In case you’ve been living under a rock, the final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) hits theaters at midnight tomorrow. I (and Landsquid) are suitably excited.
(Hey, at least it gets him out of his funk of losing to the Alpaca in the Epic Battle. I had to hide all my Cheez-Its. Also, I think he’s more of a Hufflepuff, but I’m not going to tell him that. Hufflepuffs are especially good finders.)
Didn’t peg me for a HP fangirl, did you? Oh, you poor thing. I had it so bad right around books five through seven. I even ran a scholarly discussion forum between Half-Blood Prince (hereafter referred to as HBP) and Deathly Hallows. We discussed what a horcrux was, whether Harry was one, and whether Dumbledore was an older Ron come back in time and that’s why he knew everything. It was glorious. I also lived through the Ship Wars. That was less glorious but occasionally good for a laugh.
I was seventeen when I first picked up the books; twenty-four when Book Seven came out. So I can’t claim to have grown up with the books, but they were a major influence on my young adult life.
People who haven’t read the books often look at those of us who are fans with something akin to wary suspicion. Seriously, though, if you haven’t read the books (and, I’m sorry, but the movies don’t count) you should. They may not be Great Literature, but they are an impressive work. Each characters stands out as three-dimensional even though there’s approximately a billion of them, and she has threads that run through all seven volumes. They’re worth it just from the insane organizational standpoint, but they do tell a story that resonates somewhere deep inside.
And now that the last movie is coming out, it’s really the end. Nothing more to look forward to. Will the series fade into our cultural memory? Will something else ever come along that will be able to stretch across of so many cultural boundaries and unite people with a single story?
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. How about you, Squiders? Potter fan, or don’t get the hype? Are you hitting the midnight showing? Dressing up?
Ooh, I was a raving HP fangirl for years. And I did grow up with it– I was 11 when I started reading it, which, I just realized, is half my current lifetime ago.
Also, I keep meaning to have a book reading marathon and see if I can plow through all the books just like old times.
I used to be able to get through the first four in sixteen hours. >_>
First time I tried to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, I didn’t like it. I think I finished it though.
Then my wife came along and was (and still is) a rabid fan and I tried again and actually liked it. To the point I ordered British editions of all my copies, in hardback (I once called them English editions, and a smart-ass friend said, “They’re ALL written in English!” My friends can be jerks sometimes.).
I’ve enjoyed most of the movies too, but as I’d skew the average age of the fans here considerably UPWARD, I will just say I’m too old to see them at midnight opening day.