The Harry Potter Campaign.
I don't normally do this, but circumstances call for action.
Heres the link so you can just copy and paste: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23519089579
Summary:
"The protest is going GLOBAL! We have contacts in the UK and Canada and all across the USA! Once the NYC protest is set we will organize smaller groups protesting at any theater where a WB movie is playing. We will coordinate our efforts and the protests will happen all at the same time.
If you would like to be a Protest Group Leader in your home town, please post on the Protest Discussion thread.
We will be calling for a boycott of all WB movies from all Potter and movie going fans around the world.
Get involved. Become a Protest Group Leader.
It's what Harry would do!
We are planning a protest of the WB Office in NYC! We need Your help! We need to get the numbers of this group high so we can get plenty of NY and surrounding area Potter Fans out to this Protest. I am going to need help so message me if you are interested in taking a more active role in the cause.
We will contact the media and get this event covered. WB will hear us. Do your part.Invite ALL your friends. Let's make a difference.
It's what Harry would do.
Keep the movement going and ensure Warner Brothers hears our voice!"
I can perfectly understand why this sounds a bit ridiculous. Its just a movie. Its just Harry Potter. There are bigger things to protest about. Heard it before. Well first, let me give you a detailed summary of what WB is doing if you don't already know:
Harry Potter, as most know has been a very popular franchise for quite a few years. Quite a large fanbase was built, a fanbase that threw their money at WB to help make these movies great. Okay first of all, this is, in my opinion where they first messed up. They butchered quite a few of the best moments of Harry Potter. In the next film for example, they're trading one of the most classic scenes and instead putting in "drug parallels".
Okay so besides letting us know that they completely messed up Narcissa's image and had decided to start the film with Harry flirting with a waitress (for god sake, he doesn't even know how to make eye contact in the book -- as matter of fact, hes not even supposed to be able to leave the house.), they make us wait ages long for a teaser trailer. Why is that a problem? Because when the books were popular, back when there was "Harry mania", they would give us a trailer nearly a year before the movie even came out. Without telling us that we would wait an agonizingly long time for the expected trailer (that we expected a year ago), they forced us to wait an agonizingly long time.
It was already apparent then that WB had taken no hesitation to kick us Harry fans to the curb once the book series was just a little less popular. They couldn't even wait till the next film. There was already a big issue over this --- you couldn't go on any Harry Potter comment/message board without seeing rants. I even wrote a complaint to WB, and I rarely do -- but we were all desperate.
And then we finally get the trailer. Oh, but its only in IMAX of all things.
So then many fans, drive hours and spend extra money to go see The Dark Knight in IMAX and are completely blown away by a 15 second trailer with nothing but a black screen and Dumbledore muttering something. Wow.
So WEEKS after that, and we were being flooded with pictures from the movie and a whole bunch of promo stuff. And then finally, FINALLY, we get the trailer --- with VIDEO AND AUDIO *gasp*. For the record, this was just this month -- and it wasn't long till our expected due date. But now we were really pumped seeing that big word "NOVEMBER" flashing at the end of the trailer.
Pretty much one week later we get the dreaded announcement...
.."Oh yeah, you're not getting it till next July. Why? No reason, we just want more money."
Riiight, because I'm sure Alan Horn and the people at WB are all living on welfare, struggling to feed their kids and all. I'm sure poor Mr. Horn is digging through nickles and dimes because he can barely afford the gas to put IN HIS FERRARI. You know, that expensive car he wouldn't have if it hadn't been FOR OUR MONEY.
Harry Potter has been a big part of my life and is important to me. Its how I met many friends, its helped me be inspired in my writing hobbies, I've shared my love of the Potter series with my boyfriend of three years, he carried me on his shoulders for hours in the hot sun so I could lean in and shake Rupert Grint's hand at the LA premire. And many other fans would say similar things.
Yes, there are other, bigger things in the world to protest about --- but things like war, world hunger will take years to change. This is a movie release date change that happened for no real reason. This is something we can change.
But we have to act now, but with enough force -- I think we can do it. Its been done before. A big reason that WB made this decision, I think, is because they feel since the book series is over -- they assume the fanbase died with it.
Well even if we can't change the date, we can shove it in WB's greedy faces: WE'RE NOT DEAD.