Nitpicking Harry Potter--Because You Can Only Nitpick Good Movies ;-)

I finally got to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II yesterday, and I loved it. Yes, I did. I also kept saying, "I haven't cried this much at a movie since Beaches."

I absolutely cannot wait to see it again (especially since Belle and I had to make a quick bathroom run ... fortunately, Addie had already seen it and told us "the best" time to go).

That being said, though, there were a few things that bothered me.

Okay, I know, movies are for entertainment and should be enjoyed as such. However, I am an English teacher (not to mention a ridiculously voracious reader), and the magic of the movie your mind makes while reading is going to be limited by a film adaptation, no matter how good the movie might be.

The Harry Potter books were so exemplary, in my humble opinion, that transferring them to the big screen was a downright draconian task.

And for the most part, I think the movies are fairly true to the books, no mean feat. I mean, J.K. Rowling created an entire world with her stories, a world with complexities and political repercussions and betrayal and intertwining storylines and seemingly innocuous actions having serious ramifications and so on and so forth.

That being said, I had three glaring issues with HP7-2 that I felt either egregiously countered the magic of the book or else left open plot holes that bugged me. A lot.

If you haven't seen the movie yet and want to be surprised, please stop reading right now. If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't care about being surprised, by all means read on. (By my logic, any of the real hard-core "Pottheads" that would care about scene spoilage have probably seen the film by now)

****************SPOILER ALERT**********************************

Still reading? Good :-)

Here you go ...

1. Neville Longbottom somehow knew that he needed to use the sword of Gryffindor to kill the snake.
In the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry made very clear to Ron and Hermione that, should he die, it was imperative that he kill Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini. In turn, Ron and Hermione sent this message on to Neville. As the last horcrux (well, the last known horcrux), Nagini had to be destroyed no matter what the cost.

The film left out the conveyance of this message to Neville. Addie argued that it was "implied", but Neville roaring out of the clear blue sky and beheading the snake with the only weapon that could have killed it just as it was about to strike at a defenseless Hermione and Ron without any sort of foreknowledge seemed ... well, contrived.

It irked me.

2. The backstory of Dumbledore's little sister, Arianna, is all but ignored.
I can remember leaving the theater with Addie after seeing HP7-I and talking about how great it was that they divided the book into two parts so that important events, specifically including the sad death of Arianna Dumbledore, could be addressed more directly.

Uh ... it wasn't.

Perhaps it's because the filmmakers didn't want to get political with the fact that Albus Dumbledore blew off his family responsibilities because he was having a homosexual affair with the dark wizard Grindelwald (he of "for the greater good" fame).

Maybe exploring the possibility that the great Dumbledore might have killed his damaged sister was considered potentially too much for filmgoers.

It's even possible that the violent rape of Arianna Dumbledore by Muggle boys and her father killing them in retribution was just too much for the necessary PG-13 rating. (And I know these events are touched on in HP7-1, but if I hadn't read the book in advance, I'm not sure I would have gotten the full picture)

For whatever reason, this plot arc is seriously minimized in the movie, and it's significant because of the conflict faced by Dumbledore's younger brother Aberforth, who helps Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they arrive in Hogsmeade (in a far less interesting way than in the book, I might add) and plays a significant part in the battle for Hogwarts.

3. Dumbledore is ultimately portrayed as an uncaring jerk who falsely befriended Harry knowing full well that he was just going to let him die at some point.
This is perhaps what bothered me the most.

While it's technically true that Albus Dumbledore knew that Harry Potter would have to be "killed" by Voldemort in order to defeat him, it is made very clear in the book that Dumbledore had a degree of foreknowledge that Voldemort's actions would once again ricochet against him.

As I recall, Harry confronts Dumbledore at King's Cross following his "death" at Voldemort's hands with his frustration at being used so cheaply by a man he trusted, even revered. Dumbledore basically says it was a hunch, adding with a typical Dumbledore wink, "a strong hunch".

This allows Dumbledore to remain a "good guy" ... a flawed character, certainly, and a man who spent most of his life trying to make up for his role in the death of his sister, but ultimately "good".

The impression I got from the "King's Cross" chapter of the book was that his actions toward and feelings for Harry Potter allowed him redemption for his past failures. It made Dumbledore "real" as well as "good", and that was very important to me as a reader.

The Dumbledore portrayed at the end of the movie? He basically affirmed to Harry that he'd been playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun. I kind of wanted to punch him.

