Alyssa Rosenberg wrote that ''the problem of keeping the Harry Potter movies fresh as filmmakers tackle the later books and deal with their characters' development into sexually mature adults'' is because ''J.K. Rowling, for all that she's created a compelling universe, is really awful at writing about adult sexual and romantic relationships.''
Uh…wha? Last time I checked, the Harry Potter books were a children's series. Sure, the audience grew up as the characters aged, but this is not adult fiction. And I mean that in both respects of the term: The books aren't targeted toward adults, and they're not supposed to contain graphic descriptions of a sexual nature.
Rosenberg makes two main points. First, ''in Rowling's universe, everyone ends up with their first real love.'' Okay, well, this is a fantasy series. The hero defeats the villain in the end. Is there a problem with that, too? Second, Rowling never gives ''a single detailed description of any adult sexual relationship.'' What Rosenberg forgets is that although they're third person, these are fairy tales told from a teenager's perspective. Despite illusions to the contrary, teenagers don't actually have adult relationships. We're following 11- to 17-year-old Harry, not an older, wiser narrator. Rowling doesn't ever give a single detailed description of any adult relationship, sexual or otherwise, because teenage Harry wouldn't really pick up on the complexities of the Weasleys' marriage. Besides, do we want detailed scenes about what happens in those canopied Hogwarts beds? This is a book about wizards. If you want romance, look for a paperback with Fabio on the cover.
As for the films, why do they have to be sexy at all? It's not like people were clamoring for a Prince Caspian/Susan flirtation in the second Chronicles of Narnia movie. The fact that there is even a sex issue baffles me. Is it because a movie needs to have some form of sexual tension to sell tickets? (Tell that to box office smash Up.) Is it because the stars themselves are pretty foxy? (The producers must've let out a heaving sigh of relief when their cherubic young child stars grew into attractive young adults.) As far as I'm concerned, Rowling's glossing-over of the subject matter would have suited the movies just fine.
Why do you think the directors have sexed up the later Harry Potter movies? Are you fine with Rowling's interpretation of adult relationships in the Potterverse, or do you think the books should have gotten a little more complex? Are you baffled that the sex issue is actually an issue at all? Or do you think a more realistic depiction of teenage sexuality is necessary for the films to connect with audiences?
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First love…wha? So Harry ended up with Cho, Ron with Fleur, and Hermione with Viktor? I think not. There’s quite enough “snogging” in the books to satisfy the preteen readers. No, we don’t want more sexual tension in the movies. They are ACTION movies for kids and adults. Harry’s decisions are all the more poignant because he’s not just pining for Ginny when things go bad, he’s also aware of his whole legacy of sacrifice from his parents, Dumbledore, and his friends. A healthy, “adult” relationship is situated in a larger network of family and friends, anyway. And that’s the nature of Harry getting over a first crush and ending up in the comforting arms of his best friend’s (talented and brave) sister. Also, did I miss something about Rupert Grint being either “cherubic” or growing up handsome. Uh…OK. The Atlantic writer is messed up.
I agree with you about the perspective of the books making sex a non-issue. I haven’t really found the films that sexual, aside from the kisses, which, um, are in the books. So I don’t think the films are becoming more sexual as we go. Also, I doubt this one is, because it’s PG, and the last one was PG-13…can we talk about this rating change, actually? I find it more interesting.
I think it shows how downhill society is going when there is an expectation of sex in a books series for children and teens. They already grow up too fast, we don’t need to push them to go faster.
There should absolutely NOT be anything more than a kissing scene because that is the level the target audience understands. People who like each other kiss. If there was getting naked and rubbing on each other, my son wouldn’t know how to process that, but kissing he gets.
That’s what fanfiction is for.
I don’t think the films have gotten more sexual. They’ve evolved with the books, including flirtation and kisses between characters. I would feel weird reading or watching sex in a Harry Potter – it simply doesn’t fit. Sex is a non-issue, as it should be.
I agree that it’s a very sad commentary on our society that sex is required to make the movie good. It alienates the target audience and deviates from the books. Teenage sex is a fact, but that isn’t what was written and correct me if I’m wrong here, but weren’t the books HUGE best sellers without sex? Looks to me that the audience, both children & adults, didn’t need or miss the “adult sexual relationships” to enjoy the series.
Since there was no sex in the book, it would be ridiculous to add it the movies! It is a children’s series. Yes, it grew with its audience, but there is no reason to throw sex in just for entertainment value. Keep the integrity of the series intact.
Wow. There is so much wrong with Rosenberg’s comments I don’t know where to start. Someone who writes for the Atlantic really should be more culturally aware (how has the premise and target audience of these books escaped any literate person on the planet) and a whole lot more familiar with the books she’s writing about (regarding everyone ending up with first loves; great recap on that one, sosist). The whole idea that Rowling should have explored adult relationships in a children’s series is so stupid it’s hard to wrap my mind around it.
I agree that the context is there. Especially in the sixth book when the protagonist finally gets a real girlfriend. However, romances even if they’re just puppy love are a part of children’s books and YA fiction, which HP basically evolved into over the series.
Perhaps that’s her issue.
