Now I Get Harry Potter

I finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban over the weekend.  The first two books were too young for my tastes, but I forced myself to read them.  I kept thinking: seriously, am I the only person that doesn't get it?  Why should I care about Harry Potter?  The question of why Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter never once entered my mind, and poor orphaned, confused Harry, with his little lightning bolt scar on his forehead, was an author's ploy to make me feel something for him.  Plus, the characters had names I wasn't sure how to pronounce--a huge pet peeve.  But determined to experience the Potter phenomenon, I watched a few movies. So that's how you say Hermione!  

With the third book the series has become intriguing.  Suddenly, I feel very connected to the characters, invested in them.  Perhaps because I can relate to Hermione's work ethic and her drive to achieve.  Don't I wish I had a magic hourglass to go back in time, change a few things, and get some more work done!   I feel stupid that I didn't get that Hermione feels she must work twice as hard as everyone else because her parents are muggles, but I was just going through the motions of reading then.  

Once the dementors approach Harry, and he hears the last moments of his parents lives, his mother's screams at Voldemorte, begging him not to kill her son, I was so wrecked and signed on to Team Harry that moment, and my screaming maternal instincts wanted to adopt him.

And Ron Weasley!  His humor and boyish charm offset Harry's seriousness nicely.

So I'm paying attention now.  I'll be able to read the series without wishing I could Evelyn Wood my way through it.  I can't wait to finish the series, and see the final movie.  Everyone is mad about it.  My favorite character is still Hermione, though, and Emma Watson does an excellent job of bringing her to life.

As an aside, I think Emma Watson has the talent to become one of the best actors of our time.  She has style, class and grace.  She looks lovely with her new haircut, and it makes her look strangely magical, accentuating the fairy upsweep of her eyes.  Not many can pull off a pixie haircut, but I like it.  I read that she's been dying to cut her hair, but couldn't until the filming for The Deathly Hallows was finished.

She'll be staring in Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.  But do we need another remake of an old fairy tale?

There's nothing new under the sun, it's all in the execution.  I didn't see Beastly, but I would definitely pay to see del Toro's vision of the story with Watson.

Be well and happy reading,