If I was Harry Potter, I would never have named my son "Albus" after a man that had treated him so shabbily and appeared to have no remorse, floating off into space with so many questions unanswered.

But anyway ...

Those were the three main sticking points for me. Otherwise, I thought the movie was outstanding and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Also, I've started writing a piece on Snape as the true hero of the Harry Potter series ... it's very good, I think, but quite time-consuming. Is this something y'all would be interested in reading?

If you saw HP7-2, what were your thoughts? And am I being too nit-picky here?

Friday Fragments: Episode #154

A chance to recap the week in quick, fragmented bits ... Mrs. 4444 is a genius ;-)

Although I strongly believe that teaching is a yearlong 24/7 job, I was reminded yesterday of how fortunate I am in so many ways. I worked a 15-hour day yesterday (summer school followed by meetings for two separate committees), and I was compensated financially. Well-compensated. It was a good reminder of how fortunate I am to have a salaried job, particularly one that pays me a very generous hourly wage on top of that for extra work.

**

Addie went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at midnight last night. New Hampshire has a law that sixteen-year-old drivers can't drive between one and five in the morning, so I had to pick her up after the movie ended. It was kind of a long, lonely night in the movie theater parking lot, especially since I would have loved to have been at the premiere myself, being the Potthead that I am ;-).

**

After much distress over not being able to figure out how to get my finished novel published, I took a deep breath and started rereading it with a fresh eye. I've made some significant cuts already. The surgery began on the lobby floor at my work ;-)

If you're interested in reading excerpts, thoughts, ideas, or what have you and weighing in, you can check out stuff about this mammoth (but completed ;-)) WIP here, here, and here.

**

Belle is having a great summer, but I miss her. She is going to day camp full-time (her choice, not mine), and she's loving every minute of it ... but it's so strange not having her around all the time, especially since she's growing up so quickly.

**

I wrote a piece over at Zelda Lily about a Ukrainian feminist group using topless protests to make political points. It got me thinking a lot about the point of this approach. I mean, you get attention, sure, but is it really the kind of attention you want?

I got talking to one of my girlfriends, and we decided we'd definitely participate in a topless protest if the opportunity arose, just because it would be such an interesting experience.

I mean, posting this pic (and yes, that's really me)

would get far more attention than this pic (which is also really me, and far more true to what I look like at the end of a given day ... like most people, I have a tendency to only post flattering pics of myself, so I'm breaking the mold here ;-))

It reminded me of how sad the world is in a lot of ways.

Wicked Cool: I've Gotten Over My Literary Snobbery (A Little)

At one point in my life, I was a ridiculously voracious reader. I'd read two or three books a day, often more, never less. When you suffer from insomnia beginning as a toddler, I guess you're bound to be either a hard-core reader or a television addict.

As I've gotten older and found that free time is at a premium between my daughters, my students, and the never-ending cycle of grading, planning, keeping on top of professional development and such, I just don't have the time to read that I once did.

It's kind of funny, though ... I always fancied myself something of a literary snob that took pride in avoiding the "book of the moment". I was late to the party in terms of excellent works including Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and even the dreaded Twilight books (which I couldn't stop reading until I was finished and realized how poorly written and unoriginal they were).

Perhaps the greatest proof of what an idiot I was? I received a copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird from my eighth grade English teacher as a prize for a writing contest. Totally refused to read it because it was "supposed to be so great and all the books that have that reputation totally SUCK." Well, it didn't suck (it is, in fact, my favorite book of all time)

I even eschewed Dan Brown for months even when everyone on the planet was reading The Da Vinci Code.

So I guess it's no surprise, really, that I somehow missed this one.


Published in 1995, Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West tells the backstory of Elphaba (sound out the initials of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum for the pronunciation) ... including her run-ins with Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.

Can I just say that this book is blowing my mind?

I'm a huge fan of Baum's Oz books, and this book is making me question motivations and points of view and bias and bottom lines and so on to the point where I'm probably going to be rereading Baum's canon as soon as possible (which will probably be next Christmas vacation at this point).

The intent of this post is not to be a scene spoiler (plus, I'm only halfway done the book ... I plan on finishing it tonight), but just to contemplate why I am so reluctant to read "popular" books despite the fact that I am almost never disappointed once I give in ... and to see if anyone else has this tendency.

Also, I've got another conundrum ... I have very strong feelings about movie adaptations of books I've enjoyed. Since Wicked has been made into a very popular musical, should I make an effort to see it, or would it be the same kind of limiting, unsatisfactory experience movie adaptations usually are?

