[HPforGrownups] Movie dialogue (FF)

[Jen Faulkner]

No: HPFGUIDX 13201

On Wed, 28 Feb 2001, Amy Z wrote:

> Damn it all, I only know one line from the movie and I dislike it.  
> Grrr.
(retaining Amy's spoiler space, just in case)
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
> .
<snip>
> www.countingdown.com reports that the one line of dialogue in the 
> teaser trailer is Hagrid saying, "Harry, you're the boy that lived!"  
> I have a pet peeve about this line.  Don't ask me to explain it 
> rationally, but it has to do with the fact that fans (e.g. writers, 
> and presumably readers, of fanfic) are WAY more enamored of the whole 
> "Boy Who Lived" thing than Jo herself seems to be.  
<snip>
> In fanfic it's everywhere.  I'm not sure why people seize on this 
> phrase, but in my mind it says little about Harry that I care about, 
> and just has the ring of a slogan, which is the closest I can come to 
> explaining why I dislike the emphasis on it.  

I think it does indeed sound like a slogan; I've always assumed that it
was oft-repeated at the fall of Voldemort by newspapers, Ministry
spokespeople, etc., becoming part of the general mythology of the
struggle with Voldemort.  It strikes me as a rather propagandistic
phrase (without presupposing either a negative or positive value for
propaganda), that would have to be familiar to everyone raised in the
Wizarding world. I think it can't help but be a phrase that would inform
everyone perceptions of Harry -- but that is not the same as saying that
any particular wizard would ever use the phrase when talking *to*
Harry.  After all, no one would have addressed Augustus as
"Romulus" in person, though there are many references in art and
literature to him as the 'new Romulus'.  (I'm sorry -- I did try to
think of a 20th c. example, really I did.)  Likewise I'm sure many
magical folk continue to think of H. as 'The Boy Who Lived', even if
only subconsciously, but would never say, "Oh, you're Harry Potter, The
Boy Who Lived?"

I have, I must admit, used the term myself in a fic -- but I think of it
as precisely a slogan that is appropriate in circumstances emphasizing
Harry's fame for his survival as a baby.  I agree there are many
examples in which the phrase is poorly placed (e.g., "Lunch was almost
over.  Ron looked over at his best friend Harry, The Boy Who Lived, and
then they went to Potions class."), but I think it can be effective in
the right context.

And I rather like the way it sounds, myself, but that might just be
because it has the ring of a nice epic epithet...

--jen :)

* * * * * * 
Jen's HP fics:
http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~jfaulkne/hp.html
Snapeslash listmom: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/snapeslash
Yes, I *am* the Deictrix.