Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

My mom and dad were in town last night and were kind enough to watch Adrianna for Greg and I so we could go to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the theatre. I had been looking forward to this date night for quite awhile now. It is the first movie we have been able to go out to see since seeing Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in May.

I really enjoyed the movie. Sure, there were parts from the book that had been cut out of the movie, but when you think about it, the 4th book was quite a bit larger than the previous 3 and the movie is already 2.5 hours long as it is.

At this point, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, quit reading now or this may ruin it for you.

First off, let me just say that I loved the movie. I thought the actors playing Cedric and Krum totally fit. Especially Krum. And Rita Skeeter was fabulous. So annoying and so perfect for the part. The scene with Moaning Myrtle was awesome and one of my favorites. Another scene I found funny was when Hermione has an emotional fit with Ron after the dance, and if you look in the background you see several other girls sitting on the stairs crying. It just reminded me so much of my first junior high dance when I did some crying of my own in the girls’ bathroom when I saw Jeramy Davis dancing with another girl. hehe.

Anyways, the movie was so well done. I only wish it were longer or that they could release an extended version of it since some good parts were cut out. It was a bummer to me that the House Elves, Percy, and the Dursleys were cut out of the movie entirely. Also, Sirius hardly figured into the movie plot at all. Anyone who hasn’t read the books may have had a little trouble following the plot line and understanding the significance of things such as portkeys and remembering what polyjuice potion was used for, even though the polyjuice is mentioned in the first movie. I also thought they could have done a much better job at explaining why Harry saw Cedric, the caretaker, and his parents come from Voldemort’s wand even though all of them were dead at the time.

For those of you who have seen the movie already, did anyone else cry when Cedric died? I cried, even though I knew it was coming up since I had already shed tears over it when I read the book several months back.

The death of Cedric wasn’t the only time I cried while watching the movie though. Seated next to me was a father who had two young children who couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4. This Harry Potter is by far the darkest and scariest of the 4 movies so far and also got itself at PG-13 rating, and for very good reason. I just cannot fathom why a parent would allow such a young child to watch such a scary movie. These poor kids were obviously quite frightened by the movie. They would climb into their dad’s lap and I could hear them tell him how scared they were and he would have to cover their eyes and ears at times. I was so upset by this that I missed some dialogue in the graveyard scene because I was holding back my own tears for these two small kids. And the dad never took the kids out of the theatre. I cannot even express how disturbed I was by this whole thing and the sad part is that they were not the only small children in the theatre.

I was never allowed to watch such scary movies when I was young, and I am so thankful for it today. I think I had only seen a handful (at most) of PG-13’s by the time I left for college at 19. When Adrianna is old enough to want to attend movies, you can bet that I will do my research on any movies before I will allow her to watch them. Movies and scary imagery can stick with you for a long time. I had a friend make me watch Scream when I was probably 18 or 19. I hated it. I hate scary movies. I still can see some of the bloody scenes in my mind and I still get a shiver of fear when my phone rings when I am home alone. So how are these types of movies affecting young children who often have a hard time separating fact from fiction?

Please note that I am not knocking the Harry Potter movies here at all. I love them and I think they are great entertainment for older children and adults. I am just upset with parents who do not seem to be keeping their child’s best interests in mind. Do your research. Spend a little time thinking about what you are letting your child take in to their tender hearts and malleable minds.