After watching Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Ⅰ in December last year, a friend asked me for my opinion of the film. In particular, she wanted to know whether Ⅰ cried, or not and what my favourite part was. As far as Ⅰ can remember, Ⅰ did not cry. However, Ⅰ had an opinion on which parts Ⅰ liked.
Apart from Dobby dying, of course, Ⅰ found the beginning very sad indeed. The part where Hermione casts the «obliviate» spell on her parents in order to protect them from the disturbing events afoot.
Later in the film, Ⅰ was delighted by the crafty animation of the story of the Deathly Hallows. But my favourite scene of the whole film—still, after watching it three or four times now—is the dance. Because as Ⅰ saw that scene in the theatre Ⅰ thought: this is not a children’s movie anymore. This is adult stuff.
These characters came into adulthood right there before the camera, in a two minute sequence of a 1,178 minute film franchise. In that very scene, they grow out of the clear cut world view that is childhood and find themselves struggling with the complexities of adult life.
The characters came very close to spontaneous combustion, mind you.
And if we would watch a story for adults they would have all sorts of excuses in place, just for the occasion: the heartbreak and pain she feels, because a beloved friend and loyal companion abandoned them. The mayhem he caused and his guilt for dragging his friends into it; his wish to make it better for them. Because it’s the only thing he could possibly think of to take her pain away for a very short while. The transient but easy comfort one can create for themselves in a situation that is hopeless at best.
But they didn’t combust.
And that got me confused. Because, if this were a story for adults, with adults… what would happen?
Well, they would not stop dancing. They would share a kiss or two. Then they would start to lose their clothes and, finally, they would engage in meaningless sex. Because, from what Ⅰ hear, such thing supposedly exists for adults.
They can’t be adults in this scene then, because this very scene demonstrates a level of maturity beyond the capacity of most standard storytelling for adults. So, what is it we are watching then?
These obviously aren’t adults, navigating a hopeless situation. It’s not cynical enough.
No, these are young adults, teenagers, their very own special breed. The kind that lives with heightened sensibilities toward the complexities and grey areas of the world, but knows just two states of being: the young adult leads a life torn between desperation and euphoria.
What we see in these two minutes is lived euphoria in light of a tragic turn of events.
Bittersweet that is.
This blog post was written under the influence of the Potterthon on the eve of the Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Ⅱ release, July 14th, 2011. It was published on August 26th, 2011.
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