Adolescents, Angst and the Half-Blood Prince

Over the course of the pandemic, I have learned to accept and move on from many negative thoughts lingering around in my head. Suprisingly, the one I feel most compelled to write about is letting go of angst fuelled bitterness once held against the film Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince. As a 13 year old devotee to the book series, I was enraged by how the film deviated from the book and soppy love scenes. Feeling as if the magic the movies once held was no longer present. Until a recent viewing as a 24 year old reminded me the magic was always there, I was too caught up in teen angst to see it.

As a teenager, I avoided getting involved in relationship drama like it was earwax flavored Bertie Botts. So I was in for a suprise when elements from the book such as lore building pensive memories, horcuzes,"Weasley is our king!" seemed to be minimzed or ignored for extended scenes of stalkery Cormac LcLaggen, Lavender Brown and Love Potions. While even in the midst of teen agnst, I often dreamed of adventures in the Wizarding World with a significant other, cutesy love scenes and the drama usually follows was my boggart.

Revisiting the film as an adult, the scenes didn't seem to be as agonizing as I remembered from the original burn they left in my memory. I even laughed at the satircal jokes with a sense of 'oh, I remember when relationships were like that'. In hindsight if you are going for relatable characters, not including teenage relationship drama is a unrealistic level of escapism.

Where I found Half Blood Prince really delivers is we are showcased a back-to-the-basics romp with zany scenes that are reminiscent of the early films. Feeling an irrasistable sense of joy with a hint of meloncholy to see these characters prance around one last time during their swan song as Hogwarts students and I was taking in every moment. 

 

For the climax, the film delivers as the journey of Dumbledore and Harry is just as excruciating as it is exciting. As the film firmly established new sense of dread of what lies ahead for the characters, as the goofy scenes from earlier are still fresh in our minds to remind us of what they will be fighting to preserve. 

When the credits rolled, I exclaimed "That was great!", as the decade of negative emotions against the film were cast out. I no longer felt boggled down on how it drifted from the book or the love scenes, as I was happy with the film's experience on it's own. Soonafter I found myself reflecting on various art I held in a negative light, questioning if the disdain for it is really just wrapped around a lingering cloud of past bitter emotions. As a coming of age series surrounding the subject matter of growing up, in my twenties Harry Potter would provide one more lesson, letting go of lingering angst.