This post is going to have absolutely nothing to do with sports, but it is something I walked away from feeling very strongly about, and wanted to spit out in writing, because I'm usually more articulate that way.
I love the Harry Potter books. I would say the fourth and seventh books are my two favorite of all time. I haven't read everything under the sun, but still a pretty significant amount, so this is saying something. When I read those books, I am completely immersed; I stay up longer at night to get further along and find myself emoting involuntarily in accordance with what's happening in the story at the time. This, of course, is a quality that a reader will find in any great book--that disappearance of self into another world.
For many people, including myself, movies can provide a similar escape. Whereas a book's triumph is in allowing our imaginations to run completely free, with just words to guide us, a movie's magic comes from its ability to bring those imaginations to life. It was a world we thought about in the book, and in a movie it comes that much closer to being one in which we can walk around.
It is for this reason that I despise the "Harry Potter" movies. Not because the movies don't match up to the books and skip a bunch of scenes; that matters to me very little. I don't like the HP movies because they never came close to taking me to the world Harry Potter lived in. Sure, I got to see some stunning visual interpretations of what Hogwarts and Gringotts could look like. But there is more to a world than just the scenery. Namely, the characters. Harry Potter the book series is rife with characters that you either love or you hate. They are almost all well-developed, interesting and engaging. The "Harry Potter" movies had exactly one character I loved or hated because of who the actual character was: Severus Snape. About all the others, I cared very little, because I didn't feel like I knew them at all. In the books, I wanted to date Ginny Weasley from book three on. She just seemed like the coolest girl on the planet. Who wouldn't want to get with her? In the movies, though? Ginny might as well not have been there. In fact, the movies stand to gain a lot from eliminating every scene with Ginny being worthless in them (read: every scene with Ginny).
While reading the books I cried, laughed, or felt myself breathing heavy in anticipation all the time. During the movies? Not so much. Maybe a chuckle or two at a Fred and George gag, but that's it. And I know that most of the world doesn't feel this way. Somehow, every HP movie is certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes (the lowest score going to the fifth movie, with a not-bad-at-all 78 percent). As each one has received pristine reviews, culminated by movie 7.2's astounding 96 percent, I've tried to be introspective and see if I was looking at those movies in a fair light. But I can't even get through the entirety of one of those movies on ABC Family anymore. What am I missing in those movies that everyone else is seeing (and loving)?
Well, here's more proof. I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yesterday, a movie I was excited about because it was based on a book I enjoyed. Now, Stieg Larsson's mystery thriller (sorta) is not in the same discussion as HP as far as all-time great fiction books are concerned. But it was very enjoyable.
It's movie though? The reverse. Well-directed, excellent acting, looks great, the whole nine yards. How hard was that? The most amazing part though? Dragon Tattoo, the first in a trilogy written by Larsson, really doesn't feature much action. It is mostly dialogue and investigation. Which should mean right off the bat that any Harry Potter movie is going to have an advantage for sheer excitement value. But in the end, that just wasn't the case. And it's not even close.
Maybe you're not like me. Maybe you're one of the people I shook my head at when you stood up and cheered Molly Weasley on as she beat Bellatrix Lestrange in HP 7.2. Maybe you thought as Molly hollered "You bitch!" at Bellatrix, then deflected four spells from Lestrange only to cast a couple of her own and win (the same way every duel went in this movie, by the way), you thought it was great drama and an achievement in film. But for crying out loud, why does everyone else feel the same way as you do? In America we like to show we have great taste in films by liking decent, artsy films way more than we should ("Little Miss Sunshine") and bringing down big-budget blockbusters because they gained a lot from having money and special effects, not true cinema ("Avatar"). Why is this case the opposite. Is it just because the name of the movies start with "Harry Potter"?
Sheesh. I'll climb back off the soapbox for now. But seriously, watch the HP movies again and try to figure out why you like them so much. Then watch Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig, or Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem, or even Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill. Is the HP book adaptation really a better movie than any of the other ones? If you say yes, I'll take another look, and try to find what I'm missing. But I'm guessing if you're really honest with yourself, you'll say no.
I do enjoy you up on your soapbox.
ReplyDeleteHow on God's green earth is the sixth movie rated above the fifth movie? Above any of them? That travesty should be destroyed and never witnessed by anyone ever again. Though I suspect your idea of deleting all Ginny Weasley scenes would help, since she shows up an unnecessary amount of times doing stupid things in that movie.
And, The Molly vs Bellatrix duel might have been improved if Molly hollered "you bitch" at her. Instead, she sort of whispered it at her in a hallway, while the entirety of her family stood about 2 feet away watching. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Bellatrix, the total psychopath, would have left off dueling Molly to shoot a few unforgivables at the kiddies.
I think its obvious when the directors/producers/writers/whoever is behind the film don't love and care about the material as much as we do. Look at Spielberg spending hours trying to find a way to get the footprint vibrations just right in JP. Look at the Cohen brothers obsessing over every little detail (including Bardem's ridiculous haircut!) for NCfOM (that's quite an acronym). Look at the magic Peter Jackson created in Middle Earth.
If you go into something without loving it, it shows. The work is sloppy, shoddy, rushed, and insulting to everyone else. Unfortunately, not everyone takes as much pride in their work as you do.