< >By writing my opinion about various subjects, it will give an idea how I see things. Remember, I’m only expressing an alternative view about a subject, and not intending to be too critical of the what other people are doing, or saying.

< >Now we know who will play the part as Harry, Hermione, Ron. I'm sure many of you either like or dislike them. We will have to assume that Rowling had decided they are the best ones to play the characters in the Harry Potter movie. About four times as many US kids will see the movie than in UK. I'm hoping that accent will not be a problem.

< >I think Warner would have Americanised the Harry Potter movie, if it were not for Rowling saying it should be true to the story book, and using British actors. Beause many of the actors in the Harry Potter are not well known in the US. I think there is one advantage American audience will have when you see the movie. That is, when watching the Harry Potter movie, instead of every now and then thinking for example, "hey that's Robie Willaims, or that's Michael Douglas". Hopefully you will be thinking, "that's Dumbledore, and that's Professor McGonagall", being absorbed in the character, and not distracted by the big name stars. I found this happen to me when ever I watch an Australian made movie, I don't get distracted thinking about the big name stars in the movie, but totally lost in the story. Maybe it effects everyone differently?

< >I thought you might like to know about the difference between the spelling and meanings of some words used in UK and US. So I wrote the article below to explain the many differences between various words.

< >Here is an example of spelling difference, the US word ‘color’. In UK, it is spelt 'colour'. How this difference came about I don't know, yet I'm sure I've seen in a very old UK books the word 'color' used. Also another two examples, are US 'theater' and 'center', in UK they are spelt 'theatre' and 'centre'. These spelling differences of various words will show up in the US/UK versions of the Harry Potter books. For most of my web site writing I use the US spelling if I know it. Here is an example of with a number, the US a 'billion' is 1,000,000,000. In the UK it used to be 1,000,000,000,000 (a thousand, thousand), but now the US version is now more commonly used in the UK. The meanings of many words in UK are slightly different than in US. For example, JK Rowling used to live in a 'flat' in Edinburgh. The UK word 'flat', in US means 'apartment'. The word 'apartment' is used in UK, but generally means a flat that is bigger, and often very expensive to buy. For example, I could say that JK Rowling today has enough money to buy an expensive apartment in central London. Here is another difference between US/UK word meanings. Imagine a large tall building that is divided in several flats or apartments on each floor. If I said in UK words that JK Rowling has an apartment on the ground floor, and her friend lived on the first floor of the building. In the US the words 'ground floor' and 'first floor' have a different meaning. The word 'ground floor' (UK), in US would be the FIRST FLOOR, and 'first floor' (UK), in US is the SECOND FLOOR. Here are several more words; candy (US) = sweets or chocolate (UK); cotton candy (US) = candy floss (UK); cookie (US) = biscuit (UK); drugstore (US) = chemist's shop (UK); fall (US) = autumn (UK); gas (US) = petrol (UK); pants (US) = trousers (UK); shorts (underwear), (US) = pants (UK); stroller (US) = pushchair (UK); vacation (US) = holiday (UK); railroad (US) = railway (UK). There is a book sold in the UK that lists many of these words and more. Because people in UK see many US TV programs, they get to know the different words. I was worried if some of the US kids may get confused with some of the words used in the Harry Potter movie. I hope the movie maker realise this fact, and try and avoid if possible, using words that may confuse.

< >There are a number of words in UK that are spelt the same, but are pronounced slightly different. It is the same in Australia and New Zealand, they have their own accents for many spoken words. Students in other countries around the world when learning English for the first time, often decide which spoken English they want to become familiar with, either US (which is the popular choice), or the UK English pronunciation of certain words.

< >Many parents say that Harry Potter books are evil, and their children should not be reading these books. In my opinion you can see far more evil and violence on the TV news. And some newspapers rely on bad news to sell their papers. Sometimes I do a check to test the news quality, I get a pen and paper, then watch the TV evening news here in Britain. I then keep a score of the news. For each item of news mentioned, I write a plus(+) sign if it was good news, and a minus(-) sign if it was bad news, and a zero if it was neither good or bad. At the end of the news program, on the piece of paper I always seem to write more minus signs, than plus signs. I’m not surprised many people feel depressed after watching the news. I don’t know anyone who feels depressed after reading a Harry Potter book. I think there should be two TV news programs in the evenings. One mentioning only good news (for poeple like me), and another news program that only mentions bad news for those people that want to feel depressed in the evenings, and hate Harry Potter books.

< >You have probably read the long opinion article I wrote at the bottom of this page about the making of the movie. As I wrote this some time ago, it’s now a bit out of date as we are now starting to hear more news about the movie and it’s actors.

< >In response to the article I wrote, I had an interesting email from someone who's name is Jason. Here is what he said; Hey, I was reading some of your stuff on the internet and I came across your opinion page and it interested me on how you think that the movie should be done. I sort of disagree with your thinking, if you were to have the movie be separately staged in New York it would lose some of the imagination for some of us Americans. The books would have to be made that way also and even though I've never been to New York I can say that having Diagon Alley there would never fit. I know that there are some odd people in NY, but still. But again if you would want it filmed anywhere in the US it would have to be a smaller city; I can see a small yet busy city with many small roads with nothing but very well maintained ranch sized houses.

< >So I wrote: Must admit you are right, that it would not fit to the story in the book. How this idea came about was that a few months ago two American kids complained to me by email that US kids are not getting a chance to be in the movie, they were saying that only UK kids with English accents would get to play the parts in the movie. One kid said to me "I wish I could be in the movie, but I don't have the UK accent". So I said to this person maybe if the story is located and filmed in US you might have a chance be in the movie. Anyway the person thought the idea was good, and that I should put it on the web page about it, so that's how it came to be written. I think now the opinion I wrote is a bit out of date, and will have to be changed, we will have to wait and see how many American kids will be in the movie. I think originally JK Rowling wanted all the actor kids to be only from the UK.

< >Below is the opinion comment I wrote several weeks ago, slightly shortened now to make it less boring to read.

< >I have been thinking about the making of the movie Harry Potter. I feel that an alternative idea could have been tried, or looked into, that might make the movie have been more appealing to US moviegoers. Although the movie will be true to the story. Will it be too British for some people in US to understand? For example, in the pass there has been some movies made that have tried to be what some movie critics called, ‘mid-Atlantic’. In other words, the movie tried to satisfy moviegoers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, in doing so often failed to achieve its aim. I hope the Harry Potter movie does suffer the same fate, by the language being too British to understand, such as various words, meanings, and sounds? I have not read the US books to compare them with the UK books, to see if some words were changed. As Warner are the ones making the movie, it’s a pity US kids will not get a chance to play leading parts in the movie. Like the books, I think there should have been two versions made of the movie for both US and UK countries (so the kids can relate the story to their own country). Other English speaking countries can then choose which movie version they want shown in their own countries. Here is an example of how I thought two movie versions could be made; in the UK version, Harry (a British actor) leaves King’s Cross station, and in the US version Harry (a US actor) leaves Grand Central station, NY. In US movie version, Diagion Alley is in New York. But the inside scenes of Hogwarts, and special effects are done at Pinewood Studios UK. Outdoor scenes such as steam trains, and other minor scenes can be filmed in each country, or in UK country only. At Pinewood, the filming of the US kids, and UK kids, and other actors could be done on a time-share relationship. As one group is at one scene set-up being filmed, the other group is on another set also being filmed doing another part of the story, or learning their lines. The two US/UK movie versions can still be shown in each country if kids want to see them. The end result is an international ‘shared-relationship’ in the making of a movie.