The Importance of Being Flint (was Re: No Quidditch??)

[Susan Atherton]

I wrote:
And as far as Flint being cut goes - who cares? If we can't save Wood, do you 
really think we'll save Flint? And do we even really want to?

Kyle replied:
Why have flint!  Well then why have Hermoine, Ron, Draco, Harry, Dudley, 
Vernon, Petunia, Snape!  My question why not have Wood and Flint!  Its there 
last year at least for Wood!  Why not just change all the cast! We really 
don't want the same actors year after year!  Let someone else wear the robes! 
 Its just a movie like Inspector Gagdet!  Gagdet part two want straight to 
video and dvd by the way. 

And I say:
OK, let's get a bit of perspective. How important is Marcus Flint? Well, what do we know about him? He is the Slytherin Quidditch captain. He's very stupid and got held back a year (or JKR made a boo-boo with her numbers - hang on a sec, JKR screwing up with maths? Couldn't happen!!). And he and Wood seem to be old enemies on the Quidditch field.

THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT. 

While I admire your enthusiasm, Kyle, I must question your logic. The most exciting thing about Marcus Flint is that his name has lent itself to an acronym used on this fandom. (That's Flint-Like Inconsistencies Nitpicked Triumphantly, for those who aren't aware) Is is really that important to you to keep him in the movies? The boy has had a handful of mentions in canon, almost all of them purely in the "Wood shook hands with the Slytherin captain, Flint" vein. Wood, on the other hand, is one of Harry's friends. He is mentioned in the common room, in Quidditch practices, in Quidditch games, and even gets a brief cameo in GoF for no real reason other than a nice goodbye. (Although I'm hoping he'll be back in OotP, I'm not holding my breath) He is much more important to Harry, and therefore more important to the canon.

Now let me try and decipher the rest of your post. Are you actually suggesting that Marcus Flint is as important to the storyline as Harry Potter? Or Hermione? Or Draco? Or any of the others you listed there? I'm glad you're such a big Flintfan, but do you genuinely believe he's that important to the story? I know I sure don't. I couldn't care less if we see Flint again, in movie or print. I would've liked to see Wood, but the decision has been made and there's not a huge amount of point bitching about it now. (Like that's stopped us before... ;) )

"Why not just change all the cast! We really 
don't want the same actors year after year!  Let someone else wear the robes! "

Are you being sarcastic? I'm afraid you've lost me a bit here. Do you want the cast changing or not? This isn't a question of someone else playing Flint, it's a question of Flint's character being removed altogether. If this is about the whole "will DR/RG/EW/TF etc stay on after PoA" thing, then you have to remember that it's not in our hands. Although we can discuss whether or not we'd like to see a new cast or keep the old one, we won't get much of a choice; if Dan decides he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as Harry forever, or Emma falls in love and emigrates, or Rupert decides to concentrate on his exams rather than his acting, or Tom decides to do something crazy like concentrate on his fishing... 

~pauses, wonders where Felton is going to be fishing, considers cultivating an interest in it herself~

~shakes self and continues~

...well, we can't stop them! Although I personally would love to see these actors staying on, we can't insist that WB try and trap them into contracts they can't get out of, particularly with the non-principal kids, who could be doing other stuff (as was discussed recently with Devon Murray (I think?) doing Artemis Fowl).

You ask why not just keep Wood and Flint, since it's Wood's last year anyway. Well, as bboy_mn so eloquently listed, there are a whole lotta subplots in PoA. It's only going to be a two to three hour movie - something's gotta get cut. And I'd rather lose Quidditch and get a good explanation from H&R in the hospital ward and get a excellent Shrieking Shack and Time Turner rescue than a substandard Shack/Turner and a lot of Quidditch (and as you may have picked up from other post, I am a major affiliate of keeping bucketloads of Quidditch in Potter movies).


And finally, you completely lost me in the last sentence, Kyle. I'm not sure what the Inspector Gadget thing was about at all... 


Susan
wondering if Hermione knows any spells along the lines of "Go go gadget alohomora..!"
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