PotterCast 118: : Truth. Beauty. Freedom. Love. Transcript

News Talk (0:00 - 16:55)

Melissa Anelli (MA): Welcome, welcome to lucky number PotterCast 118.

John Noe (JN): Howdy, howdy!

MA: Hello. Howdy, howdy.

Sue Upton (SU): Howdy!

MA: It is- once again, I'm Melissa, I'm here with John and Sue, and we are in for another week of awesome Harry Potter fun. (JN: Wow!) But before- wow! (laughs) Before we do that, how about we hear from some, I don't know, book people?

JN: People who sell books?

SU: Book people?

MA: People who, (JN: And movies?) yeah, what about people who sell books (JN: And games?) and movies and other stuff? (JN and SU: And music?) Wait, save it for the ad.

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MA: You know, if you haven't read that book yet, you need to turn this thing off.

JN: I do gotta say, though, if you're planning on, like so many of you are, trying to catch Jo walking in the door when she comes over here for her book tour, and you're trying to get an autograph, don't bring the crinkled, coffee-stained copy (SU laughs) you were up all night with, (SU: Yeah.) reading, like my book certainly looks like. Bring a- go buy a- go to Borders, buy a fresh one, (SU: Right.) and take good care of the dust jacket, cover thing, and make sure that that thing is in pristine condition when you hand it to her. So...

MA: Get a special edition.

JN: Sure, why not? (laughs) Actually, I don't have a special edition yet.

MA: I don't have one, either.

JN: I've been...

SU: Actually, you know what I'm going to get? (JN: What's that?) And I'm going to get it before Jo comes to town. That special box set of all six. I'm finally going to have a copy of all the books. I'm so excited. I...

MA: Are you going to lug that thing around, Sue?

SU: I am! (JN laughs) I truly am. I don't actually, I mean, it's...

JN: Doesn't it come in a trunk, or something cool?

SU: It does! It looks like Harry's trunk.

MA: Yeah, it's in a bread basket-trunk-thing.

JN: I'm going to totally use that as a lunchbox.

SU: No, I'm not going to let you near it.

JN: I'm going to take all the books out. (SU: I will...) I'm going to get one for me!

SU: No! Oh, yeah! That would be cool.

MA: No, I'm getting one, and I'm putting it away for my imaginary children.

JN: (laughs) Imagine- do you play The Sims?

MA: (laughs) You know, it would be more use for me with Sims children than with real ones. (JN: Oh.) I'll play The Sims, and I'll give it to them. They should have it as one of the items in The Sims. (JN: Yes.) You can give them the Harry Potter books.

JN: That'd be sweet. (MA: You know?) And, like, you'd give them the book (MA: Okay, okay.) and they'd go to their room for two days straight, and they don't come out.

MA: Hey, guys, I'll give you- we need to do the news, but before we do that, I'll give you a little tease. I'll talk about it after the news. (JN: Uh-oh.) I just came back from Georgia.

JN: (sings) Going down to Georgia. (SU: Georgia?) She was looking for some souls to steal.

SU: You were down in the deep South, how nice.

MA: I was down in the deep South, and I'll leave it there, and I bet a bunch of you listening are going to figure out why, and I'm gonna tell you about it after we do the news.

JN: Were you toilet papering again? (MA: I was.) You always travel to distant places (MA: You found me out.) to toilet paper people. It's so- (MA: Yes.) such a waste of time and travel. TP your own neighborhood!

MA: All right, news, Sue. What's going on?

SU: Well, we actually, finally- this will be right before filming is about to start on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We now have casting of Horace Slughorn, and it's been confirmed that it is- doo doo doo doo! Actor Jim Broadbent.

JN and SU: Yay!

MA: That's funny, we just talked about him last week!

SU: Yes, very spooky. Mm-hm.

MA: Amazing.

JN: Tell me again about this guy?

SU: He was in Moulin Rouge, and he's Bridget Jones' dad, for those of you who...

MA: The dad in Bridget Jones! He's so wonderful. He's just such- (SU: He's a brilliant actor.) he's one of these actors that's just very calming, and yeah, he just makes you feel like you're watching a friend instead of an actor, you know?

SU: Oh, but, I mean, he's an Academy Award-winning actor! Again, (MA: Mm-hm!) the casting done in these films is extraordinary and this man- we have- our Galleries crew came through and the day that this came out, we have a whole ton of photos of him so you can see him in all his different looks, but I just think he looks the part. (MA: Yeah. He's great.) And he described, with our friend Garth- Garth, right, John?

JN and MA: Garth!

