Has it only been 2 1/2 weeks since I dipped my head into the Harry Potter pensieve and found myself sucked into its universe once again? The total audio immersion has been a fantasy escape much needed and desired, though the periodic skips and skids of the cd recordings provided far too much unwanted intrusion from this mundane world to which I perforce now return, if ever so briefly.
I am, after all, only here to take another breath prior to resubmerging myself, this time into the video interpretation of the texts. I suspect this will only take 2-3 days, however, after which I will feel obliged to reread all the texts, having thoroughly confused myself as to which events belong to which medium.
This morning I reminisced delightedly on the reminder that the Ravenclaw dormitory requires not a password, but an astute response to a query that requires divergent thinking, or at least thinking. Hermione really would have found great pleasure in that house, though clearly she would have missed out on much fun and many physical adventures in exchange.
Okay, going back in. When I resurface, I shall probably ruminate further.
Showing posts with label hp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hp. Show all posts
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, October 27, 2007
One Week Later
Don't rush me; I'm slow. It's taken me a whole week to come to what should have been an obvious observation about the whole Albus Dumbledore uproar, but I think I've finally got it:
A dear, sweet young man of my acquaintance and I were discussing the final book when I asked him if he'd heard the latest buzz out of NYC. Upon being told that the author had declared unequivocally that Albus Dumbledore had been gay, he said, "I don't know what to do with that information."
Now, if this bombshell was intended as a test, then there can be only one obvious answer, elusive though it seems to have proven to the many commentators eager to declaim throughout this past week. We readers, if we have learned anything from this series as we have traveled along the road to maturity with Harry Potter, should do as Harry did upon learning of his mentor's clay feet: ignore it. It's a matter of fact vs. truth, and the truth of the matter is that Albus Dumbledore was an excellent headmaster and educator who instilled in Harry the knowledge, values, and mindset necessary to accomplish the task at hand when the time came to do so. All the rest is interesting but ultimately irrelevant.
So when one discusses Dumbledore's sexuality, it is a matter of tangential interest only, not pertinent to the narrative that has so gripped the attention of the world and fired the imaginations of an entire generation (and a half) of readers. DD's private life, like that of the other faculty members, is no one's business but his own. The only adult whose personal life is relevant to the narrative is that of Severus Snape because it underlies his every choice and action. Even Tom Riddle's personal life does not merit scrutiny, (if only because he never really had one).
That said, I'm not sure that even Rowling has the right to declare Albus Dumbledore absolutely gay. While he clearly had a youthful infatuation with a fellow wizard, there is no evidence that he continued to pursue such interests in later life. I prefer the idea that AD had a habit of loving individuals, regardless of station or gender identification. Again, it's all of tangential interest but ultimately irrelevant.
A dear, sweet young man of my acquaintance and I were discussing the final book when I asked him if he'd heard the latest buzz out of NYC. Upon being told that the author had declared unequivocally that Albus Dumbledore had been gay, he said, "I don't know what to do with that information."
Now, if this bombshell was intended as a test, then there can be only one obvious answer, elusive though it seems to have proven to the many commentators eager to declaim throughout this past week. We readers, if we have learned anything from this series as we have traveled along the road to maturity with Harry Potter, should do as Harry did upon learning of his mentor's clay feet: ignore it. It's a matter of fact vs. truth, and the truth of the matter is that Albus Dumbledore was an excellent headmaster and educator who instilled in Harry the knowledge, values, and mindset necessary to accomplish the task at hand when the time came to do so. All the rest is interesting but ultimately irrelevant.
So when one discusses Dumbledore's sexuality, it is a matter of tangential interest only, not pertinent to the narrative that has so gripped the attention of the world and fired the imaginations of an entire generation (and a half) of readers. DD's private life, like that of the other faculty members, is no one's business but his own. The only adult whose personal life is relevant to the narrative is that of Severus Snape because it underlies his every choice and action. Even Tom Riddle's personal life does not merit scrutiny, (if only because he never really had one).
That said, I'm not sure that even Rowling has the right to declare Albus Dumbledore absolutely gay. While he clearly had a youthful infatuation with a fellow wizard, there is no evidence that he continued to pursue such interests in later life. I prefer the idea that AD had a habit of loving individuals, regardless of station or gender identification. Again, it's all of tangential interest but ultimately irrelevant.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Still Mulling Over HP
The term "vol" is French for flight + de (down or away from) + mort = death, so the former French teacher named her arch villain flight from death, which makes perfect sense.
