Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing an incredibly scandalous topic: Why Hermione should have
been with Harry instead of Ron.
For those of you who are primarily fans of the Harry Potter novels, or enjoy both the
books and the movies, I imagine that this particular sentiment sparks outrage at the
very mention of the idea.
On the other hand, for all you movie loyalists out there, I’m fairly certain many of you
are likely nodding your heads along in agreement.
And it is for this EXACT reason that I’d like to further define today’s topic – so
that there is no confusion on the matter.
That is, I only believe that Hermione should have been with Harry in the FILM adaptation
of the Harry Potter series.
Now, there are exactly three reasons for why I feel this way, and they ALL revolve around
the liberties that were taken with Ron, Hermione, and Harry’s characters when translating
the books into films.
As you may already be familiar with, in the past I have released a series of videos discussing
the major character differences between these three best mates when translated from page
to screen.
If you’re not familiar with them, I highly recommend you go check them out.
They are:
3 MAJOR Differences Between BOOK and MOVIE Hermione
4 HUGE Differences Between Movie and Book Ron Weasley
& 4 HUGE Differences about Harry Movie Watchers
Won’t Know
Essentially, in these videos I break down how both Hermione and Harry are made into
near perfect versions of themselves – especially, Hermione – whereas Ron is portrayed as a
goofy buffoon version of his book character.
For Harry, the films seem to have removed his wittier, more rebellious side, turning
him into a hero with minimal flaws.
In the case of Hermione and Ron, the writers simply seem to have taken away a lot of Ron’s
lines and important moments and given them to Hermione, degrading his character and enhancing
her’s.
As I explain in the other videos, a large component of this may have been to simplify
the source of information for the audience.
That is, by giving Hermione all of the educational lines in the movies, viewers would clue in
that when Hermione was talking, she was often explaining things about the Wizarding World.
In my opinion, this was completely unnecessary, and really didn’t make all that much sense.
For example, while in the books, yes, Hermione was very intelligent when it came to book
learning, it was Ron who was the source of information on how the Wizarding World worked.
This made great sense, since Ron, a pureblood wizard born into a magical family, had lived
in this world his entire life.
Hermione, on the other hand, was a Muggle-born witch, who had no idea that the Wizarding
World even existed until she received her letter of acceptance from Hogwarts.
In any case, I digress…But that’s just a little bit of backstory for you on some
of the MAJOR differences between the book and film versions of these three main characters.
So, with all this in mind, I freely admit that I DON’T believe Hermione should have
been with Harry in the novels.
In fact, in the book series, Hermione and Ron are, well, actually near perfect for one
another.
They support one another when it counts and challenge each other in areas in which the
other has shortcomings.
Plus, Ron’s a lot smarter in the books than he is in the films, so he really does keep
up with Hermione’s intelligence and actually rather balances her book smarts with his quick
wit, humour, and valour.
This very clearly is not the case in the movies.
A great example of this can be found in one of the many differences between scenes in
The Prisoner of Azkaban.
This particular instance takes place in Professor Snape’s Potions class when he asks the third-year
students a question.
In both the book and movie version, Hermione is extremely eager to respond to the question,
since, of course, she knows the answer.
Snape, however, simply refuses to call on her, and so she shares the answer with the
class without being asked.
Here’s how the rest of that scene plays out in the novel:
“That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,” said Snape coolly.
“Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all.”
Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full
of tears.
It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were all glaring at him, because
every one of them had called Hermione a know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione
she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said loudly, “You asked us a question and
she knows the answer!
Why ask if you don’t want to be told?”
In great contrast, when Hermione shares the answer to Snape’s question out of turn in
the movie, and Alan Rickman’s Snape reprimands her for being “an insufferable know-it-all,”
do you remember what Rupert Grint’s portrayal of Ron says?
“He's got a point, you know.”
I mean, no wonder movie-lovers of the Harry Potter franchise don’t think Ron deserves
to be with this flawless and beautiful version of Hermione, as portrayed by Emma Watson.
Not only is he not that bright, but he’s also a complete JERK.
Sadly, this sort of “lost in translation” adaptation from book to film seems to be quite
common, as there are several other scenes in which the novels portray Ron as acting
in Hermione’s best interest or standing up for her or Harry – but in the movies,
he’s either rude, silent, or the scene simply doesn’t exist.
Quite honestly, I don’t envy the job the screenwriters were tasked with when writing
all seven Harry Potter scripts.
Cutting 5-to-800-page books down into 2-hour movies would be no easy task.
But I simply don’t agree with many of the script changes that fundamentally altered
Ron’s relationship with Hermione – and that’s not to say anything about what it
did to his friendship with Harry.
I mean, are movie Ron and Harry even best friends?
It doesn’t really seem so, does it?
There are also multiple scenarios that the films portray that never take place in the
books, many of which make it seem like Hermione and Harry would be much better suited for
one another than Hermione and Ron.
For example, in the movie version of The Half-blood Prince, we see Harry comforting a crying Hermione
in one of the towers at Hogwarts.
As you may recall, she’s crying in this scene because she’s upset that Ron is dating
Lavender Brown.
And, while book Ron may have also dated Lavender Brown, we are never presented with a scene
in which Hermione cries on Harry’s shoulder.
In fact, he seems to only notice that she’s been crying in passing, with descriptions
from the book sounding something more like this: “Harry thought he heard a sob before
[the door] slammed.”
There’s also that scene at the end of The Half-blood Prince, when all three friends
are still at Hogwarts and Harry is sharing that he doesn’t plan on returning to Hogwarts
the following year and will instead be tracking down Voldemort’s Horcruxes in an effort
to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all.
Here’s how it all goes down in the book:
“We'll be there, Harry," said Ron "What?"
"At your Aunt and Uncle's house," said Ron, "And then we'll go with you wherever you're
going."
"No-" said Harry quickly; he hadn't counted on this, he had meant them to understand that
he was undertaking the most dangerous journey alone.
"You said it once before," said Hermione quickly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted
to.
We've had time, haven't we?
We're with you whatever happens.”
By contrast, in the movies, Ron sits laughably far away from Hermione and Harry, as the two
“Hs” plan their future together…
Harry: I’m not coming back, Hermione.
I’ve got to finish whatever Dumbledore started, and I don’t know where that’ll lead me,
but I’ll let you and Ron know where I am, when I can.
Hermione: I’ve always admired your courage, Harry, but sometimes you can be really thick.
You don’t really think you’re going to be able to find all those Horcruxes by yourself,
do you?
You need us, Harry.
So, of course, with…err…“enhancements” like this littered throughout the films, it
seems just so obvious that Hermione should be with Harry, and certainly not that dolt,
Ron!
All in all, when it comes to the movies, I’m all for the Hermione-Harry-ship!
Or, as some fans like to call them: “Harmony” …Okay, maybe I wouldn’t go quite that
far!
But with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Do you agree?
Should movie Hermione and Harry have been together?
Maybe you even think book Hermione and Harry should have been together?
Or perhaps you believe that both film and novel Ron was the right match for Hermione?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
And, as always, if you enjoyed this video, don’t forget to like it and subscribe to
the channel!
Until next time…
“Honestly, don’t you two read?”