[HPFGU-Movie] Question for parents

[Valerie Flowe]

Hmm...well as a parent of two 9 year olds who have seen all 5 of the HP 
movies, I guess I would have to say that each parent must know their 
children's ability to handle scary scenes in movies.
- My kids were quite young when they saw SS. I guess about 5. The troll 
scene was certainly scary, especially when it was smashing the sink 
Hermione was hiding under. Voldemort in the forest, drinking unicorn 
blood.
- In COS, the whomping willow whomping the heck out of the Ford Anglia 
was probably scary to younger kids. Ditto the spider chase. The 
basilisk saying "KILL, KILL! and coming after Harry in the tunnel was 
quite scary, Tom Riddle, very sinister.
- In POA, well Sirius was certainly depicted initially as scary; the 
dementors were horrifying, the werewolf rather frightening, especially 
realizing he was a trusted, well-liked teacher. Buckbeak 'getting the 
hatchet', even though it was off-screen.
- GOF, the underwater task with the scary mermaids and grindelows, the 
maze closing in on Cedric and Harry, the vines swallowing up Fleur; 
Krum's scary, possessed eyes. Cedric getting killed. Voldemort 
regenerating in the cemetery certainly earned that a PG-13. Crouch Jr. 
torturing Harry then evolving back into himself.
- OotP: Dementors attacking Dudley and Harry (though was anyone else 
annoyed with how fake the one looked that was holding up Harry?! Looked 
like a Halloween costume; not nearly as convincing as in POA.) Umbridge 
torturing Harry with the quill still gives me shivers every time I see 
it or read it. Mr. Weasley getting attacked by Nagini. The Deatheaters 
chasing the kids in the MOMA; the Dumbledore/Voldemort duel, Harry's 
possession. I'm wondering if the director making Grawp a bumbling idiot 
rather than a terrifying giant was intentional? He was more comic 
relief than scary, with the little bicycle bell! This movie went back 
to a PG rating. I'm wondering if Warner Bros. thought they were losing 
too much of their younger audience when they bumped GOF up to PG-13? I 
asked my kids if they thought GOF or OotP was more scary. They said 
GOF, definitely.

I asked my husband which movie he prefers and he said Sorcerer's Stone, 
because it was light-hearted. That somewhat surprised me. I told him I 
liked the darkening tone of the books/movies, and he replied "Well 
you're a dark person!" LOL. I did always enjoy reading scary books like 
Stephen King, when I was young.
I think the books and therefore the movies have definitely turned to a 
teen and older audience. JKR always said that it was her intent for the 
story to go in that direction and that she imagined that the kids that 
first got into SS, were growing into teens and young adults, maturing 
with the books. That may well be true; however with future HP readers, 
this will not be the case. Though I doubt younger kids will subject 
themselves to an 800+ page book. (gee, is HP out on Cliffs Notes yet?!)
Therefore it becomes even more important, I think, for parents to 
monitor the HP reading/viewing.
The fact that the party stores have HP decorations might lead some 
parents to believe they are kiddy movies.
If they have any doubts about renting it, they can always find plenty 
of reviews online.
I think that parents tend to be less prohibitive when they are renting 
movies, than when they are taking their kids to a movie. The good thing 
is that, unless someone has a mega-screen TV at home (and some do!), 
the HP  movies won't be as scary as seeing them larger-than-life in 
wall-shaking Dolby stereo.
So am I a 'dark' parent who forces my kids to watch scary movies such 
as HP, because of my own obsession with the series? Hmmm...that bears 
some thought!! I would say that I am definitely the biggest HP fan in 
our household!  (I dressed as a Harry Potter fanatic for the local 
Halloween parade! Not that that was any kind of stretch, LOL! I made a 
very large Deathly Hallows book that I carried with me. :-)
My KIDS actually asked me to preview OotP first, to see if it was too 
scary for them. I thought it was a bit scary, but agreed that it was 
one step down in scare-factor, as opposed to GOF (though not much, 
really!)
So no I hope they won't simplify the movies to suit a younger audience. 
And I don't think they will.
There are plenty of teens in the movie-going market to keep the movies 
financially successful. Look how much money OotP made in the first 
weekend! I think only SS topped it, right?
I do think they will opt to delete the Sectumsempra scene between Draco 
and Harry. I thought that was horrifying in the book! I know they will 
be filming the cave scene; Dan said he was definitely looking forward 
to it. The sight of Dumbledore falling off the tower will certainly 
freak many out, me included!
DH will certainly be a frightening movie. Most assuredly PG-13. Many 
beloved characters get killed (though unfortunately I think they'll 
leave Dobby out, as they have chosen to do since COS. Too bad, as that 
is a very touching scene when Harry is burying him). Hedwig, Moody, 
Fred. I can't believe I'm saying this, as I believe the movies should 
reflect the books verbatim, but I do hope that the directors let us see 
Lupin and Tonks getting killed heroically in battle. They were cheated, 
in the book. I mean, if you're gonna kill them off, give them a heroic 
send-off, no?! The terrible scene when Harry walks to his death, 
accompanied by his dead family and friends will be hard to watch. Then 
to see him getting killed is going to be the worst. Of course everyone 
will know that he will come back to life, so I'm not sure if they'll be 
crying their eyes out like I was when I first read the book!!! Well, 
maybe so?!