The question arose again today, how many horcruxes were there altogether? Reflex suggests seven or eight, depending on how one thinks. Logic dictates the following breakdown:
1 - diary
2 - ring
3 - locket
4 - cup
5 - tiara
6 - Nagini
These six were intentionally made by Tom Riddle, whose query asked about splitting one's soul into seven parts. Reasonably, he'd need to keep the seventh part within himself in order to hold it all together; otherwise, he'd be no better than those kissed by dementors (not that he was anyway).
Accidentally, Lord Voldemort, (who actually became LV by beginning his flight from death when he committed his first murder of Moaning Myrtle in the Girls' Bathroom over half a century earlier,) split his soul into an eighth part when he sadistically killed James and especially Lily Potter. Before he could kill the littlest Potter, he'd already turned the child into a seventh horcrux.
To sum up: seven horcruxes, eight pieces of soul. Unfortunately for ambitious Tom Riddle, he overshot his intended goal. One wonders if missing that lucky seven is what really caused him to crap out...
Who has Vegas on the brain?
The question arose again today, how many horcruxes were there altogether? Reflex suggests seven or eight, depending on how one thinks. Logic dictates the following breakdown:
1 - diary
2 - ring
3 - locket
4 - cup
5 - tiara
6 - Nagini
These six were intentionally made by Tom Riddle, whose query asked about splitting one's soul into seven parts. Reasonably, he'd need to keep the seventh part within himself in order to hold it all together; otherwise, he'd be no better than those kissed by dementors (not that he was anyway).
Accidentally, Lord Voldemort, (who actually became LV by beginning his flight from death when he committed his first murder of Moaning Myrtle in the Girls' Bathroom over half a century earlier,) split his soul into an eighth part when he sadistically killed James and especially Lily Potter. Before he could kill the littlest Potter, he'd already turned the child into a seventh horcrux.
To sum up: seven horcruxes, eight pieces of soul. Unfortunately for ambitious Tom Riddle, he overshot his intended goal. One wonders if missing that lucky seven is what really caused him to crap out...
Who has Vegas on the brain?
Saturday, September 15, 2007
A Random Thought
RE: Harry Potter
One might wonder at Harry's willingness to give Tom Riddle so many opportunities to repent his evil ways when the latter is so clearly without remorse and, therefore, beyond redemption. If, however, one looks back to the beginning of the final volume as Harry is preparing to depart Privet Drive for the final time, one sees Harry come to the realization that his cousin Dudley, whom he has long believed to be beyond hope of humanity, has had a change of heart since that fateful night two summers ago in that dark alley bracketed by the dementors of Delores Umbridge. If Dudley, despite being the spawn of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, can experience such a change of heart and turnaround in personality, surely anyone has like potential. All that is required is a dementor-like experience to shake one out of one's complacency.
So what do you suppose would have served a like function for Tom Riddle, and how late in life might it have occurred and still been effective? When was it just too late for the love potion child, or is prenatal chemical interference just damage done too early?
One might wonder at Harry's willingness to give Tom Riddle so many opportunities to repent his evil ways when the latter is so clearly without remorse and, therefore, beyond redemption. If, however, one looks back to the beginning of the final volume as Harry is preparing to depart Privet Drive for the final time, one sees Harry come to the realization that his cousin Dudley, whom he has long believed to be beyond hope of humanity, has had a change of heart since that fateful night two summers ago in that dark alley bracketed by the dementors of Delores Umbridge. If Dudley, despite being the spawn of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, can experience such a change of heart and turnaround in personality, surely anyone has like potential. All that is required is a dementor-like experience to shake one out of one's complacency.
So what do you suppose would have served a like function for Tom Riddle, and how late in life might it have occurred and still been effective? When was it just too late for the love potion child, or is prenatal chemical interference just damage done too early?
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Bright Light Bright Light
It's been blazing bright and smoking hot here for what seems like forever. In fact, it's so bright that I can't make anything out through the haziness hanging like a veil over everything. That's its own kind of fogginess, I guess... It's actually cooler with the west-facing front door shut in the afternoons, despite the significant decrease in oxygen flow. Ah well...