If you've ever turned up your nose at a book, eventually changed your mind, and ultimately loved it, please share titles in the comments (and of course any other thoughts this post might inspire ;-))

The Strange Google Searches That Have Led People to My Blog

The internet has opened up endless opportunities for connections between things. Personally, I think this is a good thing. When you get right down to it, thinking and growing is all about making those connections, about realizing how everything you do kind of intersects with everything else into your own unique mosaic.

However, sometimes it's very entertaining. I've been playing around with some of the features on Blogger, and the highlight was unquestionably seeing the Google searches that have led people to my blog.

Evidently, my attempts at finding philosophy in everyday life, of sharing my journeys as a teacher and a writer, of delving deeper than I may have intended to into my personal life ... my blog of which I am very proud ... well, it evidently all boils down to this.

“people who complain about the weather”
Yeah, okay, I talk about complaining about the weather. I even complain about the weather. Evidently more than I knew ;) I certainly wouldn't have picked it as a driving force on this blog, but there you go.

“claudia kishi's mom”
This one comes up in response to a comment posted on a piece I wrote on a local book-banning controversy. Too funny!

“christa mcauliffe technology conference”
This is a big conference for teachers in New Hampshire, actually, and I had the great honor of attending it last year. I still think it's just bizarre how a Google search for this conference ends up at my blog. Wild!

“herb hantz”
This one is really far out. I wrote a post about teachers that make a difference, and there were a lot of comments that gave the name of an inspiring educator. Herb Hantz was one of those so honored in the comments section. Small world ...

“rettop yrrah”
I got the urge to reread the Harry Potter series one day, but I couldn't find the first couple of books to save my life. HP7 was taunting me from the bookshelf, though, so I ended up reading the books in reverse order ... very cool experience. I thought I'd be clever and original by writing "Harry Potter" backwards in the blog title ... hmm, not so much, I guess.

“’apples to apples game’ philosophical”
If you haven't ever played the game Apples to Apples, you really must. I don't know that I'd term it "philosophical", but it's tons of fun.

“dark heart care bears”
So I was watching one of the old Care Bears movies with Belle, and I suddenly realized all the religious references found in the film and felt compelled to write a post about it. Interestingly, these are the search words that most commonly get hits to my blog. It's just ... mind-boggling.

“do you think scarlett o hara is immature for marriage”
I love the character of Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, so it's only natural that I explored her characterization on this blog. Whether or not she's too immature for marriage? Once again, I think Google might have misinterpreted a thing or two here, but it's all good.

I hope you got a laugh or two out of this ... some of the things that led people to this blog really cracked me up :-)

Branching Out: Monster Trucks and Electrified Hair

I have a pretty quiet life in the great scheme of things. My hobbies and endeavors are generally suited to simple and mellow pasttimes like reading, writing, walking on the beach, that sort of stuff.

I had an insane weekend. Just ... freaking insane. I'm at a very odd juncture, and it just felt so good to do stuff so ridiculously out of character. Does this mean I am going off the deep end, or is it healthy?

After I got out of work on Friday, I brought Addie home (per her request), then Belle and I went back to my school to watch the boys basketball team. Andy met us there, and we watched a great game (we won!) then went out to dinner, where we were very immature with mussels.



Andy won tickets on the radio and was so excited about winning tickets on the radio that he wasn't sure what he won tickets to. Yeah ... a Monster Truck show. I wasn't going to go at first because I am not exactly a member of the Monster Truck scene, to say the least, but it seemed like potentially a good opportunity to contemplate sociology, so I figured I'd go. We went out to dinner with my friend B.J. then hit the Monster Truck event full force.

So this is a truck named (called?) Grave Digger.



And here's one called Mutt Monster, or something like that (it's a giant dog-looking thing ... driven by a woman, too, which was very cool).



Belle and Andy's daughter Dawn came as well, so earplugs were a necessity. Here's Andy putting in Belle's earplugs.





I was a little overwhelmed by all the excitement ...



Andy was pretty into the whole Monster Truck thing. I kind of think he's a loser for it ;)



So to regain some semblance of cultural sanity, we hit the Museum of Science in Boston on Sunday. It was amazing. There's a Harry Potter exhibit that just blew my mind ... if you are a fan of the Harry Potter books and will be anywhere near Boston before February 21st, I strongly urge you to go. It was just unbelievable!

