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[abbers44]

HARRY POTTER DISCUSSION POST

I CANNOT HOLD IT IN ANY LONGER. Post your questions/topics here! Any book/movie! A thread a topic seems like the easiest way to stay organized, but no need to be too anxious about that. GET IT ALL OUT.

Comments

[likeafox]

OKAY GUYS. I have needed discussion of this since the second it happened the night DH7.2 was released.

In the movie Harry tells Ron and Hermione that he's going to go face Voldemort and most likely die. In the book, however, he consciously decides that he isn't going to tell them. Can't tell them, even. From The Forest Again:
Ron and Hermione seemed a long way away, in a far-off country; he felt as though he had parted from them long ago. There would be no good-byes and no explanations, he was determined of that. This was a journey they could not take together, and the attempts they would make to stop him would waste valuable time. -DH p. 693
Obviously in the movie it happens very differently. So my questions for you:

1) Why exactly does Harry not tell Ron and Hermione in canon? I know he gives his reasons here, but I feel like there's a lot more to it than that.

2) Why do you think JKR chose to write it that way? What does it really accomplish in terms of the story?

3) Why do you think they changed it in the movie?

4) Do you approve of them changing it in the movie? Why or why not? And what do you think it accomplishes in the movie?

I cannot get my thoughts straight on this, honestly. Personally, I think I ultimately like the way they did it in the movie, though definitely not more than canon. I'm completely at a loss for whether the canon approach would have worked in movie format, though.

[abbers44]

From my (admittedly fuzzy) memory of the movie, Harry didn't really tell them, they just sort of... understood. And he didn't really even go looking for them, did he? It seemed like they just happened upon each other and it clicked.

I suppose in canon it seemed like Harry was just... like if he stopped moving or let himself think about Ron and Hermione, he wouldn't be able to follow through. How he says if he had the chance to see them one last time, he might not have the strength to look away.

I think it was best that JKR wrote it this way, if only to avoid sentimental and distressing goodbyes that would ultimately have been pretty pointless. And it made the appearance of Harry's parents and everyone more poignant, I think, as he wasn't able to have any comfort from his friends.

But in a movie it just isn't as dramatic! And we couldn't get that upsetting inner monologue from Harry and see why he would choose not to seek them out. I suppose they could have found a way, but it just... it doesn't really lend itself to visual storytelling. It would have been difficult, and probably pretty cheesy. :/

[talimeeka]

I agree with the not being able to follow through thing, but I think there's a good chance he didn't because he thought they may have tried to stop him, a reasonable assumption I think.