My "N" has decided to go on walkabout. I didn't even know I had an Australian keyboard. Ah well...
Finally finished the Deathly Hallows "quiz" I'd so eagerly volunteered to write back in July. I'd desperately wanted to finish before August did, but some things are just not meant to be. So the thirty questions somehow became 210 - brevity is not my long suit. Ah well...
My mind is turning to mush; can you tell? This really is just blather. I'd rather be talking about Harry Potter...
I'd been perusing the book, looking for grist for my million question quiz, when I noticed Dumbledore's comment that he'd actually been counting on Hermione to slow Harry down. I confess that thought bothered me, as it seems to me that Hermione is the one who kept Harry moving every time he bogged down. Am I off-base with that thought?
Then there's Ginny. I have been waiting for her to present herself as an awesome witch capable of taking on the world, a true kindred spirit to Lily Evans and thus a fit mate for Harry. Instead, I find that she is a lovestruck girl willing to wait for her boy to become a man, as is the ever so talented Hermione. Everything these young women do seems intended to further their men's ambitions. What's up with that?
I really don't understand Hermione, aside from so many of us expecting her to wind up with Ron in the end. He's a worthless sod if ever there was one: callow, shallow, slow on the uptake, manipulative and exploitative when it comes to his relationships with females. It must be in the nonverbals. After all, I adore Rupert Grint, who evidently "gets" Ronald Weasley, but the way the character is written, I'd shoot him as soon as look at him. Hm... too American? Ah well...
Speaking of American, am I alone in thinking that Rowling wrote a classic Western showdown at sunrise (instead of sunup, cuz the symbolism just works so much better that way...)? There's Harry, mysteriously reappearing after having been taken for dead, jawing away while the sun rises. There's a flurry of motion, a loud bang, and the villain is dead. The crowd goes wild! Yep, every Saturday matinee, every Western, every Star Wars episode - all right there on the same page. Is it my imagination? I think not.
(Hm... does that mean that I disagree or that I truly am not thinking? Hm... mushbrain, indeed...)
Y'know, I'd missed the part where LV got KO'd by the first A-K he tossed at Harry back in the Forbidden Forest en route to Harry's version of King's Cross Station. I'd wondered what Bellatrix was doing cooing over him... yeah, that was strange without the understanding that the dude had hit the dirt, if ever so briefly... Talk about slow learners!
Yep, definitely rambling today.
Say hey, why don'tcha?
My "N" has decided to go on walkabout. I didn't even know I had an Australian keyboard. Ah well...
Finally finished the Deathly Hallows "quiz" I'd so eagerly volunteered to write back in July. I'd desperately wanted to finish before August did, but some things are just not meant to be. So the thirty questions somehow became 210 - brevity is not my long suit. Ah well...
My mind is turning to mush; can you tell? This really is just blather. I'd rather be talking about Harry Potter...
I'd been perusing the book, looking for grist for my million question quiz, when I noticed Dumbledore's comment that he'd actually been counting on Hermione to slow Harry down. I confess that thought bothered me, as it seems to me that Hermione is the one who kept Harry moving every time he bogged down. Am I off-base with that thought?
Then there's Ginny. I have been waiting for her to present herself as an awesome witch capable of taking on the world, a true kindred spirit to Lily Evans and thus a fit mate for Harry. Instead, I find that she is a lovestruck girl willing to wait for her boy to become a man, as is the ever so talented Hermione. Everything these young women do seems intended to further their men's ambitions. What's up with that?
I really don't understand Hermione, aside from so many of us expecting her to wind up with Ron in the end. He's a worthless sod if ever there was one: callow, shallow, slow on the uptake, manipulative and exploitative when it comes to his relationships with females. It must be in the nonverbals. After all, I adore Rupert Grint, who evidently "gets" Ronald Weasley, but the way the character is written, I'd shoot him as soon as look at him. Hm... too American? Ah well...
Speaking of American, am I alone in thinking that Rowling wrote a classic Western showdown at sunrise (instead of sunup, cuz the symbolism just works so much better that way...)? There's Harry, mysteriously reappearing after having been taken for dead, jawing away while the sun rises. There's a flurry of motion, a loud bang, and the villain is dead. The crowd goes wild! Yep, every Saturday matinee, every Western, every Star Wars episode - all right there on the same page. Is it my imagination? I think not.
