"The Motion Picture Event of a Generation:" Harry Potter!

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

"The Motion Picture Event of a Generation:" Harry Potter!

See Emma Watson's smug little smile? She knew she was gonna grow up to make bank (and become super hot).

The official trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a movie that will probably make more $$$ than you and I will combined in a lifetime, is here!!! - accio vuvuzelas!- Sadly it reaches us in the form of a YouTube video, not owl post.

I don't know if it'll be any good or not, but "the motion picture event of a generation", as they say in the trailer below, is actually not an exaggeration for me. I clearly remember the moment when, lying on my couch on a breezy fall 3rd grade afternoon, when I realized that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the best freaking book I've ever read in my life (I didn't even know what "freaking" meant back then), and I desperately needed to become expertly obsessed with it. For the next decade I camped out at book release nerdfest parties, dressed up as the Weasley family with my friends for Halloween (Molly and Arthur Plus Seven, har har), read and reread the books, reread them the night before the movie releases, complained on Harry Potter fansites among other discontended muggles about how curtailing Rowling's gospel text to adapt for the silverscreen is an abomination, took sorting hat quizzes on Facebook (Ravenclaw for me), coined Harry Potter pick-up lines ("My name may not be Luna, but I know how to Lovegood!"), laughed at Potter Puppet Pals, subconsciously began using Harry Potter references in everyday life ("Ugh, team France sucks as much as Beauxbatons! No wonder they lost to South Africa!").

During this time I stumbled through elementary school, middle school and high school, and the last film is coming out a month after my college graduation.

Thanks to the enchanted hype J.K. Rowling is now the second richest woman in England behind HRM Queen Elizabeth, and the film stars are now the biggest earners in Hollywood. Are the movies really worth that much money though? Sure, they have great cinematography, good special effects, passable acting and it was amusing watching Daniel Radcliffe blossom from an adorable little kid to that naked dude in Equus, but the films won't be nearly as successful without the book backing them up. The trailer for Hallows looks promising and dividing the book into two parts will probably make book fans happy by including more source material, but I can't say for sure the movie will be awesome.

But then, who cares? Harry Potter is the Star Trek of our generation, and people will flock to the theatres just to pay homage to the conclusion of an era. My friends and I will definitely watch it on opening night, and I predict everyone will stand up and applause and maybe shed some tears when the credits roll--for the good times, for growing up, for the crappy job market, for how bipolar Ron and Hermione's kids will grow up to be...

Thank you, Harry, for 13 magical years. I'll race you all to the butterbeer stand.

And now for the trailer...

Do you think this is truly "the motion picture event of a generation"? Are you excited for this movie? Are you going to watch it? How old were you when the 1st Harry Potter book came out? Are you a huge Harry Potter geek? What is your favorite moment as a Harry Potter fan? Do you think you are going to cry at the end of the second half of the Deathly Hallows movie? Who is your favourite Harry Potter character?
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