Once upon a time there lived a woman who lived an ordinary life where not a lot happened. Then one day, as if by magic, she decided to write a book about a wizards adventures which became the biggest selling novels series in the World! Does anyone else think this is just a little too convenient a fairy story?
I have tried so many times to read a Harry Potter novel but I cant. People have urged me to and told me how much I would enjoy them but they just bore me. I also have a big issue with people who create books and then refuse to admit to their influences when its plain to the whole world just where these ideas have come from.
So for me the whole Harry Potter thing passed me by until the films came out. The first was OK, but very much for the kids. It had a ‘Disney-esque’ feel about it and you were just waiting for something to happen amusingly involving some jam or a small dog. Still it was entertaining in an endearing way just as watching classics like ‘One of our Dinosaurs is Missing’ still makes me laugh.
However, this safe start has been rolled to one side as the films, and there stars, mature through the series. Each film has gradually got darker – a trend I guess echoing the books, and this is slightly concerning in one way. With many things as the audience ages alongside a person, film series or band etc… then there is some maturing of themes as the fans are now older and can handle the material. The concern has to be that whilst there has been a maturing of the themes in the books the audience hasn’t in fact aged as fast as the characters in the book have.
Many primary school pupils waited with anticipation of this recent adventure coming out at the cinema. These were the same kids being led out by parents from the screen I was in distraught and visibly upset by the subject matter. This is a trend that can only continue to its ultimate climax in the final movie.
Aside from this, however, the films are getting better. There is now a real sense that some major battle is coming and someone isn’t getting out alive. It doesn’t hold you the way that Lord of the Rings does but it does a fairly good job of keeping you interested in what happens next to these characters.
So with the books now completed we can look forward to the remaining films with some degree of excitement. My original desire to steer clear of this phenomenon has been tempered slightly by the improving films. It may even make me want to read one of the books…Nah!