(Hm... does that mean that I disagree or that I truly am not thinking? Hm... mushbrain, indeed...)
Y'know, I'd missed the part where LV got KO'd by the first A-K he tossed at Harry back in the Forbidden Forest en route to Harry's version of King's Cross Station. I'd wondered what Bellatrix was doing cooing over him... yeah, that was strange without the understanding that the dude had hit the dirt, if ever so briefly... Talk about slow learners!
Yep, definitely rambling today.
Say hey, why don'tcha?
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Hello from HI
So here I sit in sunny Hawaii, hunched over my recalcitrant keyboard trying to get back into blogging, all because Siri, a most respected poster from the now sadly defunct HPForums, was kind enough to remind me of life online here. Thanks, Siri! :->
My cable modem here sucks big time, but I intend to resolve that later this morning, just as soon as the local company opens and I can effect an exchange, hopefully to a superior piece of equipment... Still, I've been bubbling over with thoughts, so here we go -
The evening of July 20th I was sitting in my father's hospital room, mulling over my intended strategies for obtaining a copy of HP: DH, when an innocent, unsuspecting family friend walked in to visit Dad and let drop that there was a copy on reserve at the local bookstore. With no reservations whatsoever, I foisted myself upon my unsuspecting victim and caught a midnight ride down to the store. Foolishly, we arrived at 12:20 instead of 12:30, so I had to wait in line while the store staff worked feverishly to service the long lines of eager customers. Those of us unwilling to await midnight had the dubious pleasure of watching others more beforehand walking away with their noses in books. More disturbing, perhaps, was the sight of those driving away reading... Oh wait, that kid was riding shotgun...
Finally I had the book in my hands. Back at the hospital the Security Desk fellows gave me grief over my obsession, but I didn't care: I had the book.
Upstairs, however, Dad had his revenge. Every time I started to read, he'd call me, his auditory "call button", for help. Every time I found my place again, he'd call again. It was a long short night that left me ever so slightly exhausted and frustrated.
Fortunately, Dad proved to be exhausted, too, and slept through Sunday almost without a stir. It was a bit of a turning point for him, and once I'd had a bit of a nap, I was able to read unimpeded, finishing around 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. I make no apologies for the delay, and I have to say, it was a great read!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment in J. K. Rowling's seven-volume epic bulding-romans, (sp?) is a satisfying fulfillment of the fifteen years of teasing and tormenting the author and we readers have enjoyed. I am, however, glad that I came in halfway through, as I don't know that I would have stayed so long, had I been there at the beginning. (Something to do with age and time of life, I think.)
Like the Israelites wandering for forty years in the wilderness, like Jesus in the desert for forty days, like Odysseus en route home for ten-and-a-half years longer than anyone else, Harry and his friends are sent on the road to finish their growth and education. It is for them what the formerly traditional world tour was intended to be for Elphias Doge and Albus Dumbledore in the previous generation: a journey physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual dimensions wherein that crossing from childhood to adulthood is effected, wherein physical demons and personal demons are encountered and, hopefully, conquered. This is, in fact, precisely what happens. Harry faces off against Nagini in the form of Bathilda Bagshot, Ron faces his greatest insecurities against the Hufflepuff Cup horcrux, and Hermione faces off against intellectual challenges, conflicting emotional loyalties and desires, and (offstage,) her own locket horcrux, appropriately enough with Ron by her side and Gryffindor's Sword in her hands. Most important, perhaps, Harry faces off against the mental link between himself and Voldemort, learning to use it and yet to block it at need. Does this latter mean that Rowling advocates the use of evil in the battle for good? Hm...
I like that Ron gets his own personal struggle, albeit offstage. He chooses recklessly, experiences immediate regret, then gets to spend a fair portion of (again appropriately) the winter months struggling to return, to regain the privileged footing he once held so lightly.
Dumbledore is tumbled from his pedestal but, like Ron, allowed a return to grace. I like the balance of perspective, the blending of humanity and fallibility and ulterior agenda with the idealism that fuels everything. The whole dead/not quite dead sequence reaffirms my earlier thought that Rowling is a 21st century Inkler, in the tradition of Tolkien and Lewis, who sought more contemporary ways to retell the tales of sacrifice and salvation rooted in Christianity and in Greco-Roman mythologies preceding it.
