It's been hard to ignore... everywhere I have turned, whether it be TV, the theaters, or a bus ad by my work, I have seen the tagline for the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II stating that "It all ends here."
I would like to think the end of a series is where everything ends. I mean, didn't the Lord of the Rings trilogy end with Return of the King? It didn't need to tell us it was over (it did it eight times). The fact is, using the phrase "It all ends here" seems about as relevant as naming your movie THE Final Destination when there is undoubtedly a sequel the following year.
True, I would love to believe that this is the end of the Harry Potter cannon. It reached it's convenient conclusion and leaves the question "Where do you go from here?" Hopefully this is more career advice than sequel implications. I am fine with there being numerous spin-offs of fan fiction on Pottermore this Fall, but as for stories? I would hope that it all ends here.
However, the one thing that has offended me the most is one of the earliest trailers for this movie. One that I saw late last year, which boldly stated that this would be "The movie of a generation."
I don't buy into any type of hype, but this just royally offended me. I didn't feel the movies up to this point had given them permission to use that phrase. I felt that title should be EARNED over time, not because a franchise has earned billions. There are numerous pieces of iconography that must be placed into the movie to even come close to earning that, and I doubt it would be able to achieve that on it's own.
Now, before I begin to analyse everything, I want to state that I am okay with what the franchise has become. I am fine with the numerous references, costumes, and appreciation for the magical world.
Yet most of all, I am most proud of the books as a launching pad for those who have decided to start reading fiction because of J.K. Rowling's tales. To me, that was the ultimate phenomenon, watching my classmates eat up every line and my elders equally enthusiastic over the content. I think the book's biggest charm is that it managed to escape school book burnings for "witchcraft" and become one of the most beloved series, including a place on Entertainment Weekly's Best Books of the Past 20 Years (Goblet of Fire made the list for it's blending of childlike sensibilities with the dark second half).
Somehow, though, I felt that if anything deserved that title of "It all ends here," it was Deathly Hallows, released on June 21, 2007.
I remember that I never went to a midnight release party for the books. It was never my style. However, I sat around with Anna on June 20 and we jokingly suggested that we go to the release that night to see what the hubub was all about. If anything, we used it as an excuse that it was the last book. Oddly enough, our mom was on board, so we actually went.
Sure enough, it wasn't really a party, but just a chance to notice the enthusiasm for the series. When we stood in line at the Barnes and Noble and waited to get through the door and get our pre-ordered book, there were people dressed up, screaming as they burst out the other side holding the book, revealing for the first time the final book's cover art. There were signs posting of the page numbers left in the series. In that hour long wait, the enthusiasm never died.
When I got that book, I was fairly ecstatic, though a whole book behind. I did my best to avoid spoilers, but couldn't help but read evidence that this book mattered. It had sold 15 million by the time the Los Angeles Times hit my door step the following morning.
I cannot remember legitimate enthusiasm for books since. You can argue Breaking Dawn stood a good chance, but the audience there seems more secluded. I've held many of conversations with my college friends about the legitimacy of Twilight series, and usually the consensus is Mad Libs with vampires and werewolves.
Somehow, it seemed heartbreaking when the books finally were released. This was all I had left to read of a series I had been following since 1998. There would be no more thrills left connected to my childhood (at least until Toy Story 3), which was a big deal. I remember initially being upset about that finale, but my friends were usually more pacifist towards it.
If anything, I took some time to wonder if these books would hold up like, say, Lord of the Rings and be beloved by numerous generations, or just fade out as a series of books that were turned into really successful movies. With all the phenomena surrounding it, it was hard to tell, even though it probably will be remembered notably for it's transcendence across numerous generations, and it's ability to sell so well.
Can I say the same for the movies?
Before we critique the movies, let us do some build-up to my history with the series.
I cannot remember the date, but I was coming home from a time share meeting one day. I had been in day care for a fair amount of time watching Nickelodeon. In my dad's old green Chevrolet, we were heading home and he hands me this book from my Nana called Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. I read the scribbled birthday wishes on the first page and gave it a shot.
It almost seemed like nothing else mattered as I was introduced to basilisks, Hogwarts, and Bertie Bott's. I remember being in a waiting room at a therapy session when I first read the phrase "The boy who lived" and being deeply enamored by it, even if the impact meant little at the time.
It continued, and I dreamed up the entire world simply by the small cartoon etches at the beginning of every chapter. By the end when I discovered Professor Quirrel's secret, I had one of my top 10 shocking moments in pop culture history EVER. It had been built up to be Snape's fault the entire time, so when I got to the page before, turning it to discover Quirrel managed to hit pretty hard.
Not since had I managed to hit a surprise that hard in anything. This is not to say that none of the books were as good. In fact, I really enjoyed the sequential books, discovering the universe and the roots of Tom Riddle, Moaning Myrtle (which was the name a street near our house. I would make really bad jokes about it from time to time), and Sirius Black.
