Last night I finally saw the last installment of the Harry Potter film series, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and let me tell you it was BLOODY BRILLIANT!
As a faithful reader of the books (YES, I pre-ordered them from Barnes & Noble. YES, I read them cover to cover right away. YES, I own all seven books in hard back with the original cover art. YES to all that.) I want to commend all the screenwriters, directors and producers who brought J.K. Rowling's mesmerizing words to life on the big screen without compromising the original storyline. Rowling should definitely be proud of all the work done by the cast and crew of all eight films. We, the fans, are pleased.
I remember the first time I picked up a copy of The Sorcerer's Stone. I was working as an assistant for this woman who worked for Children's International in Riverdale, and I had to organize this crazy-messy office of hers. There were books and papers for DAYS in all languages, and among all the journals that focused on children's rights was a brightly-colored paperback with a little boy on a broomstick flying through the air; a book I'd been reading about in all the papers lately. Umm, hello? A tale about wizards and magic?! Yeah, I had to skim through it!
It was love at first paragraph. That whole workday was shot to shit because I sat in that office and read half the book over a plate of greasy Chinese food, then hunted the shelves for the next installations. At that time, only four of the seven books had been published (three of which my boss had and I "borrowed") and waiting for that fifth book to be released was not unlike Chinese water torture for me. That's how much I loved them. In the meantime I took my hard-earned money and bought the first four in hardcover to begin my collection.
Then the film was announced and I was skeptical until I found out 1- Rowling was going to be involved, 2- they announced there would be a movie per book and 3- I saw the cast. If ever there were three kids to perfectly play Harry, Hermione and Ron, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, respectively, were IT (them??)! Watching these kids grow (at alarming rates) into their roles was a pleasure for me as a viewer and they should be excited to know they'll forever be a part of our collective cultural history.
But more importantly I want to say this about my decade-long love affair with Harry & company: never has there been anything that brought me and my children together than our love for this fictional world. Well, maybe except for Buffy (but that's a whole other discussion). We bonded over our discussions about the films and books and anticipated every film release together.
And YES, we are already plotting to buy the DVD box set whenever it becomes available (Christmas, maybe?) because it was truly THAT awesome!
*smooches...rereading the books, for fun*
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I got closure with that last film but now I want to relive it all over again. yeah, I'm a dork LOL
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