The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is one of those things from my youth that I never gravitated toward but greatly appreciated for many reasons, not the least of which was getting kids excited about reading and literacy. I myself have read the first two books and seen all the movies (the third one is still the best). But then the franchise went down hill hard with their prequel and spin-off movies that devolved into uninteresting and pretentious concepts about family lines, civil wars, and performance art masquerading as representation. Not to mention the inhumane and horrific personification of hate and bigotry that is J.K. Rowling. I suppose it would be apt to say that we were into Harry Potter back when it was actually fun; before we learned how much of a nazi the original author is.
Still, this is one of the many reasons I have always advocated for the separation of art from the artist; works of art in all forms must be judged on their own merits, not the merits of their creators or lack thereof. Whatever else can be said about the author, there is no denying that her creation spawned a positive influence on people, especially younger people, that exploded with wonder and a kind of magic all on its own.
Having said that, what the hell is Warner Bros. doing wasting everyones time with a Harry Potter reboot series?
Setting aside the obvious desire to cash in on what is now a nostalgic property (the first book in the series was published in 1997), what about the Harry Potter series is there to explore that hasn’t already been played with? Sure, there may be a few nuances and minor details that were initially left out of the original movies, and older fans of the series might be excited at the prospect of a new iteration of their childhood treasures, but aside from all that, what value is there in spending the time, energy, and money to retread old grounds that have already been so thoroughly explored? The easy answer is nostalgic cash grab, of course, but I’m more interested in the answer besides the obvious; and the best I can come up with is…laziness!
Setting aside all of the expected and understandable talking points (the controversy around the original author, the original movie series already covering this storyline, the wasted time and money, etc.), there is a much more significant and easy to address issue at play with this upcoming retread of familiar ground; symptomatic of the inevitable downfall of the Hollywood system as we once knew it, and the unavoidable reality regarding mainstream entertainment we all must come to terms with: they don’t care!
Corporate “entertainment” is not about telling compelling stories, creating enriching escapism experiences, or bringing meaningful and fantastical concepts to life for our enjoyment; they are about selling products for mass consumption to maximize profit, while putting in the least amount of effort required for artistic creation. This isn’t an effort to enhance an older property, provide an opportunity for newer fans of a series, or even a chance at doing justice by past creators: this is filmmaking by accountants in its most egregious and aggressive form!
I understand how I may come across as an angry bitter old man yelling at the clouds, a frustrated artist complaining about the imbalances and injustices of the system, or as a whiny petulant child throwing a tantrum like our Toddler-In-Chief does on a regular basis. And while there may be some truth to at least one of those things, the fact is that these massive conglomerates have the power and the money to do literally anything else with their time and resources. Warner Bros. and HBO Max could have put the energy, time, and money that they are wasting with this shiny new Harry Potter series, which I guarantee no one will watch, on at least five original screenplays sitting on the sidelines, waiting for their opportunity to become the next big property to sweep the world. But alas, if anything you create isn’t directly linked to a “pre-existing property,” it might as well be invisible!
Modern mainstream “entertainment” isn’t here to enrich your lives; they want your money and they don’t care how much it hurts to yank it away from you! This is a desperate attempt by Warner Bros. to salvage themselves from too many corporate buyouts, misguided decisions, and incompetent leadership, and they are under the delusion that we, the audience, are too stupid to recognize that, and will blindly flock to whatever nostalgic property they throw at us.
If you have any desire for better creations than this, do yourself and your loved ones a favor and refuse to watch this series; cancel your HBO Max subscription (if only temporarily) if you have to! Because Hollywood, and all of its affiliates, will NEVER change unless we make our voices heard with our wallets! They don’t listen to petitions, protests, or even well-written letters; they only listen to money! If you seriously want something better, put your money, attention, and effort toward finding and funding the ones who are actually trying!
Ladies & gentlemen, I amTheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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