Dobby may not be a screen favorite, but his is a poignant storyline. Harry's manual labor on Dobby's behalf echoes of other scenes dancing just on the periphery of my memory at the moment... More later, if I remember...
I like Kreacher this time around.
Percy the Prat returns. His explanation is succinct, which is good. Such a jerk doesn't deserve a lot of page time, though I can't help but be pleased that he returns, if only to affirm Molly's and Arthur's parenting skills.
It was as sad to see Fred dead as it was funny to see George after the loss of his ear. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks all got short shrift, but that's pretty true to life, as death goes...
It was great to see the teachers finally getting to strut their magical stuff, and I do hope they get decent film time as the sequence is really more visual than verbal, but what I loved best about the Final Battle of Hogwarts was Molly, followed closely by the cameo of Neville's Grams climbing through the hole.
Gotta love Molly Weasley's battle scene with Bellatrix. We've been seeing her potential all along, and this is proof positive that there is no greater wrath than that of a mother whose offspring are being threatened, never mind scorned women. I particularly liked that Bellatrix, like Sirius before her, died as much from overconfidence and underetimating as from anything else. It seemed fitting.
Neville ascending is awesome. I particularly like the irony that Voldemort gets taken out by the one-two punch of both boys that might have fulfilled the prophecy, suggesting that he was doomed from the get-go, no matter which lad he had targeted. Neville takes out Nagini, and Harry is Voldemort's final blow. I particularly like that Harry is relatively passive, that evil is its own destroyer.
That reminds me, I like that every single horcrux is destroyed by someone different, so that no one person really deserves all the credit:
Diary = Harry
Ring = Dumbledore
Cup = Ron
Locket = Hermione
Tiara = Crabbe (the idiot)
Nagini = Neville
Harry = Tom Riddle
Note that it's all a combined effort of Gryffindors and Slytherins, the two most active Houses of Hogwarts. As Phineas Nigellus says, Slytherin does, indeed, play its part as a positive contribution to the ultimate triumph of Good over Evil.
Speaking of Slytherin, I love that I was right about Snape but hadn't figured it all out completely. I had suspected that when Petunia said, "That awful boy!" she might have been referring to Snape rather than James, though I couldn't figure out how that might have been possible. I also suspected that Snape had had a thing for Lily, as indeed, all the boys evidently did back in the day. I just wish Snape could have had more page time, but as usual, this just wasn't meant to be his story. Poor guy, always getting upstaged by Potters...
Last, but certainly not least, I want to know more about Albus Severus, who has already won me over. Curiously, the next-gen James is no more interesting to me than the original was. I wonder how she did that...
So what do you think? ;->
My cable modem here sucks big time, but I intend to resolve that later this morning, just as soon as the local company opens and I can effect an exchange, hopefully to a superior piece of equipment... Still, I've been bubbling over with thoughts, so here we go -
The evening of July 20th I was sitting in my father's hospital room, mulling over my intended strategies for obtaining a copy of HP: DH, when an innocent, unsuspecting family friend walked in to visit Dad and let drop that there was a copy on reserve at the local bookstore. With no reservations whatsoever, I foisted myself upon my unsuspecting victim and caught a midnight ride down to the store. Foolishly, we arrived at 12:20 instead of 12:30, so I had to wait in line while the store staff worked feverishly to service the long lines of eager customers. Those of us unwilling to await midnight had the dubious pleasure of watching others more beforehand walking away with their noses in books. More disturbing, perhaps, was the sight of those driving away reading... Oh wait, that kid was riding shotgun...
Finally I had the book in my hands. Back at the hospital the Security Desk fellows gave me grief over my obsession, but I didn't care: I had the book.
Upstairs, however, Dad had his revenge. Every time I started to read, he'd call me, his auditory "call button", for help. Every time I found my place again, he'd call again. It was a long short night that left me ever so slightly exhausted and frustrated.
Fortunately, Dad proved to be exhausted, too, and slept through Sunday almost without a stir. It was a bit of a turning point for him, and once I'd had a bit of a nap, I was able to read unimpeded, finishing around 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon. I make no apologies for the delay, and I have to say, it was a great read!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment in J. K. Rowling's seven-volume epic bulding-romans, (sp?) is a satisfying fulfillment of the fifteen years of teasing and tormenting the author and we readers have enjoyed. I am, however, glad that I came in halfway through, as I don't know that I would have stayed so long, had I been there at the beginning. (Something to do with age and time of life, I think.)