The universe was amazing, if notably for it's ability to be descriptive without being redundant or insulting. The relationships were very creative, if notably for it's abilities to show new dynamics to teacher/student relationships and the very anarchistic concept that maybe your educator was a bastard.
Of all of the books, the Prisoner of Azkaban remains the BEST. It was not necessarily the turning point (Goblet of Fire kind of was), but it featured some of the things I loved most about the series: the Death Eaters, Azkaban, Sirius Black, transformations, off campus activities, Cho Chang, the fact portraits could leave at any time.
It was such an amazing, possibly life changing book for me. All of the concepts were very surface and interesting, but it also featured a lot of depth, including more exploration into certain relationships involving James and Lilly Potter.
It also is that one book Voldemort didn't appear in (yes, it's Halloween III: Season of the Witch all over again). Not that it mattered. I just felt the fact that Crookshanks wasn't just a cat and Scabers wasn't just a rat was more mind blowing for me than any battle Voldemort (and I'm including ALL of the books) ever fought.
I felt this was essentially what the series was about: creativity and imagination while discovering yourself in a dark, cruel world. Goblet of Fire was an excellent continuation of this concept, though by Order of the Phoenix, it seemed to be more reliant on dark terror and political upturn. This didn't stop me from finishing the series, but I definitely took forever to read Half-Blood Prince as a result.
I commend J.K. Rowling on possibly helping me grow as a person and stay creative. The impact those books had is possibly more crucial when it's realized that I wasn't the only one talking about it on the playground. The fact I could openly chat about Azkaban and Albus Dumbledore was important to my growth not only as a nerd, but in general socialization. Few books have managed to give me that boost since (though I'm hoping the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will boost me into higher pantheons).
And then, in 2001, around the age of 12, it began. Christopher Columbus was attached to adapt the Sorceror's Stone into a full length movie. I was excited, especially since I had just given the new Goblet of Fire (released on my birthday) a loving review. I remember making a big deal about it, and demanding that this would become a family event in which we would see every film as a family.
I can remember seeing Sorceror's Stone amongst all of the hysteria in a theater at the Lakewood Mall that no longer exists. With my limited knowledge of cinema (remember, this is at least 1,200 movies ago), I was not able to notice any big flaws on the first time around.
What happened instead was my excitement to see if they could pull off the major scenes: how does Platform 9 3/4 look? What's the entrance to Diagon Alley like? What's inside Gringotts and Hogwarts? How are the moving staircases going to look? What about Quidditch (which I had been mispronouncing as KWI-ditch up until then)?
But most importantly...
That life changing moment...
What did Voldemort look like?
I had been able to make up my imagination for most of that book, but I never could grasp Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrel. I had an idea, but I just needed to see it. I don't remember that it was amazing, but the moment I saw it, it would be a face I'd grow accustomed to over the next 10 years.
That weak, shriveled face on the back of Quirrel's head. It wasn't as life changing as the book, but it felt like my youngest memory of fan service. I loved it, even if now it's become as annoyingly overused as the birth of Darth Vader in the Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith Burger King ads.
To say the least, I was willing to give that movie my love. Even Chamber of Secrets had moments that I enjoyed. I haven't watched most of these since their initial theatrical run, but my memory for the first few is a mix of memorable experiences, and a sense of fan service, that what the books said was now on the screen.
It's hard to really say what happened to me around Prisoner of Azkaban. I should have been excited. It was THE book. This deserved to be THE movie. Maybe it was Goblet of Fire where I dropped off in adoration, but as I watched the introductions of every character, and listening to a Rastafarian bus tell me "Why the long faces?" I kind of felt that I was starting to grow apart.
It's notably weird when people say that this was THE best movie in the entire run. I will admit, I was excited to see Sirius Black and the Death Eaters, but I just wasn't in love with it. Maybe it was the increasingly dark undertones that felt out of place from my memories of the three times I had read the book up until that point (in fact, fans everywhere complain for the same reasons).
Maybe the overall problem for me was a subtle plot point that had bugged me the entire film. Where was Cho Chang, that scrappy Ravenclaw girl? I strictly remember her in the book and I was upset the entire drive home about it. I don't know if I ever forgave the series for pushing her appearance for a later moment.
However, of all of the directors that had stayed with me since the movies, the one who directed Prisoner of Azkaban remains the only one I like. Alfonso Cuaron, an admittedly uninterested in the books director, took on that movie, and surprisingly, it didn't affect my love of his other movies, notably Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men, which both are beautiful works.
I cannot entirely remember when my relationship with the series in general began to fade, but by Order of the Phoenix, I had lost the love for characters that I did Goblet of Fire and back. Even when I went to see Goblet of Fire two years later, I just didn't seem that invested, even with a spectacular opening sequence.
