What scares the jump, fan service is for nostalgia. We live in an era when storytellers are being used (over) both as currency to get themselves out of a creative rut, and to please audiences who are gradually Being air conditioned for less demand. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to HogwartsHBO Max’s eloquently named reunion special, which is available on Amazon Prime Video in India, avoids making the same mistakes that have cursed many franchises, including The Wizarding World.
In more than an hour and a half, one in particular brings back memories of not only books and movies, but more importantly, what life was like two decades ago. That is the true power of nostalgia. Too often these days—and no one is more guilty than JK Rowling—writers and filmmakers are satisfied with just dropping a name, or a familiar tune, and calling it a day. They think it is better to let nostalgia jolt deep down in our subconscious than let them slowly surface. But the mind is a powerful thing, mysterious and equally wonderful. When mine, for example, heard Emma WatsonThe delicate voice of the reunion special, it was reminiscent not only of her performance as Hermione Granger, but of the smell of fresh ink on paper. How curious
I was reminded that the Harry Potter books had a peculiar smell. And after taking them off the shelf, I found they no longer smell like they used to—they’ve evolved, like I have. I was 10 when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; I was 19 when the last film released in 2011. I grew up with these stories. During that decade, I would have read the books at least eight times from beginning to end, and watched the movies more often than they mentioned the word ‘scar’ in them. To this day, not a single winter evening passes without prompting me to re-read at least one page of Rowling’s stories.
That is the true power of nostalgia. I too grew up with Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, but can barely sit still until recently Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film in which, as Hermione would say, the emotional limit of a spoon. After fulfilling a promise to unite the three disparate Spider-Men on screen, it suddenly stops in its tracks as it tries to figure out what to do with them. And then, of course, it misses to dodge them all in a jumble of CGI action. How forgettable Perhaps the film’s most effective attempt to evoke nostalgia is the one you might not have noticed. And that’s exactly why it worked. When composer Michael Giacchino reimagined the old Spider-Man themes of Danny Elfman and James Horner, he was able to evoke emotion on a metatextual level. It’s much better than, say, a character’s words “with great power comes great responsibility,” moments before he dies.
Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald, the film co-written by Rowling, had the courage to think that a soap opera-level twist—Aurelius Dumbledore!—would be enough to please fans. But should the Harry Potter prequels tell us more about someone we’re already familiar with, someone we really care about, rather than introducing a character that’s never mentioned? Also was not done in more than 4000 pages. Knowledge? Couldn’t Aurelius have been Ariana Dumbledore instead?
And the less said about Ghostbusters: the afterlife is better. This is a film that exists purely to provide fan service, but is actually in a shocking turn of events, paying homage to many films except what it was supposed to be.
But there is a reason why this cultural shift is taking place in the early 2000s. Even the youngest millennials, you will be disappointed to know, are now old enough to have children of their own. And as you get older, you start to grasp at what you can when you’re young, even if it meant introducing your kids to stories you enjoyed as a child.
Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, said in the reunion special, “I’ve had kidney stones and a baby, I feel my age.” Daniel Radcliffe, sitting in front of him, let out a silent laugh of disbelief. We have all grown up, but some of us have come of age.
I may have forgotten what Harry Potter meant to me, but as I soon found out, some things just can’t be forgotten; They have shaped your personality. As I watched the reunion special, I found myself silently completing sentences I’ve probably heard dozens of times before. “Now, Harry, you all should know about Muggles,” said Mr. Weasley in the archive footage presented at the reunion, and my mind automatically went to the end, “What exactly is the function of the rubber duck?” If I had a plate of breakfast in front of me, I’d probably put a forkful in my mouth for effect, just like Mr. Weasley does in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Unlike this algorithm-driven ‘content’ designed to touch your heart, a Harry Potter reunion seems essential. It’s the right time. Looking at the cast, especially the central trio, it seems that they too have been struck by this realization. Many of us, especially those who grew up on Potter, have forgotten over the years as we were overwhelmed by adulthood and overwhelmed by the pandemic, what magic it felt like. We have experienced the loss of innocence. And it doesn’t have to be like this.
People who didn’t have friends had Harry Potter. People from broken families had Harry Potter. And in their loneliness they found each other. Maybe not all of those friends are still in your life and your parents have died, but the memories you shared because of Harry Potter will live on. And then there are those you haven’t met yet. Future spouse and future colleague, Harry Potter fan with whom you will have a lot in common. You don’t know them, but they exist on the horizon, for people to look forward to. You too are part of the same story. It started on a dull, gray Tuesday.
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