Harry Potter

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - December 27, 2007) - Peanut Labs, Inc., provider of unmatched Gen-Y sample for market researchers, today released the results of its latest survey tracking Gen-Y trends, both at the box office and on TV at the end of 2007, while also examining the adoption of new year's resolutions among America's influential 13-25 year olds.

Overall, Warner Bros. Pictures is positioned well for 2008, possessing two of the most anticipated movies and on TV, "The Simpsons" will likely continue their successful run. Additionally, the television writers' strike has not had an enormous effect on Gen-Y television consumption. Lastly, younger Americans still embrace new year's resolutions, with the vast majority of Gen-Y indicating they do indeed plan to have a new year's resolution in 2008.

Hottest Movie of 2008

* Of leading films to be released in 2008, Warner Bros. Pictures' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" tops Gen-Y's most anticipated list. Warner Bros. Pictures possess two of the top seven most anticipated films, with "Dark Knight," the next chapter in the Batman franchise, also noted as an anticipated movie.
* Paramount Pictures' "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" captured the number two spot on Gen-Y's list of anticipated movies.

Hottest Movies and TV of 2007

* This year, "Transformers" edged out "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" as Gen-Y's favorite movie.
* Overall, 41 percent of Gen-Y thought that 2007's blockbusters had improved over 2006, a positive sign for movie studios, with 42 percent indicating no change in quality.
* On the small screen, Fox's "The Simpsons" is 2007's most popular TV program, followed by ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and NBC's "Heroes."
* With respect to reality television, the CW's "America's Next Top Model" was Gen-Y's favorite, followed by Fox's "American Idol."

Gen-Y and the Writers' Strike

* 58 percent of Gen-Y admits to watching "about the same amount" of TV since the writers' strike began.
* The strike has not driven an increase in the amount of online videos Gen-Y watches, with 47 percent indicating they have not watched more with the strike in place.

New Year's Resolutions

* Only 10 percent of Gen-Y does not plan on having a new year's resolution for 2008, down sharply from 39 percent in 2007.
* The leading resolution amongst Gen-Y is to "get fit" -- exercising more and eating healthier.
* Gen-Y also appears to be fiscally responsible, as the second most popular is "saving money."
* Some 38 percent indicate they were able to achieve their new year's resolutions in 2007, in which the leading resolution was also getting fit.

"Given Gen-Y's influence in anointing movie and TV hits, it appears Warner Bros. Pictures has a lot to look forward to as Harry Potter captures the big screen again in 2008," said Murtaza Hussain, chief executive officer at Peanut Labs. "As we move into 2008, shows like 'The Simpsons' will remain popular regardless of new episodes, since the writers' strike has not had a drastic effect on Gen-Y's TV habits."

The survey, carried out among 1175 Gen-Y respondents active on leading social networks, examined Gen-Y's preferred movies, TV shows and resolutions heading into 2008. For more information or a copy of the complete results, please contact Peanut Labs.

Is this the unlikely face of a criminal? Shami Chakrabarti, human rights activist, director of Liberty and self-confessed Potter-head, believes that the boy-wizard commits a war crime in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment of the Harry Potter books -- and she's stll wondering why J.K. Rowling permits the character to cross the line between good and evil. Shami Chakrabarti makes the claim in an intervew in today's Independent on Sunday.

It all comes down to the Crucio curse, one of three "Unforgiveable Curses" which Harry learns about at wizard school. Crucio is a curse which inflicts significant pain on another person, and, according to Shami Chakrabarti, "is proper torture and that fits with article 3 of the ECHR [European Convention on Human rights] ... It's just wrong."

In Deathly Hallows, an irrate Harry attacks Amycus, one of Voldemort's henchmen, with the Crucio curse simply because Amycus spits on Professor Minerva McGonagall, one of the hero's favourite teachers at Hogwarts.

I'm not sure if the ECHR applies in Harry's world, but Rowling usually follows the normal conventions of morality in keeping her positive characters on the right side of the ethical line. Has she gone too far on this occasion? Harry is certainly no Jack Bauer, but he has acted aggessively in this scene. By hitting out in anger with an "Unforgiveable Curse", he has committed a crime in his fictional world which, according to one of his teachers at Hogwarts, is punishable with "a life sentence in Azkaban", the wizards' prison.

I do not predict riots at bookshops, nor do I think we are likely to see lines of right-on children in protests calling for a war crimes tribunal to investigate the Amycus incident. But Shami Chakrabarti knows her law, and it looks like a fair cop. Harry Potter is a war criminal.