HRH Dynamic (a little long, sorry)

[Laura Klotz]

I'm wondering whether anyone else feels that the actual relationship
between HR&H is made more, shall we say, real by the portrayal of such in
the movie.  Having seen the film three times now, I find that I'm looking
at the way the trio relates to each other a little differently than I did
when I had simply memorized chunks of the books.  These are my
impressions, based mainly on the movie, and I'd like to know anyone
else's opinions.

Hermione -- She seems to have a bit of hero worship going on with Harry. 
I don't think it qualifies as a proper crush, just a great deal of
admiration for his babyhood accomplishments as well as his present day
character.  Observe the way she knows about his father having been a
Seeker, and seems to be trying very hard to become a part of his "inner
circle" (consisting basically of himself and Ron, really) until the troll
incident.  After the troll incident, I think she develops a healthier
respect for Ron as well, since they both had a hand in rescuing her. 
Clearly her initial disdain for Ron changes into friendship and even
affection by the time they enter the trapdoor; her sorrow and fear at his
intentions of self-sacrifice in the chess match are a strong indication
of this, as is her hearty applause when Dumbledore awards him fifty
points.  She even grows to be more tolerant of his [or what she thinks
are his] shortcomings; she rescues him from the Devil's Snare without so
much as a word of reproof.

Ron -- He's quite amazed that a person of Harry's notoriety would choose
him for a best friend.  The movie doesn't really get much into how he's
been overshadowed by his older brothers, but I always thought that maybe
this was a bit of something Ron was able to do that his brothers didn't
-- become the best friend of one of the most famous people in modern-day
wizardry.  He also seems to share in Hermione's hero worship, just a
little bit, but his reasoning evolves into a different sort from hers; he
knows firsthand what a nice guy Harry is.  His view of Hermione is fairly
transparent as it progresses from mild irritation to thorough disgust to
tolerance to friendship.  Helping to rescue her from the troll seems to
make her a little more acceptable to him, as though it proved to all of
them that she's not able to do everything.  I think he comes to admire
her, in a way, almost as much as he does Harry; my favorite line in the
movie is "You're a little bit scary sometimes, you know that?  Brilliant,
but scary."  Young boys just love things they find scary; it's not so
much that she spooks him here, but that he's amazed by her being able to
do what she has to do.  To my mind, one of the best things about Ron's
developing friendship with H&H is that it gives him the chance to be
something of a hero in his own right.

Harry -- His liking of Ron is instantaneous; I think the open, friendly
face of Rupert Grint helps us to accept that more readily than we
otherwise might.  He's not used to being liked by people, never mind
being famous, so forming such a quick and ready friendship with Ron comes
as something of a surprise to him -- almost as if he's thinking, "Someone
likes me?  Maybe I'm not so unlovable as the Dursleys would have me
believe."  I don't think he quite knows what to make of Hermione at the
outset.  Certainly her quick mind and magical skill are a point of
admiration with him (she fixed his glasses, after all), but the
overbearing nature of her personality puts him off some.  He puts this
aside, however, when the time comes to rescue her from the troll; all
that matters at this point is that a classmate is in mortal peril, and
he's one of the only people who knows it.  Once he and Ron have saved
her, she becomes their staunch ally and, more importantly, their loyal
friend.  I think the clearest visual of Harry's feelings for Ron and
Hermione, however, comes toward the end of the film, when he returns to
Gryffindor Tower from the hospital wing.  They're on the landing above
him, and he's gazing up at them with one of the sweetest smiles he offers
during the whole movie -- Harry is looking at the two living people he
loves most in the world.  

Okay, everyone still awake?  ;)  Any thoughts?  Arguments?  Concurrences?
 Cookies?
~Laura K.

________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.