SU: Yeah, Garth had a...

MA: Who's been on this show several times.

SU: Yeah, just a few.

MA: And will be again one day.

SU: Yes. Garth asked him about his costumes, and he said that they're going to be tweedy sort of things with padding. (MA: Nice.) love it. It's just so cool! (laughs)

MA: Tweedy.

JN: That's so funny.

SU: Tweedy.

MA: When we first see Slughorn he's pretending to be an armchair. (SU and JN: Yeah.) So, you know? (SU: It's true!) Right on! (SU: There you go!) And Jim Broadbent does have that sort of plushy look, it's good, it's good!

SU: He does! He does, you know, that kind of weatherbeaten...

JN: I think I just found something online of him singing something.

SU: Well, he was in Moulin Rouge.

MA: From Ziegfeld. Moulin Rouge, John.

Jim Broadbent (JB): Because we can can can! (MA: yeah.) Because we can can can can can can can can can!

MA: (laughs) Okay, John!

JN: (laughs) Was that him?

SU: (laughs) Disco Slughorn?

JN: The Slughorn Song?

MA: That was him. That's the Slughorn Song. That's what we're gonna- every time we mention Slughorn from now on, I want da-da-da-da-da, right in it.

SU: Da-da-da! (laughs)

JB:: Because we can can can! Because we can can can can can can can can can!

SU: (laughs) Oh, I got up and danced to that one, John, that was awesome!

MA: (laughs) Oh, John, you're a lunatic! (JN: Aw.) Okay? Slughorn!

SU: Oh, my goodness. (JN: Slughorn.) Oh. (MA: Slughorn!) Well...

MA: You missed your cue. Slughorn!

JB:: Because we can can can!

MA: Very nice. (laughs and applauds) (SU: Woo hoo!) Oh, it's gonna be like the buzzer. In the middle of nowhere, we're gonna go, Slughorn!

JB:: Because we can can can!

MA: Very nice!

SU: Yay! (applauds)

JN: I'm getting better, I'm getting better.

MA: Okay. What else is up, Sue?

SU: Oh, my goodness. Well, now we're still on the movie thing, we have big news. Confirmation, finally, about the DVD. Now, you're saying, "What's the big deal about the DVDs? Well, the Order of the Phoenix DVD is coming out in the U.K. on November 12th. (JN: Ooh.) But! In the United States we have to wait one month, and we won't get it until...

MA: I will...

JN: That's a load of crap!

SU: It is.

MA: Yeah. I will make a bet, I'm gonna make a bet right now. They are gonna change that date, we're gonna get it in November like everybody else. (JN: Yeah.) I'm gonna put money on that.

JN: They're gonna pull an Apple on us (SU: I mean...) and do an open letter to all the fans, and be like, "We're gonna put it out a month earlier now!"

MA: No, 'cause they know that they're asking...

JN: "And we're gonna give you a dollar off!"

MA: They're just asking for piracy beyond belief if they do that. (SU: I mean...) (JN: Oh, my God. I know.) The market is so much bigger, the want so much bigger in the U.S. (SU: It's just...) The demand will be so huge. Yeah. No.

SU: I was floored by that. I thought, well, wait, because the- and very early in the morning, the press release came out from the U.K., and I thought- oh, and I got up right away, and I posted, and I was like, "Oh, you know." And very at the end of the day, (www.warnerbros.com/)Warner Brothers here in the United States- and I'm like, "December 11th? What?" (JN: Yeah.) At first I thought it was a typo or a mistake but then (JN: For real.) no. Nope. It's one month.

JN: What I want to know is when is PotterCast DVD commentary coming out for Order of the Phoenix?

SU: Hm.

MA: Well, I think we have two other films to do before we do Order of the Phoenix.

SU: Yeah, I think so.

JN: I think that we should make a point to record DVD commentaries for those other two films before the DVD comes out (SU: Okay.) for Order of the Phoenix.

MA: Funny you say that, because some people were just asking for it.

SU: Oh, just...

JN: People ask for it all the time. (JN and SU laugh) (SU: All the time.) Every other week. Every week we get an email about that.

MA: All right. Let's try and do one this week and have it out by the end of September.

SU: Ooh.

JN: That could be crazy.

MA: Okay?

SU: Crazy rockin'. (JN: Yeah.) Can we do it?

MA: There we go. Only thirteen and a half weeks left to go before that actually comes true, guys.

JN: Yeah. (MA: So...) What do you think Slughorn would say about that?

SU: He'd love it.

MA: I don't know John. What would Slughorn? (laughs)

JB:: Because we can, can, can!

