Come and talk me through my Half-Blood Prince film canon WTF moment

[birdsofshore]

OK, this is going to take some explaining, but bear with me.

I was looking up something about the Vanishing Cabinets, and, being lazy and feckless, I looked on the Harry Potter wiki. YES I KNOW. We have had a lot of trouble with it before, I know, stating film canon as fact even when it contradicts book canon, using lego games as canon, I KNOW.

This is a bit different. It's about something that isn't mentioned in the books, but only in film canon.

When Draco is trying to fix the cabinet in the film, he tests it with various things: first an apple, which comes back with a bite out of it, and then a white bird, which comes back dead. Now, I took these as signs that the cabinet was now WORKING - that the apple and the bird had been successfully transported, and that Death Eaters had done these things to them to show that they had indeed traveled to Borgin and Burkes and back.

However, Harry Potter wiki (and on googling, loads of other sources on the internet) states that these things proved the cabinet was NOT working - that the apple came back 'missing a moderate chunk' because Draco HADN'T fixed it properly, and that the bird came back dead for the same reason. WHAT? I mean-- WHAT? REALLY?

OK, I am annoyed about this for lots of reasons. One, because it's WRONG. Two, because it's WRONG-- no, two, because there's clearly a BITE taken out of the apple. Three, because the interpretation that the Vanishing Cabinet isn't working when these things happen ruins all the implications of these scenes that I really like.

A bite from an apple has all sorts of symbolism: the poisoned apple that kills Snow White, the innocence lost in the Garden of Eden. There's chilling music when we see the bitten apple, not because "oh dear, Draco hasn't fixed it yet", but "oh shit, some Death Eater bit the lovely perfect apple with his big old teeth and ruined it", and both we and Draco know the implications for the school when Death Eaters come into Hogwarts via the cabinet.

The same with the bird. When it comes back dead, Draco looks stricken - and lots of sources are saying this is "because he knows he hasn't fixed it properly". NOOOO! It's because he knows he HAS. We have the symbolism again of the white bird (peace, love) being destroyed by the Death Eaters who are waiting at Borgin and Burkes.

This feels important to me, for the development of film!Draco's character. He isn't celebrating that he's repaired the cabinets - he's appalled, fearful, sickened and anxious at the knowledge of what it means that he has. The apple and the bird symbolise, to me, the innocence of the lives that will be lost at Hogwarts, but also Draco's lost innocence. I think Tom Felton did a bang up job of portraying this, and it makes me annoyed to read these scenes so misinterpreted.

I know it's all a bit cheesy, but I really like these scenes :( If you want to review them yourself, they are here:

Apple scene: from about 25 secs here

Bird scene: from about 3 mins 15 on the same video (which is a random collection of Draco scenes from the first 6 films).

What do you think? Am I completely wrong? Is Harry Potter wiki completely wrong? Am I mad for caring? Shall I go and do deep breathing? Will I have to sob in annoyance now every time I watch the Half-Blood Prince?

Comments

[unbroken-halo.livejournal.com]

Yes! Agreed! JKR had her moments, I will say that, especially since she despairs so much about the supposedly 'bad' characters and the moments that define them or make them shine in my opinion. I tend to think those are her best work. *shrugs*

*g* Thanks, she's a good kid, I think. I like that she makes her own decisions when we talk about the books/movies. We tend to disagree muchly on the entire Slytherin/Gryffindor issue but she presents her arguments well. I am certain she'd be a Ravenclaw, maybe a Hufflepuff. LOL!

I loved Fred and George, but like Draco, I had reservations about them and their characterization. I don't think they should have been in Gryffindor. They were little bullies and prats in their own right. But they were fun. I agree with you, and don't think they are as popular as some other characters and it may be because of those same reasons, I mentioned.

My apologies, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. It is fun chatting with you, though!

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I love the symbolism of your interpretation, but I think if they wanted to indicate that the bird had been killed, it would have been indisputable--it's neck would have been clearly broken or it would have had blood on it.

I love the movies too! I love thinking about how they interpret the books and how it can make me understand the books better. I don't like film canon that isn't also book canon in my fics, though. It makes me wonder if the writer has only seen the movies and not actually read the books (and thus have a much shallower understanding of the world and characters).

