Argh. IE exploded and ate my LJ post.

[apocalypsos]

Look, here's the thing. Nearly every person I know who's read the books is complaining because they didn't outright tell you who the Marauders were., thereby making it difficult for non-readers to know.

Here's the thing. Even if you haven't read the book, they give you all the clues you need to figure it out.

Let me explain. The twins give Harry the map and add that they stole it from Filch, indicating that the original owners of the map were students at the school. By the time Remus gets a hold of it in the hallway with Harry and Snape, we've already seen the boggart turn into a moon upon being confronted with Remus, and afterwards it's obvious without the audience being told that Remus knows what the map is. If he knows what the map is and how it works, and it's been in Filch's office all that time, it's safe to assume that Remus is Moony. With that as a basis, it's easy to get to Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs.

Take Sirius. Once the audience realizes that Sirius is the dog that's been following Harry, and that he and Remus are friends, he can automatically be placed in the "Padfoot" category.

The same goes for Peter. Once he changes back from Scabbers to human, it's not hard to reach the conclusion that he's Wormtail.

Prongs is a little harder, but not by much. If someone from their group had to be Prongs, who was the one common thread they all shared? That's right, James. And while they never come out and say it (Is it important enough in an already long movie to bring up the fact that he was an Animagus? No.), the fact that Harry's Patronus is a stag is a subtle hint of that.

The same goes for the potion. We hear and know nothing of it until Remus, confronted with the moon, starts to change and Sirius says, "Have you taken your potion?" This tells the audience that while we haven't seen him taking it, Remus does take a potion every month to either negate the change, or -- as people who've read the books know -- lessen its effects somewhat. Snape is the Potions teacher, and when he takes over Remus' DADA class, he uses it as an opportunity to make everybody write long essays on werewolves. Gee, I wonder where Remus was getting that potion?

And then there's The Line of Dialogue. What makes sense to you if you haven't read the book? Hermione, the one already standing close to Harry in that scene, moves in front of Harry and says it, OR Ron, the one with the injured leg clutching a rat to his chest, scrambles to his feet and says it? The movie is already two hours and fifteen minutes long, and JKR can waste all the pages she wants getting Ron to his feet.

How about Hermione, the Mary Sue who punches Draco and gets more screen time than Ron? Alfonso Cuaron did not make Hermione a Mary Sue. JK Rowling made Hermione a Mary Sue. Hermione is smarter than everybody else, "the best witch of her age" even without it beng a line of dialogue. She's brave, well-read, everybody likes her even though she's obnoxious, she's pretty ... need I go on? Hermione wouldn't punch Draco? No, but she would slap him as she did in the book, and while there's a difference between a slap and a a punch, I can pretty much say that when I was Hermione -- and oh holy Jesus, was I as a kid -- I would have punched him. I don't know many thirteen-year-old tomboys who's wouldn't have punched him.

And why does she get more screen time? I don't think it's because she's a Mary Sue. No, I think it's because that's the way the plot goes. Hermione spends the last few chapters of the book alone with Harry righting everything that went wrong. You know why? Because Ron is in the infirmary with a broken leg. It's like a trade-off from Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione spent the last half of the book frozen into a statue in the infirmary.

Look, let me sum this up as best I can. Adults get bitchy because of stuff that's left out of these movies. Little kids are happy because stuff gets left in. How many little kids did you see leaving that theater all disappointed that Oliver Wood didn't get his Quidditch win? I didn't see a little kid who wasn't thrilled to be there, and nearly all of them were saying things like "Honeydukes! Wow!" and "The Firebolt! Wow!" and "Buckbeak! Wow!"

I'd probably be pissed about things that were left out like that, but I'm not the target audience, so I don't give a shit.

Comments

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Well yeah, he could have figured it out. I'd guess Hermione already has. But again, I don't necessarily care about the information in an aHA! sort of way, but more as another way of Harry being connected to this group. I think telling him is more in the nature of a kindness than strictly informational. For example, if Lupin had told him that, it would've been a natural outgrowth of their increasing closeness.

And it just occurred to me that this would probably have made the "Kill him" scene play badly. But I think that scene was a mistake. It's clear all along that the kids think Lupin and Black mean to kill Harry, and that doesn't work for me. I don't see either of them, but especially not Lupin, allowing that misapprehension stand for even a moment once it's been discovered. Yes, it increases the drama, but artificially. And it SO thuds.

Anyway, back to my original point: If Sirius had had a moment to tell him who the Marauders were, that would have been a strong bonding point, too. This information puts Harry's own life at school into a different perspective. I think it has a lot to do with making him feel both more connected to his own life, and more connected to his father. And I miss that moment when he's shown that connection. Though I suppose the point at which he's waiting for his father to cast the Patronus spell, and he suddenly steps forward and does it himself can be considered to be the moment where he works it out for himself.

Still, him figuring it out doesn't have the same emotional resonance for me as being given the information. Probably my objections are a bit esoteric. *g*

[sekari.livejournal.com]

What didn't sit write with me was that in the span of the film, Harry has been Fuming and hunting with intent to kill him for MONTHS before the scene in the shrieking shack. and all in an instant after that obscure and frenetic encounter Harry trusts black like, well, like a father and is seriously considering going to live with him. I don't think a 14 year old is able to emotionally adapt that quickly. If they had included a moments pause where Lupin and Black clearly explained things to asuage any doubt in the childrens minds, then I could possibly see where the sudden trust and compassion Harry feels for someone who half an hour ago he believed kill his parents.

[fyrdrakken]

From a bonding standpoint, Lupin's talk about how he knew both Harry's parents worked even better, and just telling Harry that the other three of them had been close friends with his father while they were all in school serves much of the purpose of filling in the MWPP angle. I just regret the emotionally resonant factual information that Harry has now inherited a map his father helped create (and the lack of explanation of why Harry's Patronus took a stag form). And there's something to be said for mysteries being left till the next installment, as with the Parseltongue ability revealed in PS/SS but not shown to be significant till CoS.

I wish it had been included, but if it'll be explained in GoF (as I've heard), I won't object quite so strenuously.