Image Credit: Solarpix/PR Photos (2)Oprah has always had a magic touch when it comes to snagging hard-to-get author interviews. Just look at her extremely rare on-camera interview with Cormac McCarthy. Now, she’s secured a guest that also knows something about magic touches: J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter author will be stopping by The Oprah Winfrey Show for the first time this Friday to talk about her life, her fame, and writing one of the most popular book series of all time.
The interview already took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, so barring a Time-Turner, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to affect what questions Oprah poses to Rowling. But that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate. Personally, I hope she asks why there was so much camping in the last book. It may just be in my memory, but I feel like a third of the book took place in the woods. Some snippets of the interview have already been released. On dealing with her enormous and enthusiastic fan base, the author shares this anecdote: “There was this enormous Barnes & Noble, and I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ And the queue snaked up the street, up the Barnes & Noble, up through four floors and they took me in the back entrance. They opened the door and they screamed. They screamed….That’s a real stand-out moment for me. I knew it was getting big in that there was press attention and so on, but at that point, that for me…was when it felt ‘Beatle-esque.’”
So, Harry Potter fans — and let’s be honest, aren’t we all? — what do you think Oprah and Rowling will talk about, just one billionaire gal to another? Any topics you hope they’ll touch on?
I hope they have a discussion on being two of the most overrated celebrities in the entertainment business.
Feel better now?
Refresh my memory, how much longer do we have to put up with Oprah?
Wow. I agree with you on one, but the other, not so much! I’d like to know if you’ve read the books.
I feel a lot better now, yes.
I read the first two books and they weren’t my cup o’ tea. The movies, even moreso. Prisoner of Azkaban being the best.
Get over yourself.
Over-rated in YOUR opinion. Their bank accounts obviously disagree – along with a vast number of other people. Too bad about your taste in books.
Well, while I would disagree with UGH saying they are overrated, your point would only further prove that they are, in fact, overrated. Allllllwaayyyysss point out quality of books/works,etc. over quantity of money made.
What else do you expect from such easy-minded individuals?
Sorry, I meant SIMPLE-minded individuals.
Sorry. They aren’t overrated, but monetary success does not equal quality. I present the whole litter of pop music today as proof
Overrated? She is a woman who had NOTHING. Dirt Poor. She worked hard to become rich, successful, loved by millions, a philanthropist, and an overall good person.
Apply that to BOTH women.
“Baaaaaa” said the sheep.
Agree completely with Sean.
jealous much?
Please cease your fruity jealous much comments.
too late .. it’s been said.. so i repeat .. “jealous much?”
Ugh,
You are lame.. HP is best book written since the bible and My girl Oprah is a genuis. Im just saying!!!
Does that mean if I burn my HP books that there will be a holy war?
I hope they talk about how they do it…you know…to it.
They camped so much because they were searching for those objects that Voldemort cursed with a piece of himself, which allowed him to come back to life–i forgot what they are called. They had to search out Voldemort’s hiding places and they couldn’t do that stuck in Hogwarts which had become a much less safe place since Dumbledore bought it. I thought that was obvious.
I hope Oprah asks her why she always imagined Dumbledore as gay. I just don’t see it. I don’t have a problem with gays, I just saw Dumbledore as more asexual. He just seems above it, like sex doesn’t concern him, you know?
Exactly. Not to mention, Harry was essentially homeless and had nowhere else to go.
::rolls eyes::
It always amuses/irritates me when someone throws out “I don’t have a problem with gays” and then follows up with a ridiculous/homophobic comment like “sex doesn’t concern him.” Sweetheart, being gay is far more about who you love than about who you have sex with (as dozens of “straight” preachers have proven time and again), and Dumbledore has clearly demonstrated a capacity for love.
@nodnarb, I am not a homophobe. You’ve obviously missed the point of my comment which was that to me Dumbledore doesn’t seem to be concerned with sex at all, either gay or straight. Sex and love are 2 completely different things; no one’s arguing Dumbledore doesn’t love–clearly he does. Its the drive for sex is what seems lacking.
But people can be gay without be concerned with sex… just as there are plenty of straight people who aren’t concerned with sex. How do you keep missing this?
You’re the one who’s missing it. The definition of asexual is lack of sexual attraction, a lack of desire for sex, or a lack of sexual orientation. You can’t be gay, straight, or bi and be asexual at the same time.
You are 100% wrong. There are PLENTY of straight people who are asexual.
Asexuality is considered an “orientation” in and of itself. Whether caused by non-functioning or absent sex organs, or a simple lack of sexual desire or attraction, asexuals consistently identify as having NO orientation.
Asexuality is not an orientation, give me a break! People who lack sexual compulsion will still identify as straight or gay (or possibly bi) based on the relationships they forge. Which is my whole point here… that orientation is based on relationships, not on sexual activity. And it’s completely ludicrous for someone to say that Dumbledore couldn’t be gay because he wasn’t having gay sex.
But in Dumbledore’s case, his sexuality figures in the plot, if subtly. He was obviously in love with Grindelwald when a teenager. Which clouded his judgment and helped lead to the tragedy of briefly considering Wizard “Master Race” philosophy and his sister’s death – the pain and lessons of which marked and guided him for life. Beyond that we just don’t know much about Doumbledore’s private life for the 130 years after that until he meets Harry Potter. Most old folks come across as asexual to us who are much younger, doesn’t mean they are, and doesn’t mean they didn’t had a full sexual life before they got “old”.
