Harry Potter & the Generation Gap
The HP books or the movies: which one of these is better?
“EVERYONE REMEMBERS THE DEBACLE OF THE COLOUR OF LILY AND HARRY’S EYES IN THE HARRY POTTER MOVIES.” —URVEE MODWEL
“THERE ARE SO MANY GREAT LINES IN THE MOVIE THAT AREN’T IN THE BOOK, LIKE RON SAYING ‘SHE NEEDS TO SORT OUT HER PRIORITIES’.” —DIANA MATHEW
“The movies missed so many details”
Anyone who thinks that the Harry Potter movies can fully recreate the level of detail in the books is just wrong. Only fans who grew up having to wait years between books, reading and re-reading, dissecting each word, spending hours discussing theories with friends, arguing about which house the Sorting Hat would put you into, day-dreaming of owls coming to visit them at midnight and begging their parents to buy them the vibrating brooms from Big Joe’s truly understand what it is to be an HP fan and be completely immersed in the HP universe.
Of course, I’ve watched all the movies (even the Fantastic Beasts series) and been that person in the movie theatre who stage-whispers every time they got something wrong. And while they were definitely enjoyable and got many things right (the cast!) it’s the many things they got wrong that are irksome. The movies missed out on so many beautiful, small details. Everyone remembers the debacle of the colour of Lily and Harry’s eyes. I mean, you had one job. And how can you miss Jude Law as Dumbledore in 1927 when you have Michael Gambon playing him in 1938 (remember the flashback scene with Tom Riddle in the orphanage?) As someone on Twitter pointed out, those must have been very testing, tiresome years, indeed.
Will I still watch every HP movie they make? Yes. Will I watch the remakes in 2065? Also yes. But until then, BRB gotta go re-read the series.
Urvee Modwel, 32, a member of Team is
still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter
“I wanted to see a Quidditch match happen”
Iread the first book when I was nine and it was a lot for me to take in. I couldn’t imagine those magical things the author was describing and the kids in my class were enjoying! I needed the visual aspect of things to actually enjoy the phenomenon. I wanted to see a Quidditch match happen, the candles floating right above everyone’s heads and see how Hagrid really looked, was he really a giant? When I saw these descriptions come to life through movies, I was a happy child, and since then I have enjoyed the Harry Potter series. Watching actors like
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape or watching creatures like the Hippogriff just made it that much better for me. Who needs the books when you have the movies?
I don’t mind the movies not covering a whole lot from the book, I quite enjoy the ‘What HP movies didn’t cover’ videos, it’s like the official extras, ‘author’s cut’ I get. There are so many great lines in the movie that aren’t in the book, like Ron saying “She needs to sort out her priorities.” The movies are basically Christmas movies for my friends and I and we end up watching them every year and enjoying them just as much each time. Last but not least, what about the music... that theme song still gives me goosebumps.