The first thing I thought when the screen went black and the credits began to roll at last nights midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, was, "I can't believe it's over." Somehow, this was not the reaction I had been expecting.
Maybe I thought I was prepared for the end. Maybe I went into denial and kept telling myself that Harry Potter couldn't end, that it would live forever. The more likely story is that I thought I would be so blown away by the last film that I would only be thinking about how good it was and not the fact that there will be no more of them. Ever.
Of course the movie was amazing. They did a fantastic job with it, which only made the end to the series that much more heart wrenching. During the last third of the movie I'm sure there was not a dry eyed person in the theatre, and the sound of sniffling was only interrupted by cheers for Molly Weasley when she defeats Bellatrix.
And now for the questions nobody can answer. Will Harry Potter live on? Will our children be reading our well worn copies of the books we cherished when we were kids? Or will there be another series in its place? No matter what happens, I think that Harry Potter will always be special to those who grew up with its characters. It will be remembered, not only for its wonderful writing or its world wide fame, but because it taught people everywhere to believe in magic.
I loved the movie, the books, all of it, but I can't seem to make myself sad that it's over. It's kind of like the downfall of Tiger, isn't it? He was good for the sport of golf, got a lot of people watching, but he won every tournament. At least there are other winners now. HP got a lot of people reading, but at least they'll be reading something else now.
ReplyDeleteInteresting...maybe it has something to do with the fact that Harry Potter holds special meaning to me because it was such a big part of my childhood, and its harder for me to give it up. I think we all think fondly of the books we grew up with. But you're right that there will always be new books that catch people's attention, and when those appear I'll be just as happy to read them as I was with HP. (Providing that they're well written.. *cough* Twilight *cough*)
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