POLL WINNER: Lord of the Rings

Polls are fun; debates are even more fun. As I wrote earlier, the argumentation and investigation into our interests are what make these kinds of things fun. Coming up with narratives about Lebron vs Jordan, Coke vs Pepsi, the Office vs Brooklyn 99, or even ice cream cups vs cones has always been interesting to me. Now I was hoping that my little poll experiment would have generated more conversation, but alas, I was not clear enough with what I hoped. Either way, I hope it was fun for those who participated, and intriguing enough for others to participate in future polls. I will do my best to be as objective as I can.

Now as for the Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings/Hobbit battle itself, the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit thrashed Harry Potter 31-19. Mr. Potter and his crew kept it as close as 1 vote for some time, but as time progressed, the Lord of the Rings ran away with the victory.



Here are a few observations:

- Most people (who I spoke to) who argue Harry Potter over Lord of the Rings cite two main arguments: the first is that Harry Potter is what they grew up reading, which makes sense, and the second is that the Lord of the Rings is boring.

- Most people who voted for Lord of the Rings thought it was stupid that I asked for an explanation

- More people appeared to be defensive about liking Harry Potter more; it reminded me of the feeling I get whenever I see someone I know while walking out of a McDonald's.

- 14 of 19 votes for Harry Potter were from women whereas only 7 of the 31 who voted for Lord of the Rings were women. What does that indicate? Nothing. I just thought I would exercise my ability to count.

- it would not be worth it to jump to conclusions about why only 7 of the 31 votes were female for Lord of the Rings, but it is interesting to think about

- all but one friend from California voted for Lord of the Rings; and I already regret writing that observation

And some other dumb insights:

- I have to say I am happy to be able to use the word eponymous in a sentence; as in: I wonder if a single eponymous character creates an intrinsic sympathy for that character.
- And the answer is yes: using the word eponymous does make me feel good about myself;
- But no, I do not think most people would get that joke.

- has anyone ever noticed that neither antagonist in each story has a nose? Voldemort being noseless and Sauron just...being....an...eye.

- Is there some sort of letter count for author's names? Many of these authors have initials for names: JRR Tolkien; JK Rowling; CS Lewis; RH Benson, DJ Jazzy Jeff

-  there a number of interesting side battles to this poll; Dumbledore vs Gandalf; Voldemort vs Sauron; the sorting hat vs Gandalf's hat

In the end, the Lord of the Rings was a clear winner. But the great thing about these kinds of debates, is that they never have to stop. In the immortal words of USC: Fight On!