Argh. IE exploded and ate my LJ post.
Jun. 7th, 2004 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsosLook, 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-07 02:20 pm (UTC)Besides, it's not like we don't have a BOOK to read if we want to get all the backstory to the Marauders... If you want that, justread the damn book. And then you don't have to moan about how Thewlis wasn't quite Lupin-ish enough.