Accio World Domination. The case for big budget blockbusters

I always wanted to be a jedi knight... correction, I AM a jedi knight... for a while now.  I learned directly from master Yoda, though I'll admit I was never any good at that one armed hand stand.

I also looked for a lost arc in the mid- 80's.  I found it, but then the nazi's tried to get it and I had to hide in in a park near my south minneapolis home, it's probably still there... safe from that guy whose face melted off.  My cousin wasn't too keen on staying in the park too long, however, she was afraid of the airplanes tracking us

In case you were wondering, yes, I did in fact travel in a Delorian to 1955 to watch my parents complete the 2nd grade.  It was thrilling, especially when we smashed the sign of twin pine mall and ran off through my neighbor's back yard to hid behind his rock wall fountain.

I, in fact, did all of these things; so it should thus come as no surprise to you that I am also a Witch.  No, not the kind from Salem circa 1690, but the kind that shops as Olivander's and goes to Hogwart's.

For Your Consideration: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (parts I and II)"

The question isn't so much HOW I got to become a witch and learned how to disapperate and even drink a potion to turn into my old high school math teacher; but WHY I decided to accept the letter and travel the sweet journey on the Hogwarts Express far from platform 9 3/4.  That argument lies in the power of film and it's ability to transform the world.

J.K. Rowling is a modern day Shakespeare.  Her stories will transcend her generation and even those who follow after her for many more to come; but it was not her books that caused an adult like me to become bewitched with the story of a boy wizard and his crew of mismatched pals.  Though archeology was surely an impressive profession before a certain rogue scholar came upon the scene, Indiana Jones was the one who gave it it's 'cool'.

What is it that took these stories and made them indellible images into my world for my lifetime?  Why is it that my son asks me why Darth Vader is a bad guy and which side of the force "Toy-yoda" fights for (he's three, it's cute)?  Because he is already being swept up into the mystique of great adventurous, inventive storytelling with the visual, visceral, auditory power of film.

Need an example of it's power?  True story:

Me, age five: "Mom, I want to be a Jedi Knight."; 

Mom:  "but dear, they aren't real."  

Me: then who are Luke Skywalker and all of those guys?"  

Mom: "they're actors, and they live in hollywood."  

Me: "Then I'm going to move to hollywood, and be an actor."  

Yes, there is something to be said for quiet films, for deep thinking narratives and subtle performances of love and loss; pain and politics; revenge, racism and royalty; but to overlook the expressive joy of watching Marty McFly take a hoverboard and skate across the futuristic world of 2015 (I'm pretty sure they still don't exist, but don't try telling my 12 year old self that); is to miss a great deal of the purpose of movies.

For every "Taxi Driver" and "Crash"; for each "Schindler's List" and "City of God" there is a looming blockbuster-- and most of them are abjectly terrible (Captain America, anyone?); and that is a glorious shame, because it gives a bad name for all of those which are brilliant.  Which brings be all the way 'round to Harry, Hermione and Ron.

Calling it the 'Harry Potter franchise' blocks it into something that, if you've never seen one, or read a book; would lead you to believe it's like watching "Final Destination" or "Saw"-- some movie that basically repeats it's bloody plot ad-nauseum and only exists to make some Van Nuys producer and quick buck and give their high school aged kid a cameo and an IMDB page.  Harry Potter is nothing of the sort.  The films are so carefully crafted as to be worthy of regard in their own right.  Much like the 'Lord of the Rings' franchise-- the film makers took careful measures to make sure that the books were faithfully realized and also that the films took on their own story telling.

So here is why these films deserve to have your applause, and it has very little do do with the deep black their distributor is still looking at:

1)  The actors: casting the 'who's who' of the british theater and film establishment immediately gave HP and his pals a certain critical status.  Like Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan, seeing Dame Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman as hogwarts teachers gave adults a reason to go to the film and not feel foolish-- these were academy award nominees and winners they were watching.

Casting them early gave the producers an opportunity to lead the younger group (who we saw through 8 films grow into adults) proper training to become darn good actors in their own right; so that by the time they got to 'Deathly Hallows' the three leads (plus that villan Malfoy!) could carry the film without having loads of magic up their sleeves (DHpt1 was very much left on the performances)

2) the attention to detail: Peter Jackson, Andy Serkis and Gollum brought us a cinematic break though in 2002 and David Heyman and the rest of the 'Potter' producers didn't waste any time using the technology in creating creatures (including 'Creature'-- the best represented of them all) of all sorts that were actually THERE with the actors.  In seeing DHpt1, I actually started to believe Creature and Dobby were real... they just looked it and reacted that way.  they were brought to such a level that they had distinct personalities as well as being visually sepearate.  It made the audience really believe that there was, in some place, a whole society of House Elves (I wonder if they were all wearing oven mits and socks).

3) The GROUNDING in reality.  The fact that the great hall was real (the floor and walls were actually stone) and it was used, the same place, for all 8 films again transported your imagination.  Unlike Avatar which was shot completely in green screen; because half of 'Potter' was actually there it made the magical portions all the more transcedantly believable.  We really believed that Harry could fly on a broom stick because the scene earlier he was actually walking across a grassy knoll carrying an actually piece of wood.

4) the sound and soundtrack.  It wasn't until editing my first film that I realized the work and importance in sound.... and I'm not talking about the music.  Every swoosh and creak, bang and crack of the teleportation known in the HP world as "apperating"; adds to the overall effect of realism...


I could go on and on, but the truth is, we all know how these films affected us because, if you've seen them, you don't need to know a diatribe on how useful they are to enjoy them.

The point of me writing this blurb is that every decade or so a film comes along which changes the way a generation sees themselves and the world.  If it's that the intergalactic crisis on Naboo and Alderan can somehow teach a 5th grader about the importance of international relations or if battling Orcs and Uruk-Hai can teach the pre-teen the wisdom that sometimes, things are just evil; fantasy stories transport us to other worlds to teach us of our own; and in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows we get cinematic wonder to cap off a storytelling phenomenon.

And THAT is just another reason I love movies... now go take the blue pill.