In vintage me and Andy fashion, we had half a pizza left and were bringing it out to the car so we didn't have to carry it around when we decided it would be a really good idea to rent a locker instead. Here is our locker with leftover pizza (don't worry, there was a cover for it ... the picture just seems more entertaining when you can see the pizza in a locker) and Belle and Dawn's wands from the Harry Potter exhibit.



We saw a lot of other really cool stuff there, notably a juggling performance that taught the concept of atoms and an Omni Theater presentation about Antarctica. So neat! We ended up watching a show about electricity that got pretty interactive at one point ... well, for me, anyway :)



So am I regressing into who I used to be or am I progressing into a happier and more well-rounded person? I don't know, but either way, this was definitely a weekend of branching out ... and I don't think that's ever a bad thing.

RETTOP YRRAH: The Philosophy in Reading "Harry Potter" Backwards

I realize the title of this post might be misleading. When I say, "Read Harry Potter backwards", obviously I don't mean the words.

Well, let me back up for a minute.

I was in the school library with my Poetry class today so they could have computer access to get their lyrics project due tomorrow finished up. Since they were working so diligently (or at least were making it appear so well enough to convince both me and the librarian), I started browsing the stacks looking for something to read.

The craziest thing happened then ... I reached the R section and saw all seven Harry Potter books lined up neatly on the shelf. This, of course, included the second one, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. And with that, my day was made.

I had an extremely tumultuous summer. As I always do in times of extreme stress, I read. Like, I read obsessively. And one of the things that I found myself with a desire to read was the Harry Potter series. The problem, of course, is that I could only find the last one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; the series starter Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was nowhere to be found (I was moving ... it was beyond chaos). My urge to read the series again was so great, however, that I started reading it the only way I could--from the ending to the beginning.

Now, I realize this wouldn't work for a lot of people. If you're not familiar with the books, it would be essentially pointless to start with the seventh. However, since I have a tendency to reread books more than is probably healthy, I suspected I'd be able to muddle through somehow.

What I didn't expect, though, is what a tremendous learning experience it was for me. Obviously, I knew as both an English teacher and a reader myself that J.K. Rowling might have sold the first book as children's literature but that subsequent books in the series were more political and social commentary than fantasy tales for kids.

The part I missed, though, and the part that I would have hoped I'd have gotten more quickly given the name of my blog, is the philosophy brought forward in Rowling's brilliant series. Had I not read the series backwards, I would have missed a great deal.

An obvious example is Ron Weasley's dual jealousy of and pride in his best friend, Harry Potter. One of seven children, Ron never seemed to get his chance in the spotlight, and becoming bosom buddies with the most famous magician ever born certainly continued the struggle. Ron has his moment in the sun in the seventh book; he is a true hero. When you read through Book 6 then Book 5 then Book 4 then Book 3, you see the true conflict--both internal as he struggles within himself and external as he becomes Harry's staunchest supporter--experienced by this boy. You appreciate how cheap his own successes always seemed next to the glory of Harry's constant defeat of evil, how small his joys when compared to Harry's. I got this, obviously, reading the books in order, but I didn't get it until I read them backwards.

And then there's the whole Snape thing. I once heard Snape referred to by a college English professor as "no more than the ultimate red herring", but that was a cop-out answer if I've ever heard one. Snape was never acting, not pretending a bit, when he bullied and berated Harry Potter--he honestly hated the boy, and his harsh treatment makes the reader find Snape pretty despicable too. That Snape protects Harry out of love is perhaps the most shocking conclusion ... and when you finish the seventh book, it's really easy to see Snape's nobler points. Certainly they existed; Harry Potter was well aware of them as he eventually named one of his own children after Severus Snape. However, reading the book backwards, fully aware of the "Snape protected a child he legitimately (and perhaps understandably) hated out of a pure and eternal love" thesis gives the dynamic between Harry and the potions master a whole new depth, a level of complexity that cannot be achieved by reading the books in chronological order.

Anyway, school started back up just as I finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I couldn't find my copy of Chamber of Secrets to save my life. Well, I took it out of the library today, and I cannot wait to read it (I stupidly forgot it at school).

I am especially excited, in case you're wondering, at exploring the nature of Dobby's relationship with Harry in terms of what you learn about Dobby later in the series (and particularly the sacrifice made by the house elf in the final book).

Does this make any sense to anybody, or have I gone completely off the deep end?

