I mentioned to someone that I was planning Harry Potter Week, and they immediately said I needed to do a post about the books vs. the movies.

But here’s the thing: I am really good at seeing books and movies as the separate media that they are. I know that movie adaptations will not be the same as the book. There are things that can be done with the written word that cannot be done visually, and vice versa. A book can exist more in a characters head, whereas a film needs to be able to show what is happening. Movies often rely on a lot of action, but books can be quieter and have the same punch.

Books and movies will never be the same. By remembering this, we can all enjoy each medium to it’s fullest. So, when I watch a movie, I completely separate it* from the book it is adapted from. I pay attention to see if it is a good movie, not to see if it lived up to the book. Because let’s face it, a movie adaptation is never really going to live up to the book.

Harry Potter has another element working against it that many adaptations do not have. Some of those HP books are really freakin’ long. It is not possible to fit all of the book into a movie**. Things have to be cut. I know this, so when I see the movies, I don’t let myself get upset if a scene I really enjoyed in the book didn’t make it to the big screen.

That being said, there is one thing I really wish would have stayed in the movies: QUIDDICH!! After the first few films, we really don’t see much Quiddich going on (even when they go to the world cup in the fourth film, we don’t see much). Quiddich in itself is exciting, but I have a much deeper motive for wanting the sport to stay in the film. You see, in the sixth book, Harry and Ginny’s first kiss is spurred by the Gryffindor team winning the Quiddich Cup. With the Quiddich element, we get this as their first kiss:

I don't know who did this, but they are talented

The excitement! The passion! The shock on Ron’s face!

Without Quiddich, we get this stiff awkwardness instead:

We've been hot for each other for years, but let's not let any of that passion leak out.

Sigh. This kiss is the only part of the sixth movie that really disappointed me.

*The only time I couldn’t do this was with Inkheart. I don’t know what it was about that book, but I could not let go of it when I watched the movie. Which is sad, because I am certain I would have liked the movie much more if I had been able to.

**Whenever I tell people that they just can’t fit all of a book into a movie, they always tell me that Hollywood should make the movie longer. Um, yeah, that doesn’t work. Here’s why:

• Longer movies cost more to make
• Longer movies cost more to ship (and theatres have to pay for that – they cannot afford too much)
• Some people won’t go sit through a long, long movie
• Longer movies cannot be played as many times in one day as shorter movies can

Looks like the reasoning all revolves around money, doesn’t it? Well, it does. Movies are a business, and the powers that be need to do the best they can to make the business profitable.

]]> http://rachelbateman.com/2010/02/books-vs-movies/feed/ 2 http://rachelbateman.com/2010/02/snogging/ http://rachelbateman.com/2010/02/snogging/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:09:45 +0000 Rachel http://rachelbateman.com/?p=1225 Um, I should probably just state up front that if you haven’t read the Harry Potter books, are planning to, and don’t want any surprises ruined, you should just not read this post.

Harry Potter started out being all about the action. Sure, there was friendship and longing and identity issues and so forth, but the action too front and center.

The later books are still action heavy, but there is another element in them. The characters are growing up and Harry & Co. are starting to deal with their emerging hormones. In book four, they are awkward. They have crushes, and are even encouraged to have dates for the Yule Ball, but asking girls out? We get to experience the jitters, the sweaty palms, the  procrastination. When I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I can feel Harry’s nervousness when he goes to ask Cho to the dance. I can feel his hurt and embarrassment when she turns him down.

Throughout books five, six, and seven, the hormones continue to rage, and the characters become more and more lovestruck. Chemistry sparks, teasing us along for far too long, and then finally: SNOGGING!

Okay, I know Harry and Cho kissed in the fifth book, but let’s just skip that and move right onto the kiss we all waited for:

A roar of celebration erupted from the hole behind her. Harry gaped as people began to scream at the sight of him; several hands pulled him into the room.

“We won!” yelled Ron, bounding into sight and brandishing the silver Cup at Harry. “We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!”

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

After several long moments – or it might have been half an hour – or possibly several sunlit days – they broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Then several people wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of nervous giggling.

So instant and impulsive! I love it. I just adore how Harry, for once, takes control and doesn’t let his head get in the way of his heart. He is always thinking so much, weighing the pros and cons of everything. I think it is great that he doesn’t even think about kissing Ginny; he just does it.

(As an aside, I am definitely one for impulsive kissing. People: every once in awhile, just let your emotions take control. Don’t think, don’t dilly-dally, just do! It is fun, and intense, and liberating. (As an aside to my aside – do this within some limits. If you are married and you get an impulse to kiss the cute person you are sitting next to on the bus, I would recommend not doing that one. Unless that cute bus rider is your spouse.))

Anyway, moving on. I was still a little bit high on the impulse of Harry and Ginny’s first kiss when the seventh book came out. What could possibly be better than Harry and Ginny finally getting together? Oh yeah, Ron and Hermione! – the only coupling I wanted to see* even more than Harry and Ginny. And then, to make it even better, their kiss was impulsive too:

“Hang on a moment!” said Ron sharply. “We’ve forgotten someone!”

“Who?” asked Hermione.

“The house-elves, they’ll all be down in the kitchen wont they?”

“You mean we ought to get them fighting?” asked Harry.

“No,” said Ron seriously, “I mean we should tell them to get out. We don’t want anymore Dobbies, do we? We can’t order them to die for us –”

There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.

“Is this the moment?” Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. “OI!” There’s a war going on here!”

Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.

“I know, mate,” said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, “so it’s now or never, isn’t it?”

“Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?” Harry shouted. “D’you think you could just – just hold it in until we’ve got the diadem?”

“Yeah – right – sorry – “ said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face.

I love that these two kids finally let go of all their reservations and just hook up, despite of the war. I love even more that Hermione takes charge (it worked a lot better than all those subtleties she had been throwing around in the last three books) and does so because Ron finally shows some compassion towards the house elves – something she has been passionate about for years. It’s just great!

Yay for snogging!

*I see a lot of people who are all for a connection between Ginny and Draco, or Hermione and Draco. There is even quite a bit of fan fiction written about this. I get the attraction: straight-laced good girl falls for dark bad-boy. It is dangerous; it is hot. But it is also completely out of character. That is all.