SU: Woo! (laughs) I like that music.

MA: Speaking of something we were talking about last week. It looks like Harry and the Order of the Phoenix will be coming out on HD and Blu-ray.

SU: Yes, on both, both. And all the films are, (MA: Mm-hm.) as a matter of fact, and they are now available in our shop for pre-order. All the films on all the different formats. Both HD and Blu-ray are going to be released on that- (MA: Head over at the Cauldron Shop?) Yes. They're in our Cauldron Shop.

MA: TheCaudronShop.com! (SU and JN: Dot com!) And video.

SU: Dot Com! And (JN: Dot com!) along with that limited edition DVD gift set which is available both in regular standard format as well as the High Definition so you can- either one. I'm going to that DVD gift set because it has that game.

MA: Well, if I ever get a PlayStation 3, or an XBox 360, or one of these things that plays HD, then I'll get it. But I'm not buying a new DVD player. They can just- you can just forget it.

SU: Well, Santa is been asked all ready for PS3 from my son, so. (MA: Whoa.) Maybe he's gonna be...

JN: PS3? That's huge.

SU: I know.

MA: Seriously. One little Upton has got caviar tastes over there.

SU: I know he does. (SU and MA laugh) And not too- probably not too much subtle hint from Mom saying, "Hey, you know this will be a lot of fun."

MA: Yeah. (SU and MA laugh) "Hey, you know. Mom could use that, too."

SU: (laughs) One more thing. One more thing. As we had mentioned, our friend, Miss Jo, is coming to the United States on her open book tour. And a ton of readers from The Leaky Cauldron have written in to let us know that they got tickets from the Scholastic thing. She's doing a couple of events. One in Los Angeles, one in New Orleans, which are available only to school children, and one in New York. And the one in New York, they had a raffle- a kind of sweepstakes for people to go enter, and we've gotten just a ton of readers that said they entered through Leaky and they got two tickets to go see Jo and- but Jo has added another stop now, and this will make all of our Canadian friends happy, that she's going to go to Canada as well, so.

MA: Very nice.

JN: What she going to do up there?

MA: (sings) O, Canada...

SU: (sighs) I don't know. (MA: We stand on guard for thee.) She's going to go...

JN: That'll be fun.

SU: Yeah. But that's good that, (MA hums) you know, is that contest through- we have links on our site to the Raincoast people. And you can go enter once a day. And so, I thought that was really good.

MA: So, do they test that you're Canadian when you win?

SU: (laughs) I don't...

JN: What is there a blood test involved?

MA: Well, I'm just saying it could be flooded with people who think that they didn't get the other tickets.

SU: Yeah, I think you have to be Canadian. And one last thing! I wanted to say too, because we're talking about the books, just briefly. There are more and more covers of all the different international cover art for the different versions, and we got one in, and we just posted it just today, of the Ukrainian version, and if you have not had the chance to see some dramatic cover art, you should (MA: Yeah.) go to our galleries and check this one out. (JN: Oh, for Deathly Hallows?) Yes.

MA: Yeah.

JN: Ooh!

MA: Yeah, very dramatic. Really cool, too.

SU: Very cool. And it almost looked like Rupert Grint was on the cover.

JN: Really?

MA: I know! Very dramatic Ron. Very dramatic Hermione. Anyway, so to follow up on the tease from before; I just came back from Georgia.

JN: (in Southern accent) Whatcha doin' down dere?

MA: I went down there for two days and I got to interview the one, the only, Ms. Laura Mallory.

JN: Oh!

SU: You're kidding! Oh my goodness!

MA: Yeah. Of trying to ban Harry Potter fame. It's...

JN: Now how did you trick her into that?

MA: Stop! I didn't trick her. (JN laughs) I got to tell you, I went down with a certain set of conceptions. Some of them were proven correct; some of them were proven very wrong. (JN: Mm-hm.) And I have a grudging respect (JN: Really?) for her conviction. You know? (JN: Sure.) It was a really- it was a couple of hours of really fascinating- and I think in the next- I'm going to pick a clip and we're going to play a little bit, because I talked to her about possibly playing a little bit. (JN: Oh, excellent.) It wasn't- I think that the hate that she gets- I understand the passion but I think that the cruelty that she gets is probably misplaced because she hasn't done anything illegal or outright mean. (JN: Well.) She's a kind woman. This is for the book that I'm working on about the Harry Potter fandom, and she just seemed to be so very much the symbol of the censorship and the religious fervor around Harry Potter that I really wanted an interview with her and it took a while, (MA and JN laugh) but she finally consented and it was, (SU: Can I ask you...) it was really crazy.