Lucius's cane is the exception. He can keep his cane.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

Pathos and irony, yes! That's a great way to describe the emotions that scene evokes!

I love to talk about Draco with people who appreciate Draco. I don't think he's the nicest guy, but I also don't see him as completely selfish or spiteful or cowardly or irredeemable, by any means. I think he's a wonderful example of a dynamic character.

[birdsofshore]

You see, in my mind, the bird's neck WAS clearly broken, but when I re-watch the clip, I see that's not the case! It makes you wonder how accurate eye witness statements and things are O_O

Some parts of the films are so confusing and incomplete that I don't know how anyone who hadn't read the books could actually follow the story all the way through... I'm thinking of the reveal that Snape is the HBP, or that Sirius is Harry's godfather, or.... lots of things. The wands? The Horcruxes? So many fabulous things about the films, though. I enjoy them so much.

I think I told you my son J is obsessed with Lucius' cane. He made his own from a stick and a fox skull XDDD

[birdsofshore]

*sigh* Oh lordy, I appreciate Draco all right.

I fear I sometimes slip into sentimentality about him, though, which I think is affecting my interpretation of the film scenes. It's good to discuss it with someone who pulled me up on it and have a good nitpick about canon.

I think Draco is one of JKR's finest creations. I just wish she liked him a little more herself D:

[vaysh]

*seconding Mel here and everybody who ventured this interpretation*

[birdsofshore]

There is no hijacking here; I like it when people talk about whatever they want to!

I enjoy Fred and George's subversiveness but yes, they do get pulled up on their bullying behaviour in fandom a lot, and probably quite rightly. I like their prattishness, though, it appeals to me :D

JKR had her moments, I will say that, especially since she despairs so much about the supposedly 'bad' characters and the moments that define them or make them shine in my opinion. I tend to think those are her best work. *shrugs*

I'm with you on this one. I'm not seriously trying to compare us as fic writers to JKR herself, but I guess we all value different things about our own writing and it may not be what another person values or admires about it.

edited to fix pwn to own, LOL

[birdsofshore]

So interesting. My interpretation is taking a beating here. I can compromise on the bird, but I can not agree on the apple :DD

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Lol, I have no idea how anyone who hadn't read the books could follow the story from PoA onward. Who exactly were Mooney, Padfoot, Wormtail and Prongs? Their names were written on the map, but we never got to actually meet them.

And I don't picture the characters like their acting counterparts (except for maybe Draco, Hagrid, McG, and some others). But I love Dan's performance of Harry, and adore Tom as Draco. And they also got so many things right. So...

Anyway, I'm tired and slightly drunk and just rambling now. ♥

[birdsofshore]

LOL, I like tired rambling. What am I saying, I LOVE tired rambling. However, it would now be foolish in the extreme for me not to go to bed, and I prefer my foolishness mild to moderate, so...

I did used to see the films sometimes with a friend who hadn't at the time read the books, and our post-film conversations were always amusing. The credits would roll, and she would turn to me and say, "So.....?"

[unbroken-halo.livejournal.com]

Great! Cause given half a chance, I will chat your ear off. *g*

F&G's funness is why I like them, but yes, I like that they get a comeuppance in FF, too. JKR doesn't hold any of her "good" characters accountable. Well, I suppose she does by killing them all off, but still you understand my meaning. The 'bad' ones suffer and bear the label of evil when the good ones walk the line, cross it most times, even, and wear halos throughout.

I'm not seriously trying to compare us as fic writers to JKR herself,

That's the thing though, every fan fic writer has the potential to be JKR, IMNSHO. I know some that completely blow her out of the water, even, because they have a better understanding of characterization, plot and world building.

While FF'ers may be playing in someone else's world, they are building skills of their own, some even better and stronger than JKR's. She started at the bottom, too, and it was sheer dumb luck, to steal a phrase, that she was discovered and made it. I think if someone had been as hard on her as our FF betas can be on us, then she wouldn't have some of the world building problems she did. *shrugs*

[khalulu]

Just butting in to agree! Draco won't leave stunned Greg in the fire, either, which is something they left out of the film, but it shows him for a truer friend than he often gets credit for, despite what a bully he was for so much of the early books.

