Harry Potter and the Apathetic Teenager

Am I being blasphemous if I say that I am apathetic about the release of the final Harry Potter movie? People have been saying that it's the end of an era, that this is symbolic of the end of our childhoods in cinematic form, but I don't see it that way. Sure, the Harry Potter movies are pretty good, and they have definitely come a long way since HP and the Sorcerer's Stone came out so many years ago, seeing the debut of little Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as well as the now surprisingly good looking Matthew Lewis (aka Neville Longbottom).


lolz, whut?

 Nevertheless, I did grow up with the magical world of the boy wizard. Yes, I read the books (albeit with gratuitous amounts of page skipping and skimming at times), saw all the movies, and even had a dementor costume during my year as a sevie in middle school (lame, I know), but however exciting it was, I never became the fanboy that so many became. Sure, it was cool and in the future Harry Potter will probably be remembered as the apex of literary achievement for my generation but it never caught my attention as much as say my favorite work of all time 1984 by Orwell did. It's not like I don't have a thing for references to mythical creatures, fantasy works, or Rowling's deft use of imagery and syntax to paint brilliant images and scenes of a world I sometimes wish were real, Harry Potter just never "clicked" with me.

When I say "clicked" I mean that feeling you get when you know that something will be integral in shaping who you are and something you will remember for the very rest of your life. While the second part of that statement is probably true, the first one isn't. I got my first Harry Potter book as a gift from a family friend as a Christmas gift. I remember very clearly that it was the biggest book I'd ever received up to that point, it was intimidating and judging by the odd cover of a boy with a scar on his forehead riding a broom, I wasn't too enthralled or eager to sit down and just read; granted, very few books have been able to do that. Eventually I did start reading it, and it was interesting and fun in its on way but I don't remember ever staying up late or wanting to read one more chapter more than I intended to.

As I worked through the other books, things didn't really change; it really wasn't until the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did the thrill of reading the series hit me. Maybe it's because my tastes have matured or evolved. Instead of the books, I indulged myself in the movies which served me well enough in enjoying the story. Harry Potter turned out to be one of the few movie franchises where the films were as good as the books if not occasionally better; the same can't be said of other book adaptations (aka Twilight).

Back to point, I just spent about $20 for IMAX tickets to see Deathly Hallows part 2 on Saturday. Am I excited? Yes, I am, but am I wetting my pants and doing back flips in anticipation? not quite. It looks to be a good movie and I'm actually really excited to see the final battle scene; I really want to know how the CGI artists rendered what is supposed to be one truly epic battle with all the fiery, dazzling lights goodness the book made it seem like it would be.

Sure, there isn't the ablicious droolability of Thor or the hilarious genius of Bridesmaids (total chickflick but I almost died laughing) but maybe this final Harry Potter movie has some magic to be seen.

Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised with how the movie turns out.

All the best,

JP