dark films

[susanbones2003]

Hi Sports Fans:
This is a conversation Karen and I began having off list when we 
realized it belonged up on the list. Karen started it in regards to 
my remark that HP didn't rule her life.

Karen writes:
...I am a serious fan 
though a late comer. I quite honestly have in the past few months 
been non-stop Harry. Mostly rereading to get the drift of her 
writing. I consider her right up there with my other favorite author 
Anne McCaffery. I love to reread writing and see just what it is 
that makes it tick. And the movies of course, just are so perfectly 
cast that it enhances the reading. You don't get a combination like 
that very often. I do think that the film, having done SO well, will 
convince the studio that they can have them be darker. 

Jen D. writes:

Hey Karen, 
Again this is a post and I promise to put it up but you have to let 
me quote you. I object to calling the movies "dark." I feel that if 
a movie is dark, it gives the impression there is no hope. And I 
think most of the time, the film makers have done a good job of 
catching the tone of the books. The first two, while full of the 
discovery of the WW, certainly had their moments of suspense and 
tension and obviously, 
moments where Harry faced some great dark wizard or beastie but I 
have heard increasingly how wonderful it was that Harry is getting 
darker!. This bothers me because Harry is about good, and how good 
will triumph. That's why he can not be bought by the ministry, which 
is about self-preservation and if saving the WW gets in the way, 
then so much the better. Yes, the confrontations with LV are getting 
more and  more intense and have been done very well in the last film 
but ultimately, it's the confrontations we are seeing (and the 
attendant menace that preceeds) and we are calling the films dark 
because of it. As each film follows the books, yes, it's always 
darkest before the dawn and the sense of dread grows, but these 
aren't dark books or dark films. Am I making any sense? We can read 
Anne Rice for that sort of stuff. Wholely dark stuff, literature and 
films that exist to glorify evil is not my cup of tea. I wouldn't 
read or watch Harry if I thought he were a champion of the darkness. 
It may seem like I have gone off a bit but I have just heard people 
describe the movies as "increasingly dark" as if they are becoming 
increasingly unsavory and yippee for that! No. Each book, if you 
want the truth, brings us closer to LV's destruction and that's a 
good thing. I hope the WW can reform itself so another LV doesn't 
have the chance to rise but before that, this one has to be 
destroyed and that's not a happy thing, but a necessary thing, not 
the action of someone who relishes the dark. I don't know if this 
makes sense. I do appreciate the very evil presentation they made of 
LV. I wouldn't want him the least bit approachable. Yet, one can see 
how a broken or marred individual could find his sort of deception 
attractive. So while they have to be honest about LV, 
I just don't want to perpetuate the concept that these are dark 
movies. There will be more frightening things happening, no doubt 
but they are needful. I have talked too much. This will turn into a 
post.
J