Potter & miscellany

You will have to forgive me in advance of reading this post – I’m a little emotional this evening.

I watched the new Harry Potter movie tonight and I was a mess from pretty much beginning to end. To help me process my feelings, I'm going to wax a bit on my relationship with Mr. Potter.

I admit to being a minor Potter-phile. I discovered the series in the late 90’s and had to catch up with the first two books (already published by the time of my personal discovery). Starting with Book 3 and continuing through to Book 7, I pre-ordered each book and then promptly inhaled them upon receipt. I further admit to calling in sick once just so I could finish Book 4 after reading all night. After Book 4, I wised up and learned to time reading the new books over a weekend. I would start Friday night and literally read, without break, until I came out on the other side of the story. As each book seemed to get progressively bigger, these multi-day reading sessions were not a light matter.

While I will not offer literary criticism on the series – volumes have been written by others far more insightful and erudite than I – what I will comment on is that I never responded to the two main criticisms I heard about the stories: that they are for and about kids and the prevalence of “magic” (like magic automatically renders something as silly as a guy pulling a rabbit out of a hat at a kids’ party or worse is fraught with unholiness). With respect to the target audience, some of my favorite books over the years were not expressly written for adults: Robin McKinley and Cynthia Voight are authors who come to mind. With respect to wizards and witchcraft, I am not at all bothered by the prominence of magic in the stories. I am willing to accept almost any conceit an author will promote if they can ably build the world around the conceit. The language and the locations and the behaviors of the Potter magic rang true for me from the beginning of the first book to the end of the seventh. As a reader, it is a remarkable experience to be utterly secure in the world the author has created but that’s what these stories were for me: quite remarkable.

I’m sure it goes without saying that I have seen all the movies – out of duty in the early movies and with increasing enthusiasm as they progressed through the series. While I have no pretensions of being a movie critic, I have a very special fondness for the movie of Book 3 due to its director Alfonso Cuarón. His vision provided the necessary transition from the bright, shiny awe of youthful magical discovery in the early movies to the relentless progression of gloom and dread as the stakes are raised for the heroes in the later movies. Each movie built on the last to the point where I don’t even see them as separate efforts but merely extensions – chapters if you will – of a whole. The consistency with the cast and the locations – if not precisely the directors – has just been a 10 year build up to this final movie. And, oh, the final movie, what a bravura effort. Seriously, two thumbs up from me.

Due to the enthusiastic postings of this blogger, I was especially primed to enjoy Deathly Hallows Part 2. This gal has been on a multi-week, all-things-Harry Potter meltdown countdown. Nearly every post for the last few weeks has been Potter-themed and I've been along for the ride. Of all the things she posted, this video was, by far, my favorite.

Also, as a bonus, Dan Rad was a guest on the Daily Show on Monday. His appearance is pretty great so I recommend watching the whole clip here. If not, I will leave you with this.