Why was that? I'm not entirely sure. I think it was just the general shift in tone. It was no longer about sense and wonder, but finding out that you need to take a stand against the dark arts... and find a girlfriend to join Dumbledore's Army. While the last book restored some of my interest in the series (I liked the horcruxes), I wasn't able to recall with fascination small details.
The movies were less so. I couldn't even tell you what happened in Order of the Phoenix, and that was two years ago. All I remember is that it was very soap opera like and I felt that maybe these movies needed to end (even though I was all for a two part version of book seven). I just never loved the performances of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. They were standard. I didn't see the hubub of calling Radcliffe dreamy, or the running joke that every Brit was in a Harry Potter movie at some point (it felt like ignorance).
I no longer got the phenomenon, peaking around Order of the Phoenix. Everyone seemed in love with catching reruns on ABC Family and stating the brilliance of the movies.
Maybe it was because by then, I had seen a lot of movies and I had a better understanding on quality storytelling and use of special effects. I found movies that used a lot of ideas featured in Harry Potter's stories and used it better. I eventually began to see Harry Potter's movies as just a fulfillment of contract, having to hit the finale to please those uninterested to just read the books.
I never quite got into the socialization on the playground feel that I did for books with the movies. I occasionally talk to co-workers about the movies, but my general consensus lacks the enthusiasm it did when I could tell you "Harry has an uncle!" and it meant something. All of the movies have been spoiled by my imagination, established five years before the movie's release.
If anything, it undid what the books accomplished. I was the outcast again, left to debate how the movies sucked by myself. I remember one time, back when I was friends with Jennifer, she stated "This is the worst thing since the first Harry Potter movie."
To me, that was a bold statement. Even though I disliked the movies, I never talked shit on the first two, which established this universe. Those were the moments that I was passionate about the films, because I felt connected. However, I've had teachers tell me that the first two movies sucked.
Maybe I am a terrible movie critique person, but these movies just are lackluster. I know the stories, and they are not any better in cinematic form. I feel no more passion for Harry, Hermione, and Ron on the big screen. They just seem to exist to taunt me back into alienation of not only realizing that I'll never be able to turn these people on to better use of their cinematic experience.
And yet, it's all come down to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II. Millions of fans are excited, while my family is groaning the tradition I made 10 years ago. I feel nostalgic and kind of sad, realizing the power of the books and that they will be a hard thing to replace.
However, I do kind of feel amazing amount of envy both ways when it comes to seeing people picking up those books for the first time. I envy them because they just discovered the magic of those stories (yet, those movies probably already made the experience jaded) and I don't because they'll never have the same personal feel that it did to be there in line, waiting to be one of the first to get a copy. I worry the former will be the initial downfall of these books, because who knows if they will have the same impact to a generation entirely stripped of experiencing the phenomena first hand (I never experienced Lord of the Rings first hand, which may be why I have enjoyed the movies far more. They were part of my childhood and seeing them on the big screen has kept them fondly in my heart, especially when quoting Smeagol. Also, it's just better film making and conscious storytelling. In fact, with the two franchises competing, I once wondered which would be more successful in numbers. Sadly, we all know, even though Lord of the Rings leaves a better taste).
I'd like to think Jennifer was cool when she posted a video on youtube telling me she was at a guy's house about to watch Goblet of Fire, but besides just hurting my initial opinions of her, I felt like saying "You have so many better choices. TCM probably has a classic on right now."
I suppose it's popcorn fair, but that doesn't make it any less important that it be good. If anything, I will accept that they were decent adaptations that left little impression on me after awhile (let's just put it this way: I felt there was more iconic, lasting imagery in New Moon than Order of the Phoenix). I could never back the fandom, though would be happy to debate the books with my friends, knowing that aspect of life still existed. To me, the books marked an end of an era, and my college buddies are the historians, fondly recalling it.
So, as Friday rolls around, and we have to say goodbye to Harry Potter the movies, will it be as grandiose as the day Lord of the Rings: Return of the King told us "You bow to no one?" Probably not. Deathly Hallows: Part I gave me little implication that it will be.
All it leaves me with is wonder on what will be of everyone involved with these movies. Will Daniel Radcliffe do Equus again? Will Rupert Grint ever make a sequel to Thunderpants (it's a real movie, look it up)? I'm sure they'll be successful, though victims of typecasting for awhile. However, my relationship with them is not solidified to make me care.
So, when I walk past the lobby and see the phrase "It all ends," I still feel a sigh of relief mixed with a snicker. I came to grow up with this series, and I've always defended that the movies were poor representations. However, I kind of wonder that in five years, will the movies be discussed with as much enthusiasm as Lord of the Rings, which came and went in their competition?
I don't know. I just hope next time the marketing won't play so much on pathos, expecting me to care, when it just raises flashbacks to an influential time in my childhood that was never matched. I'm sure in 20 years, I'll be telling youngsters about the phenomena and they won't care. I'll laugh it off, though cast a couple of tears when I find a copy of Prisoner of Azkaban I loaned them in my garbage bin.
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