C’mon Hollywood #143

… finish Harry Potter!
by Sturdy

**Spoiler Alert: If you don’t know whether Harry Potter lives or dies at the end of the seventh book and you don’t want to know, don’t read this article.**

First, I know how the seventh and final book ends. I completely understand the message Rowling was sending with her book and I respect her as an author, but Harry Potter needs to die in the seventh movie. However, before the Potter-fanatics get upset, you have to acknowledge the books and movies have slightly different tones and the movies appeal to an audience the books couldn’t reach. It’s not that I don’t like Harry Potter, because I actually think he’s a cool character, I just think his death would make for a great movie.

If the seventh film manages to get a great director like Spielberg, Del Toro, or any of the other big name directors that have been linked to it, I think they have to do something special with it. By now, the target audience is no longer fifth graders like it was with the first film. Each movie has gotten progressively darker and therefore has started to appeal to an older audience. Giving the subject matter to a proven director would allow Rowling the opportunity to have two endings to her series. The book could be the happy, fluffy, fair-tale ending and the movie could be the good ending. There’s no rule saying the stories have to be exactly the same.

Is it still wrong to find her attractive?

Of course, Rowling would have to agree to this and she seems reluctant to relinquish any control. She’s very protective of her universe and rightfully so. But she doesn’t have to give complete control over to someone else, in fact, it would be better if she wrote the new ending herself. I’m not so sure she doesn’t want Harry to die. It seemed like the entire series was building up to his death and then in the last couple of chapters she chickened out. I bet she had two endings planned and decided to go with the happier of the two. Why not go with the sadder ending in the movie? If it’s in the hands of a talented director, it could work, and work very well.

Whoa…what’s going on there Harry?

No one has anything to lose by killing off Harry in the seventh movie. They’re obviously not going to make any more Potter films, so Warner Brothers won’t lose a franchise. Rowling can chalk it up to a creative, film decision and the director can take credit for ending the franchise the way it should have ended in the first place. Plus, by the time the seventh film rolls around, Pottermania will be at an all time low and it will need something to generate some buzz. What better buzz than killing off one of the greatest heroes of our time?

They’re old enough, and so is the audience

Can you imagine the emotional shock it would be to watch the seventh film on opening day and then to watch Harry die? I don’t want to sound morbid or anything, but it would be awesome. Aside from the third film, all of them have felt very formulaic and this is just the thing they need to spice up the series. Even with the bland directing (again, the third one was awesome), they’re all decent films that have good stories, fun settings and characters that are interesting. But with the time has come for Harry to die and Warner Brothers and especially Rowling need to let it happen.