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

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

Felton acted the hell out of those scenes. It's unbelievable how much emotion he was able to convey with his eyes alone. Nnngh.

I read the books before I saw the movies, so maybe that colors my interpretation. Because I don't see this...

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.

...in book!Draco at all. And by extension, I can't buy it in film!Draco, either. I think Draco's sole concern was for his safety and the safety of his family.

I thought the apple indicated that the cabinet was working, and Draco seemed pleased. But when he tried to transport a living being, the bird, the cabinet didn't work. And I thought Draco's angst was the result of knowing he was in trouble if he couldn't figure out how to make it work.

[birdsofshore]

I see the fear and the sickened reaction in book!Draco a lot. He is genuinely horrified when they bring Fenrir into Hogwarts, he can't even look at Ron and Hermione when they are brought to Malfoy Manor, and he seems pretty appalled and frightened when he finally faces an unarmed Dumbledore at his mercy. He is shaking all over and in tears, when he could quite easily kill him in a moment.

I think movie!Draco was made a bit more overtly sympathetic than book!Draco, though (partly because Tom Felton MAKES us see his vulnerability and his humanity) and I see the vanishing cabinet scenes as a continuation of that. If we think about the deleted scene where they had Draco throwing Harry his wand in the final battle, I think it's clear that they wanted a redemption for film!Draco that we didn't get for book!Draco. I think his ambivalence at fixing the cabinets reflects that story arc towards a partial redemption.

I didn't see Draco looking pleased when the apple came back, either! The music is chilling and I felt his reaction was more fearful than jubilant.

I COMPLETELY agree about his eyes <3333 I've seen a clip of DanRad complimenting Tom on his acting in that film. I wonder where it was.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, all those things you mention about Draco's fear are spot-on. But they all happen after he succeeds. I don't think Draco understood at all what he was really in for.

Take, for example, the scene in which he finally repairs the cabinet:

"Somebody in — ? Who?" demanded Harry. "Who was in there?"

"I have no idea," said Professor Trelawney, looking slightly taken aback at the urgency in Harry's voice. "I walked into the room and I heard a voice, which has never happened before in all my years of hiding — of using the room, I mean."

"A voice? Saying what?"

"I don't know that it was saying anything," said Professor Trelawney. "It was... whooping."

"Whooping?"

"Gleefully," she said, nodding.

Harry stared at her.

"Was it male or female?"

"I would hazard a guess at male," said Professor Trelawney.

"And it sounded happy?"

"Very happy," said Professor Trelawney sniffily.

"As though it was celebrating?"

"Most definitely."

In fact, I would call Draco's moment of 'triumph' his turning point in the books. The moment the DEs stepped into the castle, Draco realized he'd wanted the wrong things all along, and that he was in much more trouble than he'd ever thought imaginable.

[birdsofshore]

Oh, you're absolutely right about this going so differently in the book. That 'whooping' description is quite chilling, isn't it?

I don't feel the way it's told in the film is OOC for book Draco, but I agree his moment of total realisation comes later in the books and that it's very effective that way. However I don't think Draco's heart was ever completely in it - qv his inept plots to kill Dumbledore before he meets him on the tower - in fact I would almost say that the whooping was more OOC for the overall way he's portrayed in HBP! I think it conveys his emotional fragmentation and confusion quite well. We see him in such a tumult of reactions to everything - I don't think jubilation is recurring theme for him to what's happening, at all.

[tamlane.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely not a recurring theme! Draco is a basket case in HBP. And I don't think he's whooping because he's glad the DEs are on their way. I think he's whooping because he knows he gets to live. Though I think he doesn't realize yet the true cost of that. Poor Draco. I think JKR did a fantastic job of humanizing him.

[birdsofshore]

The image of him alone in the RoR, whooping with glee, is full of pathos and irony, isn't it?

I am finding it quite upsetting just thinking of it. Probably time to get some sleep :/

I love the way you see it all. Could talk about this all night <3

[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]

*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:

[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.

[birdsofshore]

Yes, I think that moment was a real surprise to me. JKR has a soft spot for Draco after all, deep down ;-)

[khalulu]

Yeah, it bothered me that they left Draco rescuing Greg out of the film.

As for the bird and the apple in the cabinet - to be honest, I was not in fandom at the time I saw the movie and while I'd read the books (and reread all of them while waiting for the last one, and obsessed about being sure Snape was not as evil as Harry thought), I wasn't super up on canon. And when I saw the apple and bird in the cabinets, I was just - confused. I guess I thought it meant the cabinets had some inherent evil or danger in them, and it was scary and it wasn't working and Draco was desperate. Your interpretation was interesting, though.

[birdsofshore]

I suspect they chopped and changed these scenes around a bit, trying to make it make sense. And then it got edited and I would not be surprised if something got missed out. It has that feeling about it.