SU: And I don't want to cast (MA: What?) disparages on her. The one thing joy about this country is that people are free to express their opinions and to think the way that they choose, and I think that's wonderful, but did you get the impression that she understood that this was a work of fiction?

MA: Yes. She knows that it is a fictional series. The inherent thing is that she believes that witchcraft is absolutely real and exists in the world and that it's driving kids to experiment in that arena. Which, I personally don't agree with, but I don't know everything in the world, you know? But, yeah, it was really fascinating.

SU: Wow. Wow. But, I just find- (MA: What's that, Sue?) did you talk to her about the issue of banning? And, I'm just so curious. (MA: Yes.) Because we're on next week, on the 29th of September starts, I believe, Banned Book Week here in the United States (JN: Oh yeah! Banned Book Week.) and this is a cause that we take very dearly. (MA: Oh my.) And here you are.

MA: Well that's perfect then to, next week, play a clip.

JN: Perfect! We did it on purpose actually; it was all planned out that way.

MA: Yup. Totally. Totally. Whoops. Right.

SU: I want to respect her right to practice her religion as she sees fit, but yet she wants to take away my right to read or children's right to read. And I just, I find this kind of incongruous and just obviously I'm very and- I just can't wait to read that interview and hear that interview Melissa. I'm sure it will be interesting.

MA: Well, it's not all for PotterCast, I obviously have to save the big things in it for the book. It kills me because my first instinct is to say, "Put this on Leaky! (SU: Right.) It's a news story!" But I have to, this is for the book. But, that doesn't mean that I can't share some of it and give general gist. It was really illuminating for me, it was really truly illuminating and I feel like I can write about her failure now which was really what I was aiming for because I don't really want to present this stereotype that everybody has about her. Do you know how many people asked me before I went down there if she was going to have horns? (JN: Jeez. That's not nice.) It was so prevalent. And I sort of understand where she's coming from now and I'm really happy for that. So, a clip of that is coming up for banned books week, the way we planned it all along.

SU: Awesome! Yeah. (laughs) But it's just so, (JN laughs) okay I wont. I'll just save it because there's so much, I mean, does she not get that there are overt Christianity things in the books and it's just that...

MA: We talked about that. Every time you get into a really heated argument you hit up against the wall of belief. There's just- you cannot argue when somebody says, "This is just what I believe." (JN: Yeah.) What do you do?

JN: You don't believe in it, you were just kidding.

MA: Yeah. You were kidding. You were, don't you know? (laughs) No, you can't. And every time we'd hit that it would be so frustrating for a journalist a person who's trying to go at it from a real logical- you try to understand empirical evidence and you hit against faith. And I'm not a person without faith, but to try to understand when it requires a leap of faith, it's interesting. It was interesting to me. It was one of the most challenging interviews I've ever done.

SU: Oh, I could imagine. Because you can get- it's so easy working in news you can just try so hard to be professional and it's so hard not to become emotional when you're so invested in this issue. (MA: Yeah.) It's just- (JN: It's true.) (MA: Oh yeah.) and yet you're dealing with someone who is just so resolute in their opinion (MA: Mm-hm.) and I just...

MA: And you try not to convince her because you're not really going to convince her (SU: Right.) of anything, and you know that going into it that you're not going to convince herof anything. But you can't help yourself from saying, "But don't you think that blah blah blah? And isn't it contradictory to say blah blah blah?" You find yourself getting heated. But, she's a very kind woman and I really appreciate the time that she spent with me and (SU: Yes, yes, obviously.) we'll see.

SU: That's really cool.

MA: Phew! All right. So, what do we have on tap this week? Lets think about it. (JN: Whoa.) We have Scribby 5.

JN: Scribby 5.

MA: Scribby 5, Scribby 5. We have Phoenix Files. We have a Canon Conundrum.

SU: I love the Canon one because...

JN: Canon Conundrums.

MA: This weeks Canon Conundrum is very- it's about the Malfoys. Correct?

SU: Yes it is.

JN: I think it was a pretty darn good one if I do say so.

SU: I do, too.

MA: One of those ones where I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. And then as we were recording I was like, "Hm."

JN: Sometimes those smaller topics like that, turn out to be the better Canon Conundrums, I don't know why. (SU: That's true.) Because you are able to more narrow in on things, which is kind of the whole point of Canon Conundrums, but it's all good.

SU: Our friend Steve will be there for that. (MA: All right, then.) Yep.

MA: Our friend Steve is there and now lets push off and do that and we'll be back at the end!

JN: Hooray.