[digthewriter]

I haven't read the other comments yet, but, I thought he saw the dead bird and started crying was b/c he realised that it was fixed and that someone on the other side--which I assumed was Bellatrix had killed the bird and sent it back. He was crying because it was fixed and because the Death Eaters are ruthless.

[digthewriter]

The bird came back dead, meaning it still wasn't fixed enough to transport a living object without killing it.

Then, after that, he worked more on the cabinet and a live bird flew out, meaning he's finally worked out all the bugs and it was ready to go

Damn, you're so smart.

[fantasyfiend09.livejournal.com]

I actually interpreted it the way you did when I saw the film. I imagined Bellatrix biting the apple and Fenrir snapping the bird's neck. But now that I've read through all these comments and thought on it, I don't think that was the film makers' intent. I think they intended to represent splinching and death as signs of the cabinet's failure.

That said, I think they could have made it much clearer. The symbolism of apples and white birds lends itself so well to our interpretation. They could have had a different (mundane) item come back in pieces or a brown or grey bird come back dead.

I do think that book!Draco was very upset each time he failed and thrilled (deliriously so) when he succeeded. I think his situation, in his mind, was that he had a piece of furniture to fix and failing to fix it would lead to death for his family. I don't think he ever stopped to think about what the Death Eaters would really do with the fixed cabinet. And there was little point in him wasting thought on it when he felt that his only choices were to fix the cabinet or condemn his family to certain death.

That night, when he actually sees the results of his actions and fully realises that he is expected to murder Dumbledore, is when I think he has his turning point. He was a boy of 16, and I think that moment in the Astronomy Tower is when he suddenly grows up and understands what war really means.

[amorette.livejournal.com]

The point being conveyed with the apple and the bird: The apple traveled just fine. It went to the other side, someone on the other side took a bite and sent it back, and it arrived back to Draco. The bird, however, did not travel safely - it died on the journey either to or back. So a living thing like a bird cannot make a safe journey; ergo, a human won't be able to make a safe journey either.

The purpose of the vanishing cabinet was to transport the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, so the cabinet had to be able to safely transport living, breathing things.

[josephinestone.livejournal.com]

:(

And later on Draco might understand this. Later on, he might get to seize it and hold it and taste it. But for the moment, he is holding the dead body of a small white bird in his two hands, and he is crying.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

That night, when he actually sees the results of his actions and fully realises that he is expected to murder Dumbledore, is when I think he has his turning point. He was a boy of 16, and I think that moment in the Astronomy Tower is when he suddenly grows up and understands what war really means.

This is exactly how I see it!

Even as late as Slughorn's Christmas party, Draco still doesn't fully understand the consequences of his actions, if we can trust the overheard conversation with Snape:

"[...] if you are placing your reliance in assistants like Crabbe and Goyle —"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people!"

"Then why not confide in me, and I can —"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

It's like he keeps on parroting his father's ideals until the moment when he's faced with committing his father's crimes. And then Draco becomes his own man.

[josephinestone.livejournal.com]

I thought they were testing it both ways. Was the black one in the cages earlier on? I can't remember. Not that Malfoy sent the black one and they sent it back, but they started with the black one on their end to test the way the passage would actually work for the DE.

Why else would the bird be in there at all without Draco there? He sent things and then called them back right after. But in the end what needed to be done was the other cabinet sending something to that one and he opens it and lets it out.

Though, say he did send the black bird (or simply put it in there and Harry and Ginny entered before he could send it), that would mean Draco saw Harry and Ginny kiss. (OH, NO that is such a sad thought for me!)

But I agree that the black bird in the movie was to tell us that the cabinet works. It works from both sides, and the black bird was waiting to be released just like the DEs would be later. That's why I thought the DE at the shop sent that one over, because if he didn't then where was Draco?

ETA: I think that I can't see the apple as a failure, because who goes from failure to upping the experiment? If the apple failed, then you continue to use apples until they work. It doesn't make sense for them to be showing us all the failures. Though they are still using birds, I'd still see sending something from the shop instead of Draco sending it there and back as upping the experiment. We've moved from one stage to the next stage.

