoroughly enjoy the films, they don’t hold the same place in my heart as the Bonds or the Muppets, or indeed other franchises such as those from Lucas or Jackson.

But if you feel that you can tease something out, or take a new angle on the films, then I’d very much look forward to reading them. BlogalongaBond has inspired a whole different set of perspectives, and I’ve attempted to take a view on the legacy of the Bond films, looking each month at how they have inspired future Bond films and action cinema in general. Maybe there’s a new angle on the Potter films to be taken, and maybe you’re just the person to find it?

4. I’m already struggling to keep up with the Blogalongs

And, as I’ve already mentioned, I’ve found it hard enough to keep up with one Blogalong at various points this year. Despite that, I foolishly took on another Blogalong on top of the first one, but it’s pushed my busy schedule to almost breaking point. The thought of having another film to watch, and then write about, is a little more than I can manage at this point. But there’s only a couple of dozen people who’ve Bonded, and just four Muppets, which leave around 469,127 bloggers left on the internet to get involved.

Now, you might point out that I’m only going to be BlogalongaMuppeting for another couple of months, so it wouldn’t be long before I’d be back down to two again. And you’d be right, but of course you must remember the bigger picture. Cast your mind ahead to May 2013, and the twelfth in another huge cinematic series in effectively its third incarnation, one which is very close to my heart, and still boldly going where no-one has gone before. Which means I’d need to kick that off around June of this year, while BlogalongaPotter is still running.

So, BlogalongaTrek anyone? No? I’ll get my coat.