Some people might say that the decision to break-up the 7th and final chapter of the HARRY POTTER saga is a total ploy for Warner Bros. to make more dough, but I say it's one of the smartest decisions the studio has ever made. Sometimes it's necessary to journey into the woods, or as Joseph Campbell might call it, "the belly of the beast," in order to truly prepare yourself for an oncoming life-or-death struggle. I find it beyond fitting that the first installment of HP7 dropped in November and its successor will drop in July because, for the reasons described above, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PT. I is the perfect cold-weather movie.
Our pals Harry, Ron and Hermione take a detour into the woods to gather necessary tools and plan for their eventual showdown with the Dark Lord. What ensues is a fascinating two and a half hours of on-the-road self-meditation and some of the best acting (and dancing) scenes the Harry Potter franchise has ever seen.
Upon seeing this movie, I realized that NOW is the perfect time to journey into my own metaphorical woods and do some meditating... not on how I will triumph over Lord Voldemort, but on what HARRY POTTER means to me. I'd rather think about it now (in chilly desolation) than in July when I'll be squealing with delight at seeing Ron and Hermione's repressed romantic feelings finally come to fruition... not to mention Neville Longbottom whooping some major butt.
Remember when the final book came out a few summers ago... and coming to the last chapter, feeling majorly bummed, but then consoling yourself with the fact that at least you still had the movies to look forward to? Well, the movies are almost over. For folks my age, the franchise we all literally grew-up with is coming to an end. And it's a bit depressing (like we needed a wake-up call that it's finally time to become adults!!)
What I'm saying has probably been said before 1000 times over and in a more eloquent way, but I still feel the need to say it -- if only for my own homage-paying purposes..
I still recall very vividly my first encounter with the bespectacled boy wizard when I was in the fifth grade. My teacher had purchased a classroom copy of a book entitled, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, for kids who forgot to bring reading materials for "super silent reading." All Spring long, I watched classmates of mine randomly pick the book up. By recess, they were so hooked, they would be READING rather than playing on the playground. It was at this point, I knew something crazy was going on and I decided to start perusing the story myself. That afternoon when I got home from school, I demanded my mother take me to Barnes & Noble so I could purchase the book and finish it.
Harry Potter made (at least temporary) literary nerds of a generation who very vocally loathed reading. And what a splendid, bookish ride its been -- the horror of realizing Tom Marvollo Riddle to be Lord Voldemort, the surprise and relief at discovering Sirius Black NOT to be a terrifying mass murderer, but Harry's godfather. These are but a few of the twists and turns on an erudite roller coaster made of solid gold.
Then there were the movies.
For me, seeing a Harry Potter film is not unlike experiencing a broadway show. I remember every detail of the experience -- who I was with, what we had for dinner beforehand -- all of it.
The movies really started to get to me with volume 5. Don't ask me why -- something about Harry having a dark night of the soul. I also felt a great deal of compassion toward loopy Luna Lovegood and her crazy ideas. What really got to me, however, was something uttered by Sirius Black toward the middle of the film. He says,
"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and death eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."
I was never really able to put my finger on it... what it was about Harry Potter that I (along with a billion others) really jived with... but I think the above quote says it all. It's not the powers you have, but how you choose to use them. Do you choose to be in Gryffindor or do you choose to be in Slytherin?
When witnessing Harry Potter (in any medium), it takes little effort to put yourself into the story. To subconsciously ask yourself, "if I were at Hogwarts, what kind of person would I be? Where would I fit in?" In fact, it's difficult not to contemplate these questions. It doesn't matter if you are 11 or 86 when you first pick up the book, the story is about you -- about US... discovering the "powers" within ourselves and, more importantly, how to use them -- how to be good people.
Go back and watch the "Wingardium Leviosa" sequence from the first movie -- how Hermione gets cocky with her superior intelligence, flaunting it in front of her classmates... only to realize that her cockiness has cost her her only friends. Consider that J.K Rowling based Hermione on herself in middle school and it becomes all the more poignant to see the little know-it-all take the bullet for her pals-- to watch her transform from self-serving to self-sacrificing within the span of a minute.
Then, read the epilogue for DEATHLY HALLOWS. Read what Harry tells his son about "choice."
I suppose when it comes down to it, that's what is most meaningful about Harry Potter to me. As you grow-up, you discover what you're truly capable of -- both good and bad. If you're lucky, you learn that all the riches, all the strength, all the immortality in the world mean nothing unless you choose to live in a way that is loving and kind... because when push comes to shove, as Albus Dumbledore says, "we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy,"
and
"it is not our abilities that show what we really are. It is our choices."
So make good ones. And ciao for now.
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