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Musings #7: Don't Blame Kloves
by Matthew Vines
January 30, 2005
I have come to the conclusion that Harry Potter news is like Kansas weather. If you haven’t lived in this state during any portion of your life, let me enlighten you: one day, a cloud can’t be seen in the sky, and the next, there’s six inches of rain. In fact, just a fortnight ago (following a gorgeous 65º day), “the worst ice storm in decades” ravaged my city, leaving my family without power for a grueling five days (okay, I’ll confess – I’m an Internet addict).
Anyway, I fear I have lost track of my point: the ridiculously obsessed HP fans (myself included) – those who will keep on top of news on a daily basis no matter how far away the next book or movie is – are all too aware of “news droughts.” The times when it seems as though absolutely nothing is happening with anything Harry Potter. Sadly, the first two weeks of this month can be categorized as such. And then – boom! – over the course of three days, a cascade of news almost took us off our feet: we saw Newell’s vision of Krum for the first time, we discovered just how many pages we’ll be devouring in record time on 7/16, and JK Rowling gave birth to Mackenzie, her third child.
But before sharing my opinion on recent news, it’s time to set a record straight:
Don’t Blame Kloves
I bounced out of the movie theatre at 2:30 AM on June 4th excited and quite satisfied. I had just seen the film that I’d been anticipating for what seemed an eternity and was awed by its brilliance. Although I recognized that a film is a completely different medium than a book and that certain elements must be altered or omitted, one thing still irked me: the lack of an explanation about the Marauders. If all traces of the Marauders subplot had been left out of the movie, I would have been content. But nay! The movie makes it clear that something is awry – both Lupin and Black know without being told by Harry that this “spare bit of parchment” is indeed a map of Hogwarts. “How?” questions the viewer who has not read the books. The movie, for a reason I still cannot comprehend, doesn’t answer that question.
This omission was widely criticized by fans, most of whom laid the blame on one man: Steven Kloves, the scriptwriter. I, too, thought he was at fault for this, but a recent discovery has prompted me to think otherwise. I was rummaging through my Prisoner of Azkaban trading cards the other day, and this description on the back of card #89 struck me:
"Harry visits Lupin his office and learns that he has resigned. They then discuss the Patronus Harry conjured by the Black Lake. Lupin reveals that James Potter used to transform into a stag whenever Lupin was 'sick.' Not long after this conversation, Harry receives a new broom...and soon finds himself reveling in the joy of flight once more!"
The trading cards were printed several months prior to the release of the film, which is why a few of them show images from scenes that didn’t make it past the final cut. On the back of each is a description of the scene shown on the front. The description is of what takes place in the movie, not the book, as we can tell from the line stating that Harry discovers his Firebolt right after his final chat with Lupin, which is not how it unfolds in Rowling’s tome. This makes it seem as though Kloves originally included an explanation of the Marauders in the script, but Cuaron cut it during the editing stage for reasons unbeknownst to the fandom. Cuaron isn’t a huge fan of the books – in fact, he didn’t even read them until he was offered the director’s chair. Perhaps he didn’t realize the significance of the Marauders and chose to axe the explanation due to time constraints. Alas, in my opinion and those of many others, this was a grave mistake. Still, though, not anything major enough to mar the film.
Now, back to the news: Mike Newell’s vision of Viktor Krum doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. Personally, I’m fonder of Mary GrandPre’s depiction of the Bulgarian on the Goblet of Fire book cover, but neither is my exact image of him. As long as the movie doesn’t cause me to forget what I think Krum looks like, I’ll be dandy.
Six hundred and seventy-two pages is the ideal length for HBP for several reasons: (1) That’s another 672 pages of new information we have to analyze and discuss, (2) Now there are no excuses for sleeping before finishing the book, and (3) The critics won’t ramble on about how the book is “nothing but fluff” (as many snooty critics claimed about OotP).
I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of the HBP book cover and am hoping for a cover similar to Sorcerer’s Stone and Goblet of Fire, as they were jam-packed with illustrations of characters from the books. Although JKR said that she wasn’t going to reveal who the Half-Blood Prince is until the book is released, wouldn’t it be logical for one of the title characters to be on the cover? We can hope! And if he’s someone new, the cover will be all the more intriguing…
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