'Mudblood' scene

[Wanda Sherratt]

I wasn't too crazy about the way this scene was done, with all the 
explaning being given to Hermione instead of Ron, plus her getting 
teary-eyed about it.  But I have to sympathize with the moviemakers 
and I think I can see why they thought they had to do that.  A movie 
has to SHOW things - this "racial slur" theme is important, and we 
have to feel that it's important and serious.  But how can we really 
feel that if the people most involved don't feel it?  It makes 
perfect sense in the book that Hermione would be quite innocent of 
what a dirty insult Malfoy had thrown at her; as someone said, her 
knowledge of the wizarding world comes mostly from books, and she's 
not likely to have come across this seamier side there.  But there's 
a danger that if the scene had been filmed the way it was written in 
the book, the audience would think, "Well, if Hermione doesn't mind, 
why should I?  It can't be that bad after all."  No, in order to 
make us feel how prejudice hurts, they show us the actual hurt - 
Hermione with her eyes full of tears.  The other way is too 
intellectual, takes too long and just doesn't work in a movie.  
Maybe someone else could have pulled it off, but I think it would 
have been difficult.  I think this is just one of the 
inevitable "flattening" moments that are bound to happen when a book 
is transferred to the screen.