What’s Up With Harry Potter?
That cheering sound you hear in the near distance is the sound of millions of Harry Potter fans rejoicing, as David Yates sixth film finally hit theaters. The series has managed to sweep in on millions across the world, but somehow along the way, I managed to miss the boat. I have never read a Harry Potter book nor have I seen any of the movies. Before you denounce me as Professor Snape’s doppleganger, hear me out on this one. For whatever reason, wizards, magic, and old guys with scraggly beards has never really tooted my horn. Before Harry Potter came along, I don’t think any of these things really blew anybody’s hair back. No? Okay. So maybe, I’m just that guy whose late to the party. Does that mean I can’t still come in?
The Harry Potter experience is a little different than your ordinary film. It’s kind of like the Super Bowl in reverse. The movie itself is actually an enjoyable experience, the hoopla of the film, though, I could do without. For instance, most movies don’t draw in a long line that goes around the block. On your average movie going days or nights, you simply walk into the theater and find a seat. With Harry Potter, you don’t just have a line to stand in indefinitely, it goes half a block around the entrance to the actual theatre. That’s just one example. When you finally get into the theater, that’s when you need to look out, or in Dumbledore’s words; “Wands out!” Apparently, the only thing Harry Potter fans enjoy more than J.K. Rowling is Orville Redenbacher. If I wouldn’t have known it, every fan was buying a large popcorn. I just wanted Raisonets. I’m an American. How long should I have to wait? Apparently thirty minutes.
By the time you’ve collected your five dollar box of sugar coated raisons, you have to show the bomb squad waiting outside the theater your ticket stub. If you’re a seasoned Harry Potter movie fan, you have the thing laminated and attached to your hip pocket like a skier getting onto the chair lift. If you’re like me, you’re digging around your pant pocket trying to find the thing while everyone is walking by you like you’re the new kid in school.
Then the movie comes. I was worried that I wasn’t really going to know what was going on in the film since I hadn’t read the books or seen any of the other movies. It turns out I couldn’t have been any more right. I had no idea what was going on. But that doesn’t mean the film isn’t enjoyable. There is a subtlety to the film that creates a very real sense of humor in a world that is driven by the wildest thoughts of the imagination. Yates uses special effects the way they were supposed to be used; An effect to help bring us into the film world, not a distraction to keep us occupied, contrary to the proverbial, big budget action film occupying theaters today. If you’re like me and you aren’t entirely sure how the pieces come together, you can’t help but stare at them and admire how cool they look from anything you’ve ever seen. You don’t need notes on the previous five movies to enjoy Harry Potter, you just need an imagination.
What may be most impressive is the broad spectrum of who the film attracts. It doesn’t exaggerate reality like most children’s stories, nor does it blatantly try to shock you with unrealistic action sequences like today’s “thrillers.” Harry Potter fits in a world that is so creative, we can’t help but become immersed in it, to the point where we blur our idea of what reality means. No matter how old or how young you are, Potter fans all possess the desire to give our imaginations permission to forget about reality for a little bit. And that includes a first-timer like me.
