harry potter feelings post, part one
So while presumably a large fraction of everyone else are off at midnight showings of Deathly Hallows, I ... have spent all day rewatching the first seven films. (Haha, "the first seven," I started far too late in the day and when I'm finished with Goblet of Fire I am SLEEPING. And then waking up at 4:30 to do the last three because I am just that mad.)
Fuck, I have SO MANY FEELINGS.
I haven't been properly in Harry Potter fandom since I was, I don't know, fifteen? It's been ages, anyway. And in some ways I had a weirdly narrow fandom experience; I read a bit of everything, but in my heart I was a Marauders girl, so I missed out on a bewilderingly large array of things that the fic about Harry's generation had to offer. My feelings, though, are still about nearly everything. I can recite pretty much all the iconic lines from the books that made it into the films. I can remember all the gaps and implications that got lost in translation. I care about all the characters, all of them, and I care about this -- this crazy thing that shaped my life at a formative age, and introduced me to fandom, and allowed me to find a safe space when discovering my queerness, and basically all the things that people have to say about Harry Potter fandom because they are true.
On a rewatch, here are the things that have stayed the same: I still bewilderingly love Dan Radcliffe's Harry. I am still sad about the various reductions of Ron, and my inner child, who desperately wanted to be Hermione, is sure that that isn't my Hermione. I want gobs more backstory, and I hate those shrunken head things, but the Time-Turner sequence is perfection. Oh my gosh Dumbledore is a dick, and it is delightful. Hermione's Yule Ball dress is the wrong damn color. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT NEVILLE, ALL THE TIME, NEVILLE BE MY BOYFRIEND. The less massive investment I have in the books, the more I love the movies, so Order of the Phoenix through Deathly Hallows are pretty damn great.
And here are the things that are different: every time Snape is on screen, I am basically flailing like a crazy person, because SNAAAPE. Emma Watson's Hermione is a totally valid iteration of Hermione, and I am very fond of her. Branagh's Lockhart makes me laugh like mad. I want Malfoys on my screen at all times. Having dealt with the fact that the Azkaban film is never going to be the stupid perfection that is the book, I am now free to see Remus and Sirius as a perfectly good Remus and Sirius, and let my heart break again. Cedric Diggory's tendency to hang around in trees is screamingly funny now, oh Cedric. The Harry/Draco bits are amazing. I am actually genuinely no longer bothered by the excess of Harry/Hermione moments, because I am miles past shipwars, and all the Harry/Ron/Hermione, yes please. (Goooo to the Yule Ball together, Harry and Ron! Shut up shut up.) Actually, screw it, I ship EVERYTHING now. No one is surprised. It is delightful, seriously.
I guess when the fervency of investment is covered with the fuzzy blanket of nostalgia, and then I engage with the films the way I engage with my current fandoms, everything is great. I kept tearing up during these movies. I think that when I see Deathly Hallows tomorrow, I'll need to bring tissues.
This entry was originally posted at http://aria.dreamwidth.org/150005.html. If you'd prefer, please comment there using OpenID.
comments.
Fuck, I have SO MANY FEELINGS.
I haven't been properly in Harry Potter fandom since I was, I don't know, fifteen? It's been ages, anyway. And in some ways I had a weirdly narrow fandom experience; I read a bit of everything, but in my heart I was a Marauders girl, so I missed out on a bewilderingly large array of things that the fic about Harry's generation had to offer. My feelings, though, are still about nearly everything. I can recite pretty much all the iconic lines from the books that made it into the films. I can remember all the gaps and implications that got lost in translation. I care about all the characters, all of them, and I care about this -- this crazy thing that shaped my life at a formative age, and introduced me to fandom, and allowed me to find a safe space when discovering my queerness, and basically all the things that people have to say about Harry Potter fandom because they are true.
On a rewatch, here are the things that have stayed the same: I still bewilderingly love Dan Radcliffe's Harry. I am still sad about the various reductions of Ron, and my inner child, who desperately wanted to be Hermione, is sure that that isn't my Hermione. I want gobs more backstory, and I hate those shrunken head things, but the Time-Turner sequence is perfection. Oh my gosh Dumbledore is a dick, and it is delightful. Hermione's Yule Ball dress is the wrong damn color. I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT NEVILLE, ALL THE TIME, NEVILLE BE MY BOYFRIEND. The less massive investment I have in the books, the more I love the movies, so Order of the Phoenix through Deathly Hallows are pretty damn great.
And here are the things that are different: every time Snape is on screen, I am basically flailing like a crazy person, because SNAAAPE. Emma Watson's Hermione is a totally valid iteration of Hermione, and I am very fond of her. Branagh's Lockhart makes me laugh like mad. I want Malfoys on my screen at all times. Having dealt with the fact that the Azkaban film is never going to be the stupid perfection that is the book, I am now free to see Remus and Sirius as a perfectly good Remus and Sirius, and let my heart break again. Cedric Diggory's tendency to hang around in trees is screamingly funny now, oh Cedric. The Harry/Draco bits are amazing. I am actually genuinely no longer bothered by the excess of Harry/Hermione moments, because I am miles past shipwars, and all the Harry/Ron/Hermione, yes please. (Goooo to the Yule Ball together, Harry and Ron! Shut up shut up.) Actually, screw it, I ship EVERYTHING now. No one is surprised. It is delightful, seriously.
I guess when the fervency of investment is covered with the fuzzy blanket of nostalgia, and then I engage with the films the way I engage with my current fandoms, everything is great. I kept tearing up during these movies. I think that when I see Deathly Hallows tomorrow, I'll need to bring tissues.
This entry was originally posted at http://aria.dreamwidth.org/150005.html. If you'd prefer, please comment there using OpenID.
comments.