Harry Potter, books and movies alike, are what they are. This is the 
story and world that JK Rolling created, and it should not be altered 
to cater to every age-group of the movie-going audience.

That's my, ahem, lengthy answer!
Valerie



On Nov 3, 2007, at 2:28 PM, Carol wrote:

> I'm wondering how parents of younger children (say, eight and under)
>  feel about the increasing level of violence in the books as it will
>  probably translate to the films. In HBP, for example (and please stop
>  reading now if you haven't read the books!), we have Draco (who's
>  always been depicted in the films as rather wimpy despite being a snob
>  and a bully attempting to murder Dumbledore (with two students nearly
>  killed when his efforts go astray) and Snape killing Dumbledore (who,
>  I assume, is a beloved character for most children). We also have that
>  terrifying cave scene, which will definitely be in the film.
>
>  Then, in DH, we have not only the Battle of Hogwarts, but Hermione
>  being systematically tortured and two terrifying scenes involving
>  Nagini (the first one revolting as well as scary), and at least four
>  onscreen violent deaths (Wormtail, Dobby, Snape). Charity Burbage's
>  death, which needs to be shown to set the tone and establish the Snape
>  red herrings, may not be violent n itself (an AK), but she's hung
>  upside down first (disturbing in itself) and than fed (offpage and, I
>  hope, offscreen) to Nagini.
>
>  I can see a PG-13 rating for HBP, but the violence in DH is almost R
>  level. At any rate, I don't see how it can be faithfully translated to
>  a screenplay (minus the slow parts) and still be suitable for younger
>  children, especially that first Nagini scene when she emerges from the
>  corpse of Bathilda.
>
>  There's a difference, too, between reading about these incidents,
>  imagining them for ourselves, and seeing them vividly depicted on the
>  screen. Some of these scenes seem to me to be too intense for younger
>  children. But, then, some parents show Freddy Krueger movies to
>  five-year-olds, so maybe I'm just being squeamish and old-fashioned.
>  I'd be interested in reactions from parents on the list. And I'm not
>  asking for arguments here, "right" or "wrong" views on the question.
>  I'm just curious about what others think. My own view is that the
>  movies should not be edited to make them suitable for younger children
>  (we need most if not all of those scenes), but they should definitely
>  come with a warning label since HP still has a reputation as a series
>  for children. There's a huge difference between the first two films
>  and the last two, especially DH.
>
>  I forgot to mention "Spinner's End" in HBP, which, while not violent,
>  may be too sophisticated for younger kids to grasp and too talky for
>  them to sit through (though the UV will make a great scene from a
>  cinematic standpoint). It's absolutely crucial to the plot and yet
>  it's not kid-oriented.
>
>  So, what do others think that the writers and directors should do
>  (edit out the violence and sophisticated plot elements for the sake of
>  younger viewers or keep them for the sake of coherence and
>  authenticity) and what do parents intend to do about younger children
>  who want to see these films? Or you can examine the question
>  theoretically based on the ages of your children right now as opposed
>  to the ages they'll be when these films come out.
>
>  Carol, who really wants to know what others, primarily parents and
>  grandparents, think about this question
>
>  
>