Like the Israelites wandering for forty years in the wilderness, like Jesus in the desert for forty days, like Odysseus en route home for ten-and-a-half years longer than anyone else, Harry and his friends are sent on the road to finish their growth and education. It is for them what the formerly traditional world tour was intended to be for Elphias Doge and Albus Dumbledore in the previous generation: a journey physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual dimensions wherein that crossing from childhood to adulthood is effected, wherein physical demons and personal demons are encountered and, hopefully, conquered. This is, in fact, precisely what happens. Harry faces off against Nagini in the form of Bathilda Bagshot, Ron faces his greatest insecurities against the Hufflepuff Cup horcrux, and Hermione faces off against intellectual challenges, conflicting emotional loyalties and desires, and (offstage,) her own locket horcrux, appropriately enough with Ron by her side and Gryffindor's Sword in her hands. Most important, perhaps, Harry faces off against the mental link between himself and Voldemort, learning to use it and yet to block it at need. Does this latter mean that Rowling advocates the use of evil in the battle for good? Hm...
I like that Ron gets his own personal struggle, albeit offstage. He chooses recklessly, experiences immediate regret, then gets to spend a fair portion of (again appropriately) the winter months struggling to return, to regain the privileged footing he once held so lightly.
Dumbledore is tumbled from his pedestal but, like Ron, allowed a return to grace. I like the balance of perspective, the blending of humanity and fallibility and ulterior agenda with the idealism that fuels everything. The whole dead/not quite dead sequence reaffirms my earlier thought that Rowling is a 21st century Inkler, in the tradition of Tolkien and Lewis, who sought more contemporary ways to retell the tales of sacrifice and salvation rooted in Christianity and in Greco-Roman mythologies preceding it.
Dobby may not be a screen favorite, but his is a poignant storyline. Harry's manual labor on Dobby's behalf echoes of other scenes dancing just on the periphery of my memory at the moment... More later, if I remember...
I like Kreacher this time around.
Percy the Prat returns. His explanation is succinct, which is good. Such a jerk doesn't deserve a lot of page time, though I can't help but be pleased that he returns, if only to affirm Molly's and Arthur's parenting skills.
It was as sad to see Fred dead as it was funny to see George after the loss of his ear. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks all got short shrift, but that's pretty true to life, as death goes...
It was great to see the teachers finally getting to strut their magical stuff, and I do hope they get decent film time as the sequence is really more visual than verbal, but what I loved best about the Final Battle of Hogwarts was Molly, followed closely by the cameo of Neville's Grams climbing through the hole.
Gotta love Molly Weasley's battle scene with Bellatrix. We've been seeing her potential all along, and this is proof positive that there is no greater wrath than that of a mother whose offspring are being threatened, never mind scorned women. I particularly liked that Bellatrix, like Sirius before her, died as much from overconfidence and underetimating as from anything else. It seemed fitting.
Neville ascending is awesome. I particularly like the irony that Voldemort gets taken out by the one-two punch of both boys that might have fulfilled the prophecy, suggesting that he was doomed from the get-go, no matter which lad he had targeted. Neville takes out Nagini, and Harry is Voldemort's final blow. I particularly like that Harry is relatively passive, that evil is its own destroyer.
That reminds me, I like that every single horcrux is destroyed by someone different, so that no one person really deserves all the credit:
Diary = Harry
Ring = Dumbledore
Cup = Ron
Locket = Hermione
Tiara = Crabbe (the idiot)
Nagini = Neville
Harry = Tom Riddle
Note that it's all a combined effort of Gryffindors and Slytherins, the two most active Houses of Hogwarts. As Phineas Nigellus says, Slytherin does, indeed, play its part as a positive contribution to the ultimate triumph of Good over Evil.
Speaking of Slytherin, I love that I was right about Snape but hadn't figured it all out completely. I had suspected that when Petunia said, "That awful boy!" she might have been referring to Snape rather than James, though I couldn't figure out how that might have been possible. I also suspected that Snape had had a thing for Lily, as indeed, all the boys evidently did back in the day. I just wish Snape could have had more page time, but as usual, this just wasn't meant to be his story. Poor guy, always getting upstaged by Potters...
