Today, I perused Yahoo Answers for Harry Potter related questions. In addition to answering many simple questions such as “what is your favorite book?” or “How could I meet more Harry Potter fans?”, I found one particularly interesting question.
It seems almost silly at first, but when really thinking about it, I think there is something to be explored.
The question (ignore the bad grammar):
“Don’t you think Harry Potter is depicted in a stupid in the films? He tends to answer every question with another question, usually saying: What??? Even the most obvious declarations” ——User: Santiago V
We all know what he is asking. There have been times where a character has said something, and we know what they are trying to say, but the other characters don’t seem to get it. Are the characters just dumb? Are we, as the audience, too smart? Maybe Harry would have understood what was being said in the book, but in the film, he doesn’t seem to get it. Why?
And on the same level, why is it necessary for a character to explain things that we, the readers or the viewers already know?
It all comes down to the audience. When writing the screenplay, a writer has to be conscious of who is going to be seeing the movie. Have they read the books? Have they seen the previous movies? Are they old or young? Intelligent/educated viewers or pleasure viewers? Are they watching for the action or the story? I call it “audience awareness”.
When it comes to sharing knowledge with the audience, the writers must assume that the audience knows this, but doesn’t know that. For instance, even though the characters in the movie tell use the audience (to a certain degree) what a Pensive is, there is no actual case (to my knowledge) of Dumbledore telling Harry that “this strand of silver coming from my head is a memory”. I suppose it could be called “audience assumption”. The screenwriters assume you have either read the book and know it is a memory, or are smart enough to reason it out.
In answer to the question about why “Harry always says ‘WHAT?'” my response was this:
On that level, There is a certain degree of “audience assumption” the writers have to take into account.
There are members of any audience that hasn’t read the book, or seen the last movie.
Just as authors sometimes sum up a concept in a few words (in Harry’s 2nd year, he had saved Ron’s little sister’s life), screenwriters can sum up information, or pass new information on to audience in a more succinct way if one of the characters is a bit confused.If Harry is asking “what?”, it is probably because there are a number of people in the audience who the writers guess will also be saying “what?” and therefore, it makes sense to have a character confused so to provide answers (unless its Inception or the Dark Knight…in which case we may never get clear answers).
In the part asking if I thought Harry was stupid, I answered this:
In a novel, the author has the ability to describe things to you, the reader, in a manner rarely achieved in film making.
For instance (made up line): “Even though he understood the concept, Harry could see in Ron’s eyes that he wasn’t taking in a single word Hermione was saying. Hermione, however, seemed to think Ron had grasped the subject, and didn’t take so much as a breath before moving on”.
Now, in a movie, we can’t very well have Harry say “Ron, I see in your eyes that you don’t understand a single word Hermione is saying, and Hermione, even thought I get what you’re saying, Ron doesn’t so don’t move on.”
In real life, we [may] say such a thing.
But in a movie, where time is money, having Harry and Ron exchange confused glances and Harry say “what?” (even though he may get the idea in the books) will not only simplify matters, but it may clear up confusion for audience members who may also be saying “what?”.
The answers I gave were short, and quick, but at least it will give you something to think about! I will definitely return to the idea in the future, as I have thought about it a lot before. The concept of audience awareness and audience assumption. But this is just a little teaser, something to get you thinking during the middle of the week.
And if you didn’t get anything else from the post, know I do not think Harry is stupid. In the books – or the films.
These Aren't Just Words 