Harry Potter: A Muggle’s view

I confess.
I never read a word from any Harry Potter book.
I wouldn’t know a Muggle from a Mugwort (“HOG wart, Dad,” I was told).

Oh, I had heard about the Potter phenomenon, knew a bit about the lady who went from rags to riches by writing it, and would probably even have been able to identify a lightning bolt on my son’s forehead at Halloween.

But caught up in the Potter-mania? Hardly. If that qualifies me for membership in some modern day version of the Flagellants, so be it.

But I enjoyed the hell out of the movie anyway and not just because I think there is no classier language than British English for movies about wizards. More basically, I was hooked because I took to the kid who played Potter right away.Who wouldn’t identify immediately with a kid who’s forced to bunk under a staircase behind a door locked from the outside, unless the kid is a monster?

And I took an immediate dislike to the fat kid and his parents, as the movie--and probably the book--intended. The minute some goliath named Hagrid showed up and took Harry away from those misfits, I was hopelessly locked into the adventure.

The cast was, well, superbly cast; and I just loved the diction on the little girl who played Hermione. Harry’s friend Ron was also a winning role, though at times his accent made it difficult to understand some words. Even the bad kid was good, though I half-expected him to do far more dastardly things.
It was delightful, too, to see Richard Harris (Professor Dumbledorr) playing a character so like the Merlin he played opposite in Camelot so long ago.

Sets were simply captivating, entirely appropriate to the mood, and the game of Quidditch was great cinematic fun, though you could have expected the outcome. The effects were superb, neatly melding the atmosphere of an ancient jousting tournament with the feeling of a modern football game.

By far, the scariest part, at least for those of us boomers still traumatized by the black hooded Ghost of Christmas yet to come in a Christmas Carol, was the nighttime woodland scene wherein Harry comes upon Mr. Evil himself (though I can’t remember his evil-sounding name) munching on the carcass of a unicorn.


Some will, no doubt, find things to complain about, especially if they are book aficionados who take issue with the storyline. “They left a lot of things out,” has been a recurring complaint from that crowd.
But while my own mugwumps--or whatever they’re called--agreed, they were also smart enough to realize that the alternative was a five hour movie, too much for even the hardiest Potterite--much less a clueless Flagellant like me--to bear at one sitting.

When I was a lad, I remember movies being so good that people would actually applaud when they were over. That’s exactly what happened at the afternoon show I attended.

When it was over, my youngest mugwort (8 and a Potter-phile) stood up and proclaimed for all in the theatre to hear, “Now THAT was an awesome movie!”
This Muggle agrees.

©Kurt E. Epps 2001 All rights reserved

Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older