The Movie: Harry Potter The Deathly Hollows Part 2
The Situation: I didn’t know the Situation was a part of my blog post… (rim shot)
Firstly, I want to share my love of this franchise. I enjoyed the books immensely, often times consuming them in a single day. I get a kick out of the movies, where I get teary eyed at the trailers, and feel deeply about the words of the book being realized on screen. I have seen every midnight showing, save for the first two movies, and I would like to think of it as a tradition. Well, not anymore, with the final movie out, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. Okay, that’s a lie, I know what to do with myself, just bittersweet to see the series end.
Secondly, I was (am), what some people like to call a ham. Okay, maybe that’s a term that’s been decommissioned since the late 1950’s, but that’s who I am. And if you’re unfamiliar with what a ham is, it’s someone who likes to be in the spotlight. Someone who likes a lot of attention. Yet I am a paradox of sorts, for as much as I enjoy attention, I often shy away from it. Yes, you can blame the whole lack of confidence thing to that, or whatever, but that’s beside the point. I bring this up because, as a very brief drama geek back in high school, I understand the want for theatrics. And last Thursday, despite having work the next morning, I decided to attend the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 midnight showing.
A brief synopsis of my hellish (not really) ordeal of trying to buy last minute tickets to this movie are as such. I go to my local theater in hopes that 2 and half hours is PLENTY of time to make it to a midnight showing. But as I approach the box office I see the sea of people splashed onto the shore of the theater awaiting their entrance into the cinema. Hoping beyond hope, I ask the box office if there are any seats and low and behold, they are sold out. No additional showings, no later times, just nothing. Dejected, I try my second choice, my old theater, the one I used to actually work for, and hope that it’s 10 extra screens would be enough to fulfill my wizarding needs.
Half an hour of driving later, I find out that they too are sold out of midnight showings…but there was a ray of hope. At 2:45 in the freaking morning they have seats. Four hours of waiting in line, and then a guarantee that I would have no sleep before work. Should I risk it?
Well I did. And in an attempt to at least salvage my night with something from the concession stand, I make my way in to meet a (fortunately) ignorant ticket taker, who urges me to go into my theater, because “It’s already seated!” I smile and thank her for not looking at the time on the ticket and made my way into the crowded mess. This is where theatrics come in.
My local theater, devoid of cosplay amongst the fans who were seated outside the cineplex (hell, they could have all been inside already drinking their butter bear and straightening their school robes), was a sharp and very obvious contrast to the people who occupied this theater. Row upon row of fanboys and girls were dressed in full Hogwarts regalia, their wands at the ready. But I didn’t mind them. Hell, if I was a bigger fan, I probably would have dressed up. I do have collectible wands as well, and I would have brandished that too if I wasn’t alone. And no that’s not a euphamism.
What kind of made me hate myself, and in turn hate them, was this one guy who came in dressed as a woman. He was the second Umbridge cosplayer there that was a dude. Yes, there was another guy already there dressed up as Professor Umbridge, which I take umbridge to. See what I did there? Eh? Eh? But this other guy, after putting on the wig, proceeds to begin playing the role and…overact. Every eye is on him with phones up and ready, taking pictures of this guy as he goes about with his harsh British accent and just dancing around to the applause and “woots” from the crowd.
Maybe I’m getting old, but when I talked to Dave about this on the latest Critical Moment of Awesome, he felt my pain. I just wanted to throw something at the guy. I didn’t mind the two guys dueling with their wands at the front of the theater, earlier that night, but this guy, with his need to get attention, just seemed to rub me the wrong way. Now, when I had a girlfriend, when I was dating, I would do dumb things like that sometimes. I mean, it made my girlfriends of the past laugh, and that’s my goal, to make my significant other’s laugh. So I appreciate antics, totally, for sure. But this guy…just irked me. All the other fans were sticking to their own little cliques, and chatting amongst themselves, adjusting scarves and ties. And if you think they were all teenagers, you’d be surprised to hear that the majority were “adults”. Well, people who looked like they were in college at least, though I could be wrong. High schoolers nowadays look like they’re in their 40s.
It’s a small price to pay though for the pure environment and utter joy people were having watching the movie. The laughter, the cheers, and the “awwws” made the movie that much more enjoyable. I can’t wait to buy the bluray box set and I’m looking forward to doing a marathon with this as I do with Lord of the Rings and Doctor Who. Next midnight showing? The Dark Knight Rises. But until then, here’s a little video for those who thought Wizard Rock was dead.
