So finally I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 yesterday. That was it. The end of this long wonderful journey of magic and imagination. Yesterday I was in sombre mood all day. I took a nap in the afternoon and I dreamt, not about Harry Potter, but something related to it. Something more in the lines of friendship and family.
And that is just what I want to point out here - That I haven't seen a movie or read a book that stresses so much on friendship and family for a really long time. No one talks about them these days. These days it has all become about bringing the revolution, or about sex or about being smart to out-talk your enemy. When I saw the film yesterday I realised what I'd been missing and hadn't even known all along. Nobility is no longer a topic anymore, and I will miss that the most when this hype with the Potter final film is done and gone by and entertainment will only become entertainment. Even in the near future, this whole Potter merchandise will become only a marketed phenomena at the Florida Harry Potter world.
There is a lot of talk about the devilishness of Harry Potter and the books. People may be right in saying that. They could be wrong. But what I know is that, at the end of this phenomena (if indeed this has to end here) I will walk away with that thought in my head. What good is imagination and art if it only lives to point out how smart and witty and entertaining I can be to others? What sort of message are you giving to people who watch what you do? Is your art and works pointing to a greater something that just you and you alone?
Harry Potter wasn't just a self-conscious exploration of her own personality for J.K. Rowling. It wasn't just art for art's sake. It wasn't experimental for experimentalism sake. Rowling wanted a message out - something that she believes is a good message - and that was the importance of family and friendship and courage and all that.
She wasn't pointing the limelight on herself and how smart she could be. Yes it was very personal to her. But that didn't mean it got in the way.
I hope there will be more art and films and books written in this similar fashion and thought now that this era is over. I hope there will be more wonderful imaginative worlds to be created where the next generation can grow and be fashioned in. I hope there will be more artists who are willing to step a little beyond who they are and produce art works that speak more than just self-glorification.
I tell myself that.
Nobility. Family. Friendship. Message.
Ben Ning, Creative Practitioner