Last, but certainly not least, I want to know more about Albus Severus, who has already won me over. Curiously, the next-gen James is no more interesting to me than the original was. I wonder how she did that...
So what do you think? ;->
Friday, July 13, 2007
Back Again: HP5
I'm briefly back from Hawaii, whence I must soon return. Meanwhile, my tail and I are chasing each other, but I have carved out a little time for really important things, like HP. :->
So today I finally fought through jet lag and my normal summer malaise to get up in a timely manner, get in my once customary workout, get cleaned up, then get myself over to a local plex. Pumping with adrenaline from my morning workout, (sporadic though it was,) I slid into line at the box office at precisely 11:30 a.m., the listed starting time for the showing I had targeted. I still managed to catch most of the previews, all of which I loved, (unlike those preceding Ratatouille, most of which I loathed.) I think Steve Carell (sp?) will make a perfect 21st century Maxwell Smart, and I'm very psyched about the upcoming Bourne Ultimatum. I'm even excited about the upcoming Disney offering, Enchanted, now that Patrick Dempsey is finally old enough to play a romantic lead in a frothy comedy, and what's not to like about mocking animation in real life?
But about the actual HP movie...
I loved the music-free opening, though I was a little startled by how butchered the Privet Drive segment proved to be. I can understand the need to tighten the story, and in many ways I think the writer made some judicious choices. I even think he does some very plausible foreshadowing of how Book 7 will (or can) conclude, and he does so in several places.
As I sit here reflecting on my first viewing experience, I can't help but feel that it was more like watching a slideshow book report than the actual narrative. I think I filled in quite a bit from memory, though I'll have to consult those of my acquaintances who only watch the movies to determine whether or not they feel that the narrative actually hangs together the way that it is presented. I'm going to make time to watch it again in IMAX, after which I'll blog how, if at all, my impressions change.
For now, here are some brief first impressions:
- Ginny got more camera time than Cho, which I thought was a bit much as foreshadowing goes...
- The Tonks/Lupin storyline was nowhere in evidence, despite Tonks' facial freak show at supper.
- Snape was pretty clearly more good than evil.
- Imelda Staunton is clearly a more powerful old meany than Dolores Umbridge.
- Where the book dragged, the movie felt rushed - just can't please some folks, I guess. ;->
So what did you think?
So today I finally fought through jet lag and my normal summer malaise to get up in a timely manner, get in my once customary workout, get cleaned up, then get myself over to a local plex. Pumping with adrenaline from my morning workout, (sporadic though it was,) I slid into line at the box office at precisely 11:30 a.m., the listed starting time for the showing I had targeted. I still managed to catch most of the previews, all of which I loved, (unlike those preceding Ratatouille, most of which I loathed.) I think Steve Carell (sp?) will make a perfect 21st century Maxwell Smart, and I'm very psyched about the upcoming Bourne Ultimatum. I'm even excited about the upcoming Disney offering, Enchanted, now that Patrick Dempsey is finally old enough to play a romantic lead in a frothy comedy, and what's not to like about mocking animation in real life?
But about the actual HP movie...
I loved the music-free opening, though I was a little startled by how butchered the Privet Drive segment proved to be. I can understand the need to tighten the story, and in many ways I think the writer made some judicious choices. I even think he does some very plausible foreshadowing of how Book 7 will (or can) conclude, and he does so in several places.
As I sit here reflecting on my first viewing experience, I can't help but feel that it was more like watching a slideshow book report than the actual narrative. I think I filled in quite a bit from memory, though I'll have to consult those of my acquaintances who only watch the movies to determine whether or not they feel that the narrative actually hangs together the way that it is presented. I'm going to make time to watch it again in IMAX, after which I'll blog how, if at all, my impressions change.
For now, here are some brief first impressions:
- Ginny got more camera time than Cho, which I thought was a bit much as foreshadowing goes...
- The Tonks/Lupin storyline was nowhere in evidence, despite Tonks' facial freak show at supper.
- Snape was pretty clearly more good than evil.
- Imelda Staunton is clearly a more powerful old meany than Dolores Umbridge.
- Where the book dragged, the movie felt rushed - just can't please some folks, I guess. ;->
So what did you think?
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