They’re called Horcruxes. And I always attributed Dumbledore’s lack of interest to the fact that he’s really, really old.
I am a licensed and practicing psychotherapist specializing in treatment issues in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. Nothing “armchair” here, except for your woefully uninformed comments. Before you arrognantly and ignorantly mock and lecture others on a topic about which you clearly know little to nothing, perhaps you should take a brief moment to educate yourself. Please.
LOL! You can’t even figure out how to use the Reply button! GLBT therapists are a dime a dozen, hon. Just because you place an ad in the back of a gay weekly next to the massage ads and charge people to talk to you doesn’t make you an expert.
Horcruxes.
First of all, sexual “compulsion” is vastly different from desire or attraction.
Secondly, there are sexual orientations – what one is programmed to find sexually attractive, and there are sexual behaviors – what one finds sexually stimulating within that orientation. Behavioral asexuality can exist within any orientation – it’s called celibacy.
Those who are “orientationally” asexual – as much as 1% of the American popultaion – DO NOT IDENTIFY with any other orientation. It would be like me asking you to label yourself based on which arouses you more: refrigerator magnets or astroturf. All orientations may seek out and/or maintain “emotionally romantic” relationships.
Yes, and 47% of all statistics are just made up. I actually fell asleep reading your armchair-psychologist jibber-jabber, but none of what you say challenges my main point which is that Dumbledore’s perceived lack of sexual activity excludes him from being gay.
Oh dear, Oprah going to wax poetic on Jo’s struggles as a young mother/author, isn’t she? A story every Potter fan has heard a BILLION times. Let’s hope we get something a little more original. Like the status of the Scottsh book! Pretty please?
Agreed!! And I take it you are a fellow pottercaster!
Well, she’s a writer. I’d like to know what she’s working on.
Also be curious if she’ll ever revisit that world, but she’ll probably want quite a few years to go by before she does that.
Yes! I’d like to know if she’s writing something new.
I’m surprised she hasn’t had a show revolving around the origins of mashed-potatoes yet.
How does this bear any relation to the topic at hand? Sizest, much?
I bet you swim in the same gravy as her.
The extensive camping was just a delaying tactic to make the events of the book consume an entire school year. While a little obnoxious, I’m not really sure what a better alternative would’ve been, outside not conforming the the school year requirement.
I’m more annoyed that one horcrux was destroyed off-page.
I thought that was pleasantly realistic – it can;t be all Harry all the time – which would counted one of the entire points of the series.
As I recall, it was Harry exactly one of the time. When he was 12, he destroyed one of the Horcruxes. All the others were destroyed by other people.
You could argue that he had a direct hand in destroying the Horcrux within him by simply submitting to the knowledge that he had to die (without the knowledge that he would come back).
Actually, the camping was because Yaxley grabbed hold of Hermione as they left the Ministry, so they couldn’t go back to Grimmauld Place, and since Harry had a price on his head they had to hide. The camping was pretty much necessary,not a “delaying tactic.” And I agree, the cup being destroyed by Ron and Hermione off-page was realistic, of course they were going to try to keep working while Harry was off learning about the diadem.
Actually Dumbledore destroyed the ring off-page, and Ron and Hermione destroyed the cup off-page, so there were two Horcruzes destroyed off-page.
“I’m not really sure what a better alternative would’ve been, outside not conforming the the school year requirement.”
Yes. That’s exactly what she should have done. They weren’t at school, and even though the final battle took place at Hogwarts, where they were in the school year had no effect on the battle itself. Honestly, there’s no reason this book had to conform to the “book’s events last the school year” formula.
I honestly hope she is on the show to promote some new, upcoming book release, whether it’s Harry Potter-based or not.
I\’m impressed! You\’ve mnaaegd the almost impossible.
I saw a commercial for today’s guests. I can’t stand how she announces people in that sing-songy voice. Todays says it will be “Jenny McCarthy dishing about Jim Carrey and Terry McMillan and her gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ex-husband!!!!!!”. Yes. She sang out gay. What a pompous dope.
I’d love to hear more secrets/details about some Harry Potter characters. What exactly is Aberforth doing with them goats?
Wouldn’t it have been more of a coup to snag Jo right after Deathly Hallows came out? Or is it a way to remind us that the 7th movie is coming out?
8th Book details Characters and everything..Since she annouced it i want to know bout that
I wanna know what she’s writing now, what he rnew projects are..how she handles the after-potter era.. what she thinks of the last movie and the ending of the movies..
so much to discuss, just hoping they will give us something original!!
What if Oprah brings up “Twilight”? Kidding. Actually, I’m only interested in her next book. I remember an interview where she mentioned something about a “political fairytale”, but I don’t remember her elaborating on it.
Hopefully they will be talking about future books.
Oops, I meant “ON FIRE” and “Bellatrix”. Arg, I guess I was just too trowhn off about Dumbledore’s sister.
Those who talk about ‘camping’ being a third of the book ( It wasn’t – it was a three or four chapters out of thirty-six! ) are the same morons who moan about the non-existent ‘battle’ being omitted from the HBP movie….you know, that short skirmish. How the hell they managed to drag themselves away from their X-Box and read seven whole books, I’ll never know.