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birdsofshoreOK, 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?
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?
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 10:09 pm (UTC)And then the bird, I interpret it as having died and Draco despairing because if he doesn't get that ish fixed he and his family will die. If someone sends the bird back dead then they're assuming that Draco will interpret it as them doing it and not as the bird dying on it's own. It's a very convoluted way to say "Yes, this cabinet works."
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 10:14 pm (UTC)If the bird comes back exactly as it was, then there's no proof it's been anywhere at all. That's my understanding of it.
But obviously there is room for different interpretations even if that is what they decided to do as a 'sign' it was working... as this whole post and all of the comments are showing!
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 10:33 pm (UTC)The moment I thought it worked was when there was a bird chirping in RoR some time later in the movie.
But yes it did get the point across regardless. And I had no idea people had so many different views on it.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 10:57 pm (UTC)