my responses on all points of controversy

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

I loved the movie, at least I got incredibly high on seeing it. 
It's visually beautiful and I want to go one frame at a time looking 
at all the people and costumes and what is happening in the 
background. People on list have mentioned seeing another wand shop on 
Diagon Alley. I didn't, but on second viewing, it seemed to be that 
the shop with the big scissors for sign had lettering that, as viewed 
between the heads of extra, could have said Madam Malkin's Robes and 
it seemed to me that there was a blond boy inside: Draco??? Among 
other things, I want a good look at the arms painted inside the 
Quidditch balls box and at the teachers at the High Table and certain 
adult male extras in the stands at the Quidditch game.... It's not 
just the kid stars, but children and adults, movie Hogwarts is a 
positive buffet of pulchritude.

One nitpick I squeaked at was that the entrance to Gryffindor House, 
behind the Fat Lady painting, doesn't require climbing or jumping up. 
I wonder if they tried building a porthole entrance like in the books 
and people looked too ridiculous using it? But surely committing to 
these unneccessary physical challenges is part of what being a 
Gryffindor is about?

In Gringotts, Hagrid told Harry that goblins aren't the most friendly 
beasts. I squeaked in protest: goblins are Beings not Beasts!

I don't understand why some people dislike some of the acting. I 
loved all the kids and had no problem with Dumbledore despite all 
those interviews that roused fear of bad acting. The 'Harry, you're a 
great wizard' speech was straight from the book: it was embarrassing 
there, too. Umm, Mrs. Weasley didn't quite look and sound right (she 
looked like her hair was badly dyed) but I got over that. I agree 
that James was too old and didn't look enough like Harry but I wasn't 
bothered by that. I was very much bothered about Lily: I had always 
been certain that Lily was much prettier than THAT, there were 
several young women in the Audience who looked more like Lily than 
that actress did.

Other people who looked wrong: McGonagall was a beautiful silver 
tabby (a blotch tabby, which is more common in UK than here) but I'm 
sure the book said she was an orange cat. Mrs. Norris was a beautiful 
fluffy brown tabby -- she is not supposed to be beautiful, nor 
fluffy, and I know that there are cats colored closer to 'dust 
colored': my little Pixy is one. Also, when the kids were sneaking 
around the castle at night and Mrs Norris appeared and they shouted 
"It's Filch's cat!" it hadn't been established for newbies that she 
reports back to him. One sentence is all they needed to set that up. 
Like one sentence from Percy told Harry and newbies that Snape is 
Head of Slytherin House (when Harry's scar hurt and he asked Percy 
"who's that professor talking to Quirrell?"

I don't understand why some Muggle critics said that the first part 
(until the violence starts) was too slow. I thought it was TOO FAST, 
a mad rush through the events of the book, shorter than a cliff's 
notes summary. I would have been happier if let they'd let me spend 
more time with it. I was really bothered by the destruction caused by 
the wrong wands in Ollivander's shop (which incidentally was not 
dusty enough) but that is probably my personal issue. 

It didn't work quite right when Hagrid jumped from saying: "Didn't 
you ever wonder where your Mum and Dad learned it all?"  and Harry: 
"All what?" to saying "Harry, you're a wizard". They really should 
have found time for Q: "All what?" A: "Their magic. [blank look from 
Harry] You don't even know that your Mum and Dad were a witch and 
wizard, some of the best in this century? [more blank look from 
Harry] Ah, Harry, you're a wizard." 

Speaking of blank looks from Harry, I desperately loved his 
expression of wicked glee when bad things happened to Dudley and 
Vernon. It showed that he hasn't had the spirit knocked out of him, 
which took pages and pages and pages in the book.

I don't understand why some people Like the music. I Hated the music 
at the end, which continued under the end credits -- it made me not 
only wince but grind my teeth. Oh, the pomposity, oh the grandiosity, 
oh the loudness. I also disliked that heavenly choir garbage when 
Harry got the right wand and at the first sight of Hogwarts and IIRC 
one other time. That heavenly choir stuff is annoying enough in 
kissing scenes (where it is a cliche) but it's annoying And 
Embarrassing in these scenes: is someone trying to tell us that wands 
and castles and light shows and magic are all just sex? I didn't 
notice any of the rest of the music, which I suppose is as it should 
be.

I've been telling people I want my frame by frame viewing with the 
Sound OFf, and then I add "except for Rickman". Oh, he was gorgeous, 
he was so hot, he did evil and menacing and hidden deep emotions... 
the stuff in the books about Snape looking hideous and disgusting is 
now obsolete. It's non-operative. I believe that Al will now have to 
stop saying: "Have you read the books? The description of Snape? He's 
disgusting." Not Any More.

The only shippiness *I* saw in the film was Draco/Snape... no, I 
don't mean there was child molesting on screen or even implied! But a 
foundation was being laid for something that takes years to flower.
Snape looked approvingly directly AT Draco when he said something 
about students who have potential (giving me the impression that he
is not merely trying to get Harry's goat or please Lucius, but does 
have reason to believe that Draco does have Potential at Potions, 
presumably either from Snape having seen Draco's primary school 
records or from Snape knowing the Lucius is very good at Potions). 
Draco responded to this look of approval by absolutely *beaming* and 
did all the face and body language of WANTING Snape's good opinion. 
Not just of sucking up to a teacher or even to his Head of House. I 
take it he was impressed either by Snape's reputation or by his 
famous speech praising Potions.  None of that is romantic/sexual YET, 
but it lays the groundship for a friendly relationship such as 
mentorship, and over years the erotic attraction can grow out of the 
mutual liking and respect and very much the mentor/naif dynamic which 
Plato praised in The Symposium.

Yes, I also noticed him reaching out for an invisible person, hand 
poised to clutch the Cloak -- I immediately felt he must have had 
experience with James (et al) under that cloak.

Which brings me back to Petunia's outburst about her "perfect" sister 
and how proud the parents were to have a witch in the family. It did 
make me feel that the Evans parents had some contact with the 
wizarding world, already knew about it. But not that they were a 
wizarding family: if Petunia had been raised in the wizarding world, 
she would have thought *it* was normal and the Muggles were freaks! 
Maybe one or both Evans parents was a Squib. Maybe the Evans parents 
were Muggles and one of them had a witch or wizard sibling who told 
them about it.