While you'll find lots of people who have watched and enjoyed every Harry Potter movie without ever reading one of the books, I've never found one person who's actually read the series and picked the movies over the books. How can you when the books are so great?
Don't get me wrong. I love the Harry Potter movies. They're some of my favorite movies in the world. Deathly Hallows Parts I and II were freaking amazing. But even they don't quite compare to the awesomeness of the books. This isn't really just a Harry Potter thing. I love movies, but I would always pick books over movies. I like being able to imagine things in my head. It gives you a certain leeway to decide things on your own. You have descriptions to go by, but overall, what things look like is all up to you. Get a group of people who've read Harry Potter, and each one of them will have imagined Hogwarts just a little bit differently. In the movies, you don't have that option because Hogwarts is given to you right on the screen. That's not really a bad thing. I love actually getting to see a version of Hogwarts, but it's not the same as the Hogwarts in my head.
Of course, we could also get into the changes that were made in the movies. The movies could never fit in all of the tiny details we get in the books. (Or apparently big details like the Marauders' backstory.) In the movies, we didn't get Archie and his nightgown, Remus rushing to Shell Cottage to announce Teddy's birth, or any of Winky's story. None of these things a really important to the plot, but they help make the books special.
The Harry Potter movies will always be special to me and some of my favorite movies. They're wonderfully made, and I love almost every single actor in them. The books just happen to be a bit more magical. I like that they give us small little details sometimes, and that they allow us to imagine things on our own. These things make it seem a bit more real and allow us to make the Harry Potter universe our own in some ways. None of us experience the books in quite the same way.
Showing posts with label j.k. rowling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label j.k. rowling. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Ron Weasley
My love for Ron Weasley will come as no surprise to people who watch my Youtube videos. However, I've never really talked about it on my blog. When I say love, I don't mean in a romantic way (as all of my friends seem to think), but I think he is an absolutely brilliant Harry Potter character. He's my favorite male Harry Potter character and is only beaten for overall favorite character by Hermione Granger.
As a random side note about me having a crush on Ron, I'd like to share a conversation I had with two of my (non-Harry Potter fan) friends as we watched Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was about halfway through the movie, and I was beginning to get frustrated of them constantly making fun of Ron. After I defended him for the millionth time, Summer begins saying that I obviously want to marry him. My Response? "No way! Ron and Hermione are made for each other! If anything, I want them to adopt me so I can be a Weasley." That about sums up my feelings.
I'll be honest. When I was younger, Ron definitely wasn't my favorite character. I was pretty neutral towards him. I think I know what made me change my mind. In elementary school, my friends and I used to play Harry Potter all of the time. There were only three of us (except the occasional other person or two), so our games were usually limited to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Who do you think I usually played? As we were all girls, there was often a competition over who would call Hermione first. After that, my other friend would want to play Harry since he's the main character. I usually played Ron because the other two would complain if they got him. Over time, I began to enjoy playing him, and I often found myself defending him. (I would like to point out that Summer was also one of these two friends. She's always had it out for Ron, I guess.)
Re-reading the books now that I'm older makes me realize how amazing Ron's character really is. Yes, he gets jealous, and he makes some huge mistakes. Still, he manages to prove himself worthy of being Harry's best friend time and time again. He's flawed, but he's a brilliant person and character. I think he's easier to relate to than Harry and Hermione. He's not the hero, and he's not the smartest. I'm sure everyone reading this feels that way sometimes. As a kid, I always identified with Hermione, but now I realize how much of Ron I have in me too. We all make mistakes. We all get jealous. We've all said or done things we regret.
I'll always think of Ron as one of my favorite literary characters ever.
As a random side note about me having a crush on Ron, I'd like to share a conversation I had with two of my (non-Harry Potter fan) friends as we watched Deathly Hallows Part 1. It was about halfway through the movie, and I was beginning to get frustrated of them constantly making fun of Ron. After I defended him for the millionth time, Summer begins saying that I obviously want to marry him. My Response? "No way! Ron and Hermione are made for each other! If anything, I want them to adopt me so I can be a Weasley." That about sums up my feelings.
I'll be honest. When I was younger, Ron definitely wasn't my favorite character. I was pretty neutral towards him. I think I know what made me change my mind. In elementary school, my friends and I used to play Harry Potter all of the time. There were only three of us (except the occasional other person or two), so our games were usually limited to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Who do you think I usually played? As we were all girls, there was often a competition over who would call Hermione first. After that, my other friend would want to play Harry since he's the main character. I usually played Ron because the other two would complain if they got him. Over time, I began to enjoy playing him, and I often found myself defending him. (I would like to point out that Summer was also one of these two friends. She's always had it out for Ron, I guess.)
Re-reading the books now that I'm older makes me realize how amazing Ron's character really is. Yes, he gets jealous, and he makes some huge mistakes. Still, he manages to prove himself worthy of being Harry's best friend time and time again. He's flawed, but he's a brilliant person and character. I think he's easier to relate to than Harry and Hermione. He's not the hero, and he's not the smartest. I'm sure everyone reading this feels that way sometimes. As a kid, I always identified with Hermione, but now I realize how much of Ron I have in me too. We all make mistakes. We all get jealous. We've all said or done things we regret.
I'll always think of Ron as one of my favorite literary characters ever.
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