As a quick precursor to what I set out to say here, I will point out that I LOVE the Harry Potter book series. I remember picking up the first one at about the time they were just beginning to get some recognition and popularity, their name brought to me by a friend who I believe found them in England while on holiday (to use the British phrase). I eagerly awaited the release of each of them, and I admit that I waited to read the last one for over a week because it marked the ending of a legacy which had spanned a large portion of my childhood. Picking up that last, gigantic, novel was like saying a final goodbye to a dear friend. I never wanted it to be over.
Still, all things must pass, and all things considered, I found the final installment of the series very satisfying.
The films I have felt somewhat torn on throughout their run. I liked most of them (though #6 was godawful), even though I think Daniel Radcliffe was a terrible actor in the beginning, and only a somewhat mediocre one by the end.| The man's only got one look, for Christ's sake! |
Anyway, what I really wanted to get at here is the last movie, specifically. I think all the movies have their flaws, and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to try to translate a book into a film format and manage to please anyone, forget everyone. But I did find one thing in the final installment which strikes me as a glaring and fatal mistake which ultimately belittles Harry's character.
Now, one thing I think it's important to address is that Harry is a child throughout the vast majority of the series. While he undoubtedly shows hints of his true character and bravery, the dorky little eleven-year-old we meet at the beginning of book 1 is not a hero. Instead, I find him a victim of circumstance who is directed and manipulated by the various adults pulling strings. Hell, he's even manipulated by the ghost of Tom Riddle's young self in Chamber of Secrets!
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| Bitch, please. |
He is lied to, deceived, misled, and expected to be sacrificed by the man he most trusted.
In short, how can you be a hero under these circumstances? Harry Potter is a lucky pawn in a much larger game he does not fully grasp.
However, Harry Potter does become a hero, and there is a particular moment in which it occurs. The precursor to this moment is when he elects to sacrifice himself to die at Voldemort's hand.
But the real act that I think really solidifies Harry's hero status is when he forsakes the Deathly Hallows. In the book, he takes the Invisibility Cloak and slips off into the woods. Hiding, he opens the Snitch bequeathed to him by Dumbledore to find the Resurrection Stone and summons the shades of his lost family to walk with him. At this point, Harry is the master of ALL of the Deathly Hallows. He does not yet have the Elder Wand in his possession, but he is master of it, and he knows this. And, according to the legend, the Deathly Hallows, when combined, make their owner the master of death.
So basically, Harry doesn't have to die. He doesn't have to sacrifice himself. It is incredibly brave of him to opt to die. It is an act of unparalleled heroism, however, to forsake the Deathly Hallows in the face of his doom. Theoretically, he could escape. He could take his spoils and get the hell out. But he doesn't. He does keep the cloak, but then it's a family heirloom. The Resurrection Stone he intentionally loses in the forest, and the Elder Wand he uses once, to repair his own broken wand, before he replaces it in the tomb of Albus Dumbledore.
Not only does Harry sacrifice himself when he doesn't have to, he does so when he has the power not to. Then, he forsakes the power he has rightfully won after he claims victory over Voldemort. This is what makes Harry a true hero.
But...
The movie doesn't seem to think this is all that important, since in it Harry does not even have the Invisibility Cloak when he enters the forest. He does drop the Resurrection Stone, but no further mention is ever made of it, nor is this Hallow regarded as particularly important throughout the previous films. And, Harry does not admit knowing that he is the true master of the Elder Wand until after everything is said and done, bringing into question when he obtained this information himself. Harry, in the movie, is still the ignorant, blundering child of the beginning of the series. This oversight, in my opinion, undermines everything that the book does to show Harry's ultimate and absolute strength of character, and completely ignores his greatest moment.
Sure, Harry does swoop in and save the day. After dropping unceremoniously from Hagrid's arms to the courtyard and spending a ridiculous amount of screen time running away from blasts of magic and rubble and Voldemort's tentacle cloak.
As a final note, I think I literally shrieked in glee when Molly Weasley delivered her line, exactly in the movie as in the book, of "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" So it wasn't all bad.