But I understand they didn't have a lot of time to devote to this. They couldn't show us both. Another reason it doesn't make sense as him failing is because we are on Harry's side and Draco is representing the forewarnings of what is coming. If he keeps failing, then there is no tension. (He is working on it, but failing would only be a forewarning if you are on Draco's side and want him to figure it out.) We don't have to worry about what Draco is up to if he is failing. He is only a forewarning of the evil to come if he is succeeding.

[nathalieweasley.livejournal.com]

I've been reading through the other responses and it is neat how we all have such different interpretations...including Wiki. :P I was looking up something about the Vanishing Cabinets, and, being lazy and feckless, I looked on the Harry Potter wiki. YES I KNOW. We have had a lot of trouble with it before, I know, stating film canon as fact even when it contradicts book canon, using lego games as canon, I KNOW. mad me giggle, by the way. :)

I realize now that I forgot to mention the second bird. stephaniejo84 mentioned how 1st bird = not working, 2nd bird = working and I completely agree. I got very emotional during the kiss scene for that specific reason. While good things (at least according to H/G fans :P) are happening, there were still hints of misery and evil yet to come, albeit wrapped up in cute, bird-shaped packages.

[nursedarry.livejournal.com]

THIS! Lol! Best comment ever!

I 've always thought: dead bird (I sound like Eddie Murphy)=not working/bitten apple=working.

[meglw0228.livejournal.com]

Lol, so much for not getting sucked in... I was about to reply to this earlier when I decided I'd just ask my mom if I could watch her movie! So after having watched it tonight, I finally figured out why I thought Draco said it twice! And I watched the video you linked... and there's a couple differences to the movie.

In the first scene with the apple, I don't know if you can really hear it in the video, but there's noise in the background when they pass something through the cabinets. I always used to think that that noise meant that the spell worked, which would agree with your theory above. I asked my mom about the apple too, and she said at first that the apple was bitten, but after watching it, she changed her mind and said she thinks a piece of the apple came off with magic, like the magic of the spell not working separated the two pieces (similar to Ron getting splinched in Deathly Hallows). I still hold that apple was bitten... when I was playing the movie, I paused it and looked closely...I say bitten! Lol Oh, and I found the part where he says the spell twice! He says it once, there's the noise, the apple disappears, and he opens the cabinet to find it gone. He shuts the cabinet, says the spell once, no noise, says spell again and there's a noise this time, and he opens the cabinet to find the apple!

In the second scene with the bird, in the video you don't see it, but the movie also shows it with the cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, and the bird chirping (still plainly alive!), and then Draco opens the cabinet to find the bird dead... And again you get that little noise that I think means the spell worked both times, when he's putting the bird in and right before he opens the cabinet.

In my opinion, with the bird still plainly being alive in B&B I always thought that meant what you said above... that he was sorta terrified at the thought that he actually got it to work.

Again, I apologize for my rambly thoughts, but thank you for making me think today!

[facecat.livejournal.com]

If the bitten apple meant that the cabinets worked he wouldn't have had to send the bird. I took them both to mean that the cabinet was not working yet especially given that Harry and Ginny let the living black bird out of the cabinet which signifies then that the cabinet is working. Why Harry didn't catch on at that point is what I want to know since he saw Draco at B & B with the sister cabinet earlier.

[omi-ohmy.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've watched the clips and they've confirmed that I fall into the splinched-apple, faulty-cabinet-still-killing-living-things school of thought. I think that if they were supposed to show it working, then only one scene would have been used.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I think you and I agree on the apple.

I also think it's entirely possible to believe both that a) the first attempt with the bird failed and Draco was sad and scared because it meant he hadn't fixed the cabinet yet. And also because he'd killed a lovely bird and

b) Draco was being blackmailed into fixing the cabinet to let DEs into Hogwarts on threat of his family's lives and therefore felt ambivalent about his success. The expression on his face when the DEs finally come through makes it pretty clear that he's not exactly squeeful about the whole thing.