Just Muggling Through*

*Spoiler Alert
So last night the family decided to take a second mortgage on the house and fatten the coffers of the already engorged Harry Potter franchise... Which is to say, we went to the movies. (Great! Now I've got that damnable song from 'Annie' playing in my head...."Let's go to the moooovies, let's go see a show... ARGH!)

Anyway, First let me lay it on the line... Harry Potter? Meh!

I read the first couple of books but I'm just not that good with 'Fantasy' reads. I have a hard time conjuring up in my head something which doesn't exist in the real world. So I guess you could say I lack 'Imagination' (sure you can judge but I think it's fair to say, I had my imagination beaten out of me as a kid, so give me a break.) Therefore, at some point I determined it was just easier to see the Harry Potter 'movies' in which I left all the interpretation up to the directors.

I'm the type of person who gets caught up in the frenzy of media hype. So yes, I started reading the 'Half Blood Prince' reviews following its debut in London. The reviews were more than favorable, stating this latest installment was the "best yet." "Not as dark as the last movie." and was "The most humorous Harry Potter so far." Since I like humor and I'm not too wild about movies with 'Dark' situations, I figured this could possibly be my favorite Harry Potter movie thus far.

So what did I think of the movie? Well, I think I went to see 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' but there were several aspects of the movie which left me wondering if I weren't in fact watching 'Lord of the Rings'... "Wait, is that Dumbledore or is it Gandalf?".... "Did I just see Harry fighting off Gollum, 10 Gollums, a 100 Gollums?" "And hey? That Deatheater on the screen, he's really an Orc, isn't he?" And now Harry will have to spend the next two movies (one book, split into two movies because the studio wants to ride this money horse for as long as possible.) chasing down six different 'Hoorcrux' and believe it or not, there was something that had to do with a 'Ring' which belonged to Tom Riddle aka Voldemort. I'm not sure what though, because all those heavy british accents had me repeatedly turning to my daughter asking, "What did he/she say?"

Allow me to expound a moment on my thoughts about 'Lord of the Rings' (yet another fantasy book series, I just couldn't get through.) I've seen all the installments of LotR, my husband is a geek, uh I mean fan... and Linda H., I know you're going to disagree vehemonously with me but, OH MY GOD! I get so incredibly frustrated watching those movies!!! It's like, GET TO THE FREAKIN' FIRES OF MORDOR ALREADY! I'm sorry but, I've got enough examples in my life already of the 'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back' theory. I certainly don't need to spend 16 hours watching somebody else do it. Frustrating it's just FRUSTRATING!!!

Back to Harry Potter... There was one part of the movie that unintentionally made me chuckle. Dumbledore is lamenting to Harry about how he's aged since they've first met. Harry looks up at him admirably and says something like, "Oh no Dumbledore, you haven't changed a bit since the day I met you." And I'm thinking, "Well there was that period where you looked an awful lot like Richard Harris and then you suddenly looked at lot like Gandalf, uh, I mean Michael Gambon... How do you do that? Oh right, you're an all powerful wizard, much like Gandalf the Grey or the White? Oh bloody hell, I don't know." I know I should be cutting a break here because you're kinda left hanging when a lead actor dies but why would you want to point out in the script that he's always looked the same?

Now here's the big spoiler and if you don't know this, you've been living under a rock or just care a lot less about Harry Potter than even myself. Dumbledore dies and I actually heard people in the theatre supressing sobs and the sniffling was everywhere. Now I must tell you that I am the BIGGEST wuss when it comes to sap. I cry at the drop of a hat. I cry over music videos, Hallmark commercials, sappy e-mails even... But at this point in the movie, I felt nothing other than a brief query as to when Dumbledore the White would appear. Then when all of the principals gathered around Dumbledore's lifeless body, (which included lengthy close-ups of the side of his face, in which I could tell he was still breathing... Awkward!) and raised their wands, lit up rock concert style? I was wondering when I'd start to hear strains from the lead guitar and well, it was all I could to supress the laugh that was welling up from the bottom of my cold, muggle heart.