Likability of CAPSLOCK! Harry....

[susanbones2003]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, "Karen" <kchuplis at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "susanbones2003" <rkdas at ...>
> To: <HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 3:24 PM
> Subject: [HPFGU-Movie] Standing corrected....
> 
> 
> >
> > Hi all,
> > I mentioned earlier that Richard didn't think Dan could pull off
> > a "CAPSLOCK Harry" and then I went hunting for what I remembered 
him
> > writing and OOOPS! He had the same reason as me!
> > Read below:
> >
> > Richard wrote in message# 11748
> > "The main reason I'd like a limit on Capslock!Harry is similar: I
> > simply don't think Dan can pull off Harry being seriously 
unlikeable
> > without undermining the viewers' sympathy. Much as readers are
> > encouraged to dislike Harry's excesses during the book, we 
understand
> > part of what he's going through and empathise with his 
predicament. If
> > his energy and rage is less petulant, he can still be a 
believable
> > teenager without alienating the audience."
> >
> > So, embarrassingly enough, Richard got out in front again!
> >
> > Jen Das promising not to bring up or quote anyone no longer 
writing on
> > this list for a long while!
> 
> kchuplis:
> 
> Why is Capslock!Harry seriously unlikeable? I did not find Harry 
unlikeable
> at all in Book 5. "don't think Dan can pull off Harry being 
seriously
> unlikeable without undermining the viewers' sympathy." seems to 
imply Harry
> *was* unlikeable. I don't understand this reasoning.


Hi Karen,
Richard was (oops! I promised not to mention him again...) drawing a 
distinction between serious fans who read the books and love them, 
and the general movie-going public. I know you and I could stand 
the "real" Harry of OOTP. We understand the agony he's going 
through, trying to grow up and also facing the most evil wizard ever 
and under what amounts to house arrest. But the general public, who 
may or may not have read Harry but is likely to see the movies no 
matter what, they may not have the stomach for a constantly angry, 
shouting Harry. Richard was just saying that he'll most likely be 
toned down a bit, still depict the normal teenage angst (I thought 
there was a good bit of angst in POA, by the way) and keep the 
audience's sympathies. The anger at the debriefing is something the 
audience could fully appreciate so no doubt it will be there. I 
don't know of anyone on this list, here or departed who dislikes or 
finds unnecessary CAPSLOCK! Harry. It's just the films cater to a 
wider world that may not find Dan regularly shouting at people to be 
captivating. 
'nuf said?
J