Last night was just one such night. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Part One.
I have never attended a "Midnight Screening" of any movie. Ever. My 13 year old son approached me on Wednesday night and asked if we could go. I thought about it and decided, "why not?" I read the book, loved the movies, and I can check "attended Midnight Screening" off my bucket list. This should be fun. This should be like any other movie you see in the theater, it's just going to be at midnight. Right?
I think it is reasonable to expect a few things. Lots of people. This movie franchise is in its 9th year and this is number 7 of 8 movies. As an aside, I am amazed that, in that span, the same actors have played all the characters with the exception of Professor Dumbledore, who was replaced when the actor died. After 9 years and all of the books, there is a whole generation that wants to see the finale play out on the silver screen. We drove there last night (after my third medium sized Dunkin' Donuts CAFFEINATED coffee) with me in a clouded haze and over some very untraveled highway...a welcomed experience for someone who commutes toward Boston every day. The local movie house had just the Harry Potter movie on 8 screens at once!...and every room was full. No assigned theater for anyone, just 'go find a seat.' My son and I finally found two seats and sat there for 25 minutes watching the movie ads that run over and over and over and over and...you get the picture. Coca Cola sponsored movie quotes. Prompts to go to the concessions. Advisories to turn off your cell phone. Ads to inspire attendance at the local Christian church? (sung to the tune of the Sesame Street song of the same name) "One of these things is not like the other...one of these things just doesn't belong!" So my first expectation was dead on accurate. Lots of people. Lots of 'dressed like characters', 'overexposed to Hogwarts' and 'fully caffeinated' people. Given the average age group, I am guessing that classrooms around the nation will be very quiet and possibly empty tomorrow. The movie starts at 11:59PM and ends at 2:40AM.
I also expected some excitement. The first hint I get that this will be a new experience of 'excitement' is found when I look closely at the crowd. I am OK with the kids getting all dressed up. I am a little creeped out by the 'over 30' set who are also fully garbed in their Hogwarts regalia. Of those two groups, guess which one started the chant? Yes, a chant. And , oh yeah, it was started by the old creepies. "You say 'Harry', I say 'Potter'...Harry...HARRY...Potter...POTTER! You say 'Lord', I say 'Voldemort'...Lord!...". I kid you not. Not your usual pre-movie activities. "15 minutes 'til Harry!" "10 minutes 'til Harry!" 11:58PM..."WHERE'S HARRY?!?!" How is it I made it 48 years without this? My life feels so empty now.
As the previews start, there is way more chatter than usual. Very loud and pointed comments as well as a lot of laughter about the trailers. Why so strange? The previews were for drama's...not comedies! Again, this is a real weird crowd. I know they are anxious to see the movie...but the tempo is a bit over the top.
Now the movie begins. This is the darkest Harry Potter movie yet. What is about to happen in the scenes should be no surprise. Almost every freak-a-zoid in the theater has read the final book, and some have read it multiple times. This is a DRAMA, with touches of comic relief along the way. Well the first slightly comedic scene (and I won't spoil the movie for you) is met with howls of laughter so loud that you would have thought we were watching 'The Hangover.' It isn't normal laughter either...it is manic over-the-top laughter. It is creepy. One other thing, I cannot make out the dialog while these geeks are pitching a fit. In this movie, the dialog is key to the DRAMA!
This happened throughout the movie. Every slightly funny line, and some that were not funny, is met with shrieks.
There was a real odd moment (or should I say MORE odd) when Dobby, the Elf, declares himself free. This scene gets a thunderous ovation of applause from the audience with shouts of approval. I've never seen anything like it in my many movie years. Not that it wasn't merited...it was just sporadic, out of place and too choreographed...like when you see Rocky Horror Picture Show for the 100th time. Why weird? Because none of them have even seen this movie before!! Wacky.
The moment-du-jour occurred toward the end of the movie when a known character gets killed. I won't ruin it, but there WAS A BOOK people!! We knew this was coming! The character is mortally wounded and is in the process of dying. I can hear crying. Not sniffling tears like at the end of 'Toy Story 3'...real crying. Boo hooing. Sobbing. Wake and funeral type stuff. These people are way way way too into this.
I now realize that when you attend a Midnight Screening of anything that you are playing in the tail-ends of the bell curve. The people that make this level of effort are going to be extremists and VERY quirky.
As the movie reaches it's crescendo, we know the end is near. My son and I bolt for the doors to get out of the parking lot.
I am left to ponder this experience in my exhaustion. I drive home along a lonely darkened highway with the windows down so I don't fall asleep at the wheel. How will they finally end this (visually)? When is the next release date? Will J.K. Rowling succumb to the temptation of being the richest woman on the face of the earth and decide to write more books? Lastly, are my son and I, since we attended the madness, also in the tail-end of the bell curve? Scary. I think we must be.
But the most important thought of all...what will the over-30 freaks do with their lives when this is all over?
Who cares. I have work tomorrow...and my son really loved it. Bucket list...CHECK!
