Thursday, July 7, 2011

Nerding Out

There are many more important things going on than the end of the Harry Potter films. Real life trumps fiction. But the Potter series has a special place in my heart and always will. My family bonded over it and LOTR. The Order of the Phoenix came out at the moment of the union drive at my job and we lived through many of the tactics used by the corrupted Ministry in the books. My friend Stevil and I went to all the movies together save one, read all the books and talked about them. Yes, some say we're too old to be Potter fans. No, we're not. Nobody is.

It was more than a lovely bunch of books and movies. It touched something; the basic decency of humans that is tough to keep, the desire to be the people we want to be. There is a bit of us all in the characters Jo Rowling created. The books and movies will endure long after we're dead because it's an eternal struggle story. None of us is entirely good nor entirely evil. That simple truth is what will make the Potter stories live on. The battle we wage against whatever evil may be is a battle within ourselves as well.

Stevil and I may be joined by our friend Paul for this last film. This being the last, the end, I'll cry for sure. I cried at Sirius' death and at Dumbledore's in both the books and the movies. No big surprises, really, 'cause I read the book twice. I'm not reading it again before the film. Tried that the last 3 films and was way too disappointed by what was omitted. A film and a book are very different media, and should be taken as such. Deathly Hallows 1 was well done. I'm sure they've put their all into this last chapter. While I can't wait, I'm also dreading it. I don't want it to end.

At the London premiere today, Rowling said she may revisit the Potter universe again someday. I hope she does. I'd like to see them all as adults, still friends, still family, still fighting.

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