The StingBy John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie
"In my life I have seen things that are truly horrific. Now I know you will see worse." Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)
As the kids grow up, and they are doing that and "seeing worse," Harry Potter and his buds discover shaking off the inevitable confrontation with the dark Lord Voldemort is impossible. As are their hormones, which are major players in Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts, entitled "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) is smitten most, having taken a love potion at one point, a common trope for the classic raging lust of teens.
I am reminded of the teen longing in Twilight, more overdone than in Half-Blood Prince. In either case, the innocent flirting, as young people experience crushes for the first time, is more interesting than the second-rate magic wand tricks, which this time around in Half-Blood serve poorly to propel plot rather than develop meaning.
This love mania extends to Hermione (Emma Watson) and to a lesser degree, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe). Most of this fever provides some witty repartee among the smitten, not lost either on our complicit preview audience, who reacted most at these moments.
Ron Weasley: I'm in love with her!
Harry Potter: Alright. Fine. You're in love with her. Have you ever actually met her?
Ron Weasley: (pauses) No. Can you introduce me?
Well, maybe not witty, but lighthearted enough for characters usually fighting the darkness.
The emphasis on character in 6 is a welcome antidote to the gloomy, wizardry-laden 5, in which Harry is obsessed with the return of his archenemy, Lord Voldemort, to the exclusion of his estimable companions, Ron and Hermione.
Muggle me supposes the final episodes will return to more sophisticated wizardry as the entire plot winds down, at which point Dumbledore's words will be both ironic and real:
"Oh to be young and to feel love's keen sting."
John DeSando teaches film at Franklin University and co-hosts WCBE 90.5's It's Movie Time, Cinema Classics, and On the Marquee, which can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml and on demand at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com