Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today, I’m excited to be discussing the major differences between the book and film
versions of…drum roll please…Harry Potter!
Yes, that’s right, today, I’ll be going over the biggest variations between Harry
as depicted in the novels versus the movies.
Right, so, as you may have seen over the last few weeks, I’ve released a couple other
videos addressing the book-to-film differences of other Harry Potter characters.
Specifically, I’ve shared my thoughts on the largest discrepancies between the novel
and movie depictions of both Hermione and Ron.
And if you have yet to watch them, I encourage you to check them out and share your thoughts
with me in the comments!
You can find both of these videos right here on the Harry Potter Theory channel.
Anyway, for those of you who have already watched the last couple videos on Hermione
and Ron, you may have seen in the comments that there were quite a few requests for me
to evaluate the major differences between Harry, the Chosen One himself!
So, without further ado, let’s dig in to it.
MAJOR DIFFERENCE #1: His Overall Attitude
When comparing the novel version of Harry Potter to his counterpart in the films, one
of the most noticeable differences between the two is his overall demeanour.
If you asked anyone who’s a fan of the books to describe Harry’s character, I’m willing
to bet that most of them would tell you that he actually has a bit of an attitude problem.
In the novels, Harry is unapologetically sarcastic, and he is frequently getting himself in trouble
by being a bit of a smart mouth.
This is not to say that the movie version of Harry doesn’t get into his share of hot
water – after all, the main plotlines behind each and every Harry Potter installment is
based on Harry and the danger he finds himself in.
But in the books, the trouble that Harry gets into is different, somehow.
Novel Harry seems to care very little for the repercussions of some of his actions – a
classic trait of Gryffindors – whereas movie Harry often seems like a bit of a goody-goody.
Sure, every now and again Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who portrayed Harry Potter in the
movie series, delivers a bit of a cheeky line or two, and in these moments, we see some
defiance peak out.
But where the movies really lean into the angst and darkness of Harry’s character,
the books showcase him as a cheekier and more sharp-witted young wizard.
Some fans have even gone so far as to deem novel Harry as “sassy” and a bit of a
“delinquent.”
In the movies, Harry’s character also seems to be a little more self-centered.
He feels sorry for himself a lot more, and doesn’t seem to really possess the charisma
of a natural-born leader like he does in the books.
MAJOR DIFFERENCE #2: His Magical Aptitude
In the movies, Harry is shown as being magical gifted at most things, almost immediately.
He’s good – or at least not bad – at basically everything he tries, from spells
to flying.
In the novels, however, Harry’s only innate magical talent is his ability to ride a broomstick.
He works hard for everything else, such as casting his Patronus and overcoming a boggart.
As mentioned in my video about the differences between novel and film Ron, there’s also
the discrepancy between how the two boys perform in school.
In the books, Ron and Harry both received average marks.
But in the movies, Harry seems to do much better in school than Ron.
This creates somewhat of a problem in The Half-Blood Prince, for in the novels it’s
quite clear why Harry needed the notes written into the Potions textbook that he acquires
by chance.
In the film, it doesn’t make as much sense why finding this text was so beneficial to
him.
Sure, it makes him really awesome at this class but it’s more like he goes from an
A or a B to an A+, whereas in the novels the textbook saves him from completely failing
the class.
MAJOR DIFFERENCE #3: His Relationship with Ron
Another major difference – which I also brought up in my video discussing Ron – is
how the friendship between Ron and Harry is portrayed.
In the novels, Harry’s best mate is unquestionably Ron.
In fact, in the beginning of the book version of The Philosopher’s Stone, Harry doesn’t
even like Hermione.
He finds her annoying and insufferable.
But in the movies, he seems to rely on his friendship with Hermione a lot more than he
relies on Ron.
This may be because, in the films, Ron is depicted as kind of a buffoon, and Hermione
is the one with all the answers.
So, of course, when dealing with serious situations like defeating Voldemort and saving all of
wizard kind, it wouldn’t have made much sense from an audience perspective for Harry
to seek advice from Ron, who’s only role in the films seems to be comic relief.
We also miss out on a lot of Harry’s relationship with the Weasley family as a whole, which
of course, impacts how his friendship with Ron is viewed.
In the books, Harry spends a lot of time with Ron’s family, who embrace him wholeheartedly.
While some of this can be seen in the films, it’s usually Harry AND Hermione who are
there – not just Harry, implying that it’s not just Harry and Ron who are super close
but rather all three friends.
MAJOR DIFFERENCE #4: His Appearance
When it comes to the looks of a movie character that’s been adapted from a book, it’s
never going to be perfect.
Movies must deal with the process of finding an actor who can play the part, while also
keeping the novel’s description of the character in mind.
I’m quite certain this ordeal is somewhat of a nightmare.
In any case, as with the majority of characters who appear first in books and later on in
movies, there are some noticeable differences between the look of novel and film Harry Potter.
Of course, both depictions of Harry do have his famous lightning bolt scar.
Naturally, actor Daniel Radcliffe, who, as mentioned earlier, portrayed Harry on the
big screen, did not have this scar, which meant that the filmmakers were able to choose
exactly where to place it on Daniel’s forehead.
However, some fans of the novels were upset upon seeing the films, since they had envisioned
that the scar was in the centre of Harry’s forehead.
However, rest assured, the scar was where it was meant to be, as apparently it was J.K.
Rowling herself who dictated where it should go on his head.
Aside from the scar, I suppose you could say one other thing that’s the same between
the two versions of Harry is the colour of his hair.
But, in all honesty, that’s kind of where the similarities stop.
For the majority of the films, Daniel’s hair is pretty neat and tidy, which is not
how Harry’s hair is described in the books.
In the novels, his hair is said to be wild and messy, which I do concede they kind of
got right in The Prisoner of Azkaban film.
In any case, at least they got the colour right throughout the entire movie series…which
is more than can be said about his eye colour.
Novel Harry’s eyes are well-known to be bright green, just like his mother, Lily’s.
This detail of Harry’s appearance is touched on many times throughout the books, so it
seems like it would’ve been a given that whoever portrayed Harry in the films would
also have green eyes – even if that meant wearing coloured contact lenses or something.
And yet, Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter had clear blue eyes.
Well, as it turns out Daniel is allergic to coloured contact lenses, so that option was
out.
And I suppose for such a small, superficial part of Harry’s appearance, it didn’t
make sense to look into any other options.
The last difference between book and movie Harry’s looks comes down to his physique.
Quite honestly, this doesn’t bother me too much, since really, how could you find the
perfect physical representation of a character described in a book.
But while we’re on the topic of differences, I suppose I should admit that I envisioned
Harry to be quite a bit skinnier than he was in the films.
And that’s not to say that Daniel Radcliffe isn’t in-shape!
Rather, Daniel just wasn’t quite as thin and sharp in appearance as I’d imagined
Harry would be, as, in the books, he’s described as having knobbly knees and a thin face, neither
of which are attributes of Daniel’s.
And, with that, we’ve come to the end of another video!
What did you think?
Do you agree with the differences I’ve suggested?
Or have I missed any major ones?
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…
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live