The Harry Potter Phenomenon and The Half Blood Prince
Tensions are rising as the wait for the new Harry Potter movie, ‘The Half Blood Prince’, is finally coming to an end. It has been two years since the release of ‘The Order of the Phoenix’ which hit cinemas in UK and Ireland all the way back in July 2007, and fans have eagerly (and patiently) been awaiting the arrival of this sixth film.
The Harry Potter phenomenon started in June 1997, with the release of JK Rowling’s first installment of the seven books: ‘The Philosophers Stone’.
To this day, I remember picking the book from the shelf, reading the back cover intently and immediately wanting to take it home. I was eleven, and so the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione – which obviously made the whole thing much more exciting! I instantly fell in love with it; the storyline, the characters, the magic and the idea of a school for witches and wizards – I literally couldn’t put the book down.
I wanted to be magic, I wanted a broomstick! (imagine that! Forget the car journey to the airport, the airport parking, the plane journey, the irritating coach trip on the other side – we’ll just take the broomstick!)
I wanted Ron and Hermione to be MY best friends and, of course, I wanted to be part of the Quidditch team. I even went to Waterstones for an evening with J.K Rowling, at which she said she would consider putting triplets in one of the books, because my younger siblings who are triplets were also in attendance, unfortunately, she never did.
It seemed that I, and my family, weren’t the only ones who caught the Harry Potter bug; from then on the book just seemed to spiral into a whole new world of popularity. Suddenly it was everywhere, and then came the films.
The first film, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone’ was released on 16 November 2001, was directed by Chris Columbus and in total generated $976,475,550. Four more films have followed the first, based on the books, in the same order, with changing directors and additional cast members as new characters are introduced. Statistically they have all proved to have been incredibly popular; although apparently not to everybody’s liking.
There has been some controversy over the films and how much they actually follow the the books. Critics and avid fans have suggested that, despite directors best efforts, the films do not stick rigidly enough to the book’s story lines and that too many details are left overlooked.
In fact, when I was at University, yes I still insisted on seeing the films even then. Two of my housemates, after seeing ‘The Goblet of Fire’ announced that they would not watch the remainder of the films due to their apparent inability to ‘be true’ to the books.
Like my housemates did, I love the books, they’re the kind that once you start reading them you just can’t put down. However, to go so far as to refuse to watch the remainder of the films just seems a ‘little’ over the top. I think that the films are well made and fun to watch, whether they follow the books entirely or not.
To a certain extent, you have to try and separate the film experience from the reading of a book. If you marry the two together too much it is easy to end up disliking most films made this way. When you read, you create your own images of the story in your head; of the characters, of the places, of the personalities etc. These will inevitably be, in your opinion, the best representation of the book as you are the one reading it.
Therefore, if you choose to watch a film based on a book, give the director, crew and cast some credit – their vision and the restraints a film puts on a it can’t appeal to everybody.
I find it easier to separate the films from the books and try to ignore the discrepancies, because I don’t think that they can match up perfectly.
You have to take the Potter films as they are; being aimed at the younger generation, they are fun to watch and simply based around the story lines of the books. Lets be honest, the books are all pretty exciting – so surely the films can’t go that wrong. Also, lets not forget, we wouldn’t have the films if they weren’t based on the books, so why not just enjoy them for what they are?
The sixth film, ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ looks set to be a pretty good one; if the book is anything to go by. The trailer looks fast paced and even more edgy than the last. It appears that the films are getting darker and darker, just as the books did as the series progressed.
Something that is quite amazing about the films is that, where possible, the same core characters have been used throughout. The actors chosen when they were mere eleven year olds, have grown up on the screen giving the films that endearing edge. It makes the relationships portrayed by the films and the growth of the characters that little bit more believable, as the actors grow closer together and to their respective characters.
It is also be helpful to some (no names mentioned) that as the younger actors themselves have grown up the Harry Potter movies have ended up with, lets face it, not a bad looking cast.
The only worry about the growing darkness, relationship based story lines and, quite frankly fairly scary scenes is that the films may be being made less accessible to the younger audience, at which the films were initially aimed? Although, if this is the case, they always have something to look forward when they are old enough to watch them!
I, myself, already have my ticket to the opening night of ‘The Half Blood Prince’ and am very excited about seeing it, despite other’s fears that it will not stick precisely to the story line of the books. I’ll be the first in the queue, the first out of my hotel room next to the cinema (which was booked months in advance), the first to be parked in the car/broomstick park right next to the cinema ready to get in there first.
I’ll see the film no matter what, and maybe, if you’re lucky, I might even let you know what I think about it.
About the author
Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Manchester Airport Parking and Bristol Airport Parking.Tags: bristol airport parking, film, harry potter, Manchester airport parking, The Half Blood Prince