When the Harry Potter craze began I scoffed at it. I figured it to be the next fad that was being forced down the public’s throat, a flash in the pan story/toy line/movie waiting to be replaced by the next manufactured “hit” from the media machine. Being a fan of films and books and such I should probably not be so cynical, but after reading and watching enough bad books and films it’s difficult to not suffer from some entertainment malaise sometimes. In truth I knew nothing about the series other than a boy went off to wizard school where they threw new words like “muggle” around. It wasn’t for me.
In early 2002, while interning at a production company in LA, another intern, Jung, thought it incomprehensible that I had not read any Harry Potter books and she sought to right that wrong. She bought me a copy of the first book and insisted that I read it. I did. I didn’t like it. I admit that my prejudice likely affected me, but it just didn’t grab me. I rented the movie to try that as well and it was more of the same. Jung looked at me with stunned disbelief and rolled her eyes. And that was that for my Harry Potter experience for the next 8 years.
My wife, Jen, is an avid reader and a Harry Potter fan. She’s the type that waited in line at a bookstore until midnight for the final book to be released so she could buy it and get started reading immediately. She did stop short of wearing a costume in case you were wondering. When she found out that I had read the first book and saw the first film and didn’t like them there was the obligatory stunned disbelief and rolling of the eyes. But Jen insisted that I read it again and all the other books too because they get better. I wasn’t sure they got better, but I did know they got longer and the thought of trudging through those thick tomes was not a welcoming one. But I knew the final two films were coming and that Jen would want to see them and I love doing things with her so I should try to get into it. Ah, love. I picked up the first book and read it again. It was better this time and not just because I was trying to be optimistic about the series. You know how you watch a film a second time and pick things up that you didn’t notice before? It was like that. The book was genuinely good. We watched the first film together. Good. I moved on to the second book. From there it was hook, line, and sinker. I read at home. I read during lunch. Any spare minute I could find I was reading. I’d finish a book; we’d watch the movie. Then Jen would hear me belly ache about how the filmmakers left out this or that or changed this or that and how they just didn’t do the book justice. I’d update her on what was happening in the books and guess where I thought the plot would go. It was a great review for her since she hadn’t read them in a while and I’d get so passionate about explaining what was occurring that it was lots of fun to have our Harry Potter update time at night.
I finished the last book in time for the release of part one of the final films and was able to escort my girl to the movies with the same excitement she had to see the end of the story translated to film. Last month we watched the very last film together in the theatre and were very sad that the end had finally come. But we get to share Harry Potter with our kids one day so we’ll get to relive it all over again. We can’t wait.
I’m not going to lie. I got very emotional reading the last chapter of the final book. It was a great ending. Harry Potter is definitely not a flash in the pan. J.K. Rowling has written a saga that will be read and re-read by each successive generation and will be a staple in literature forever. She’s a brilliant writer and deserves all the accolades she gets.
So now that I’m a full-fledged Harry Potter nerd I’ll disclose my favorite book and film. They are the same: Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. This is the next to last book. It had a great sense of dread that was going to lead to a horrific ending that would send the story reeling forward into the final book. I think this was by far the best film because it focused more on capturing characterization rather than action but still balanced the film with action. There’s so much juicy back story revealed about the villain, Voldemort, and the love lives of Harry, Ron and Hermione are wrenchingly displayed. It had great mystery and escalation and revelations and turned the entire story upside down to be played out in the final book.
That’s how I got into the Harry Potter books. I highly recommend reading them. And if anyone ever tells me that they don’t like Harry Potter, I’ve got my stunned disbelief and rolling eyes ready for them.
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