Why the “naked” Harry and Hermione scene was controversial

The “naked” Harry and Hermione scene in Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows – Part 1 was one of the most controversial moments in the Harry Potter movies – and the sight of naked Hermione and Harry exemplified the franchise’s later struggles with appealing to both adult and young audiences. The moment Hermione and Harry share a kiss happens only in Ron Weasley’s vision. Ron’s anxiety over, and jealousy of, Harry and Hermione’s closeness manifests thanks to one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes (namely Rowena Ravenclaw’s locket).

in The Deadly HallowsWhen Harry opens Rowena Ravenclaw’s locket, the piece of Lord Voldemort’s soul held in the Horcrux begins to torment Ron by mocking his greatest fears. Apparitions appear from deep within Ron’s psyche, such as an imagined moment when Harry and Hermione question his worth and tell him that they would be better off without him. The visions shift, with Harry and Hermione appearing to be naked and physically intimate. Ron’s vision ends with Harry and Hermione kissing. Fairly innocent by adult standards, but not what was expected of the family-friendly Harry Potter Franchise.

Why the naked Harry and Hermione scene was controversial

The Harry and Hermione kiss contradicts the franchise’s family-friendly roots

The moment naked Hermione and Harry appear in the Harry Potter Kino was controversial, but it was also justified and had narrative precedence in the source material. Rowena Ravenclaw’s locket was among the most troublesome of Voldemort’s Horcruxes since the trio had it for months before figuring out how to destroy it.

Although the locket had negative effects on all three, it was worse for Ron, who was more susceptible to twisting his emotions – a plot point that is true to the original novel. When director David Yates announced part 1 of The Deadly Hallows would include a nude Harry and Hermione kiss scene, Those who read the books were not surprised.

However, many parents complained about the idea of ​​the scene, although many were unaware of the context. The lawsuits (and even some boycott threats) were based solely on Yates’ comments, made before the film was even released. The scene in question is very short, and the fake Harry and Hermione are surrounded by dark fog from the waist down and many other special effects. Most importantly, none of the actors are naked.

Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson (who was wearing a strapless bra) had to participate in a steamy make-out session. But that’s hardly the most problematic thing about these Harry Potter films. They had become increasingly darker since Voldemort’s return. The movie series features much more intense scenes than Ron’s Horcrux-induced vision of Harry and Hermione kissing, including multiple deaths, torture and a scene where Nagini emerges from Bathilda Bagshot and attacks Harry and Hermione.

In the end, there was no boycott of the film, and the controversy was nothing more than the ramblings of angry parents who would not wait for the film to come out to make their judgment. The Harry Potter Film series, and also books, have had their fair share of controversies, but the one way This scene is perhaps one of the most ridiculous.

Harry and Hermione are not naked in this book

This scene was added as an original to the movie

The controversy about the nude scene with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger from the movie is not really needed at all. This is because, while the idea of ​​Ron seeing this to cause jealousy makes sense in the storyline, the scene never happened like this in the books. In the books, Ron gets jealous and feels like he’s a third wheelAnd it’s the same as in the movie, but when it comes to the scene with the assumed nudity and the kissing, it’s done just for the movie.

The problem is that the books are written for kids and teenagers, and the idea of ​​having a scene that even hints at sex between them is not going to fit that age group. Harry Potter is written for. It worked in books like TwilightWhich was a young adult novel, but Harry Potter was always for younger audiences. Putting the nude scene in the movie was a weird choice on its own, but considering it wasn’t even part of the source material makes it even more questionable.

Neville’s kiss with Luna was more problematic than the nude scene

The nudity in Harry Potter was tastefully handled, fan-serving couplings were not

While the Hermione and Harry kiss scene was lambasted by parents, Neville and Luna got together at the end of The Deadly Hallows Angered many fans of JK Rowling’s novels. The Harry and Hermione kiss appeared in the books, so those who read them were not surprised. However, Neville and Luna become a couple after the Battle of Hogwarts just happened in the Harry Potter Movies.

In the novels, Neville goes on to marry Hannah Abbott and becomes the Hogwarts herbology professor after Sprout. Luna travels the world as a naturalist and marries Newt Scamander’s grandson (Rolf Scamander). The ending works well for both characters because it is more true to who they are.

Luna and Neville together at the end was most likely meant to be fan service, but not all fans were thrilled by it. Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows – Part 2 Took a meaningful friendship and tossed it to the road after the Battle of Hogwarts, replacing it with a romance that had no real build – and that cut out one of the few deeper friendships between a male and a female character (other than Harry and Hermione) ). Often, movies like to put people together at the end for the sake of closure without considering who the people are as characters.

This moment underscores Neville’s growth since his appearance in The Sorcerer’s Stone. While Harry and Hermione’s controversial nude kiss enhanced the emotional depth of the franchise, Because Neville ended up with Luna, the ending of the latter chipped Harry Potter Movie.

The Hermione and Harry scene is part of a wider Harry Potter issue

The Harry Potter movies have identity problems

The Harry and Hermione kiss scene has been stuck in the franchise’s legacy for years, and the nudity in it (while respectful and, by most accounts, incredibly tame) feels like it’s at odds with much of the tone of the early movies. Especially the first two movies. It’s a problem the books also share to a degree, with the earlier entries mostly aimed at kids, and the later installments being more adult-appropriate. Although there are scary moments and deaths, the early books still err on the side of family-friendly entertainment.

Starting with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The movies became more adult-centeredWhile still appealing to the search for family entertainment, and became critically acclaimed. This means that the rest of the Harry Potter Kino straddles a line that is a difficult one—especially when considering the reach of powerful family-interest groups.

Families still turned out to watch family-friendly entertainment and saw horrific deaths, betrayals, pure evil incarnate and even a naked kiss scene from Harry and Hermione. This vision is undoubtedly what a teenage Ron would have seen as his greatest fear, but it was also enough to send many parents over the edge when it came to the mature themes in what was once kid-friendly entertainment in the Harry Potter Franchise.

HBO’s Harry Potter series can avoid the nude scene controversy

The Harry Potter TV reboot is an opportunity to try a different approach

There are a lot of new things Harry Potter Reboot series on Max will be able to do what the original movies could not accomplish. Each of the movies is based on a book in the series, except for the final book, which was split into two movies. This means that the novels have just over two hours to tell a very long story. The new Max series will have a chance to go into detail about the things the movies had to leave out. However, the kissing scene and the torture of Ron by the image of the Harry and Hermione kiss could easily remain in the TV version of the story.

While the Harry Potter seasons should not go the distance of Game of Thrones – with its graphic violence, full-frontal nudity and excessive sexual content – it is possible that Harry Potter Series could be a darker name. However, it is worth remembering that the first two Harry Potter Movies are made for kids, and most of the characters are only 17 when the final book ends. While things got darker with Prisoner of AzkabanThe movies always have to straddle a fine line.

HBO and WB could sidestep this by opting for a more Wizarding World tone around their mature characters and marketing their series to a less family-oriented audience. There is a lot of material in this book that would make even an adult take Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone alive, and there will doubtless be much less controversy about a Harry Potter Naked scene in this context.