Fantastical Fights (So late)

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here. One cannot say Harry Potter is better than Lord of the Rings (or that Star Wars is better than Star Trek) because they are two different things. To say that one series is better than the other is to say that apples are better than oranges. The series are two different completely fantasies and stories. One does not have to like a series more than another series; one can like them both. These novels and movies are two series completely independent of one another. Similar to probability, the series are mutually exclusive. Liking Harry Potter does not have any effect on whether or not one will like Lord of the Rings.

These debates are only created between by fans to make petty arguments with one another. Can readers not like the books for what they are? Is it necessary to try to make a series "better" than another? Can I, a fan of both series, not appreciate the novels as two independent entities?