Wait, don't answer that ;)

A Movie Review of Sorts: My Thoughts on "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince"

I was one of the crazy people sitting in a movie theater at midnight to catch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Although I love movies, I don't as a rule love movies based on books. There are, of course, exceptions, but in general if I've read and enjoyed a book I make it a point not to see a film adaptation.

The whole Harry Potter experience has been a bit unusual for me, though. I wouldn't read the books for the longest time on general principle ... I have a kind of overly stiff-necked aversion to "the latest craze" when it comes to literature. However, I also take very seriously the component of book sharing in my relationships with my students. In other words, if a kid tells me to read a book, I do so (or at least I'll try really hard). I feel like, if I'm going to recommend books to students or assign them required texts, I should at least extend them the common courtesy of giving their recommendations a chance. However, I broke that rule when it came to Harry Potter ... I only started reading J.K. Rowling's masterpieces when Addie did. Naturally, I loved the books and I (somewhat shockingly) am a fan of the movies as well (except the third one, although it's my favorite of the books ... kind of weird).

All of which is way off base of the intended topic of this post, which is to share with you my thoughts on the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, a film I took in last night at 12:04 a.m. Oh, and I guess I should warn that there are spoilers here (albeit minor ones--I'm making a concerted effort not to wreck the movie for anyone).

In a nutshell, it was a good movie. If my entire Harry Potter experience had been of the cinematic bend, in fact, I'd go so far as to say it was great. I don't want to completely ruin the plot for anyone, so I guess I'll share my three main criticisms and repeat again that it was definitely worth the midnight thing and suffering what some are referring to as a "Harry Potter Hangover" today.

I thought the beginning of the movie was horrible. It was not remotely engaging, and in fact it showed the character of Harry in a light that I found kind of pathetic. Basically, Harry is hitting on a waitress in a little diner, going so far as to arrange what appears to be a casual hook-up when the waitress gets off shift at eleven. I'm certainly not a prude or anything, but it was just ... crass. Anyway, nothing happened because Harry was forced to accompany a suddenly-present Dumbledore to a creepy-looking house in order to convince a former Hogwarts professor to return to teaching duties. It was too long, too much, and too boring, particularly when you consider that a secret meeting between the enigmatic Professor Severus Snape and two Death-Eaters soon follows. The latter scene is fast-paced, interesting, and effectively sets up circumstances that are the very meat of the movie. Pretty waitresses and the magical cleaning up of a house seem pretty draggy when such a crackling interchange is waiting in the wings. As far as I'm concerned, that's where they should have started the movie.

I enjoy humor as much as the next person. In fact, I take heat from time to time about laughing at things that are really pretty stupid (at a meeting today, for example, the word "oral" kept coming up, and I just giggled like an adolescent every time). Furthermore, I realize that any accurate depiction of teenagers is impossible without dumb jokes, particularly of the sexual variety (Harry and Ginny go alone to a secret room to hide a book and, when they return to their friends, are asked, "Did you do it?"), and I laughed as hard as anyone at these little zingers last night ... but I know that if I see the movie again, I'll know the jokes already and will just find them stale and kind of a detraction from the story. Half Blood Prince is extremely plot-driven; I don't think you need excessive sophomoric humor to entertain your audience.

Finally, I noticed when leaving the theater in a huge throng of people that several people were saying, "So who was the half blood prince? How did Harry get his book? Why does this matter?" and so on and so forth. Since I've read the book I had a deeper understanding and, while I don't expect filmmakers to elaborate in a way that is far easier to do through the written word, it bugged me that several major parts of the story were glossed over as almost an afterthought. The half blood prince, his annotated potions book that serves Harry very well, and the explanation for why he took on that dubious nickname are the sort of details that make the book a rich, thought-provoking experience. Yeah,not so much in the movie.

Other than those three criticisms, though (and remember, those criticisms are solely my own and I freely confess to having a bias against film adaptations of books I loved), it was very well done. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely make it a point to do so. You'll be glad you did, and it might even look something like this ...

The Midnight Show Phenomenon

Addie, Belle, two of Addie's friends and I are at the midnight showing of the latest "Harry Potter" offering. This place is a zoo!

Obviously, I'm in no position to be objective (seeing as how I'm sitting on the dirty floor of a movie theatre lobby) but I'm curious to know your nuggets of wisdom as to why people go to midnight shows.

Did I mention that we're three hours early? I think we're kind of crazy :)