I think there’s a reason the HP books take place in an alternate universe… Plus, I would not want to watch Rupert Grint having sex in HP, he is MY MAN!!!! Jk.
To those who want more sex in the Harry Potter movies —- GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE TOILET. Kids don’t need this. We didn’t have it when I grew up and we turned out okay.Let us return to those days and maybe we can raqise a new generation of kids who respect others and obey the law.
Complaining that there are no adult sexual relationships in children/young adult fantasy fiction is like whining about the lack of gourmet meals on a camping trip. You know what you’re getting into from the beginning, so why expect something else? Parker is trying to create controversy where none exists.
I agree that JK has just enough romance to balance out her audiance. Anyone who has read the entire series realizes that the last book would raise many a parental eyebrow with the cirmcumstances the three main characters place themselves in. The fact that there is nothing sexual involved is refreshing and may help teenagers deal better with the pressure of what they feel is expected in a teen relationship – not an adult relationship.
(And by the way, I hated the Susan/Caspian romance in the second Narnia film. It wasn’t in the book and added *nothing* to the movie.)
This is targeted for kids. Do you think we want the message of Wizards getting all the ladies. No! Someone please think of the children.
Wizards having sex = hell!
Harry, keep your wand to together.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/07/02/tv-tonight-friday-july-3rd-2009/
1) i dont understand why this is even an issue
2) if you’ve read the actual HPB book youd know that theres enough realistic teenage romantic akwardness to last a lifetime, and im sure that they didnt have to add much more to the film.
3)umm last time i checked… harry was kinda busy saving the world
4)first and foremost, this series is aimed for children, but read by pretty much everyone else also. You wouldnt want your 8 yr old reading about mr and mrs weasly in the sack or anyone else for that matter, would you?
The books and the movies are fine exactly as they are! Our children grow up way to fast anyway, so let them live in this Potter World relatively innocent!!
It is sad that people feel the need to sexualize everything. But if you need to have that there is always fanfiction.I just think that the movies need to stay true to the book. And besides think about the scene in the Deathly Hollows between Harry and Ginny. There was a sexual undertone.
none of the characters even really enter into a real relationship until at least the sixth book, and by that point they are bit preoccupied with that pesky little problem of pure evil taking over…the description of the young loves that rowling gives is perfect. it’s chaste enough for young readers, relatable enough for adult readers (getting nervous over holding hands…weren’t we all there once?), and simple enough to not take away from the point of the series…
I went and read the Atlantic post, and was buffled by both the post and the comments.. have these people completely lost track of what the Harry Potter series was built to be? and most importantly, have they forgotten how it felt to be 16? I have always found one of the most compelling things about Rowling’s writing was how completely spot-on teenage angst and dynamics were depicted, and could relate very easily with the characters, and their turmoil. I quite clearly remember a time when my first love was going to be the last, my parents were just that, my teachers hated me, and my personal understanding of love and sex was kind of iffy.. I think that made me a very standard teenager, and the beauty of the series is really that: while being a Hero for the outside world, HP is just a standard teenager, trying to save the world and survive to hormones at the same time. Tough luck.
I blame Twilight for this.
in the twilight series the main characters do not get intimate until they are married – plus the Twilight books are targeted to an older, late teen audiance. Not 10 and 11 year olds, which is the typical readers that start the harry potter series
having sex in these storys will take away from the big picture. keep the Sex Out.
This is a magic universe and the amount of “snogging” that takes place is plenty enough for me. It has some great relationships involving Harry and his friends, Sirius, and Dumbledore. Rowling depicts his crush on Ginny believably and the fact that she never details how that young love blossoms into a marriage is not a fault, simply a choice. There’s plenty of other drama. Besides, they defeated the ultimate bad-guy. Who knows how that affects a relationship? Maybe the author of the Atlantic article would have proposed to his girlfriend the following day if put in Harry’s shoes. Guess we’ll never know… Way to the kill the magic though.
Does this writer complain about the lack of an “adult sexual relationship” in Dr. Seuss books, too? As the series was intended for children and teens, why would there be sex in them? The books are mainly about Harry and his friends, with the adults having important but peripheral roles, and their sex lives are not germane to the story. I can’t believe this person gets paid to write ridiculous crap like that.
As for the movies being “sexed up,” if that means chronicling young people who grow up and experience their first romances and first kisses, then I suppose it’s true. As far as actual sex, no. And I’m happy with that.
That bit about everyone ending up with their first love really shows how little Rosenberg seems to understand about kids and teenagers. So kids, Harry and Ginny eventually broke up and Harry had a string of girlfriends before marrying a muggle from Manchester.
This reminds me a bit of the show “The Wonder Years.” I was about the same age as the main characters and was convinced Fred Savage (what was his name?) and Winnie Cooper were bound for true love. Imagine my teenage disappointment when the show ended realistically and in an adult way when he talked about introducing Winnie to his wife.
They are trying to save the world, when are they suppose to have time? These are children’s books. In the library they are in the youth fiction not young adult. What scenes they do have it portrays the way most kids experience their first kiss. I’m shocked people arent’ worried about the violence in these last books….that’s what is so real to me. People we have followed through the whole series die…that is hard to handle for me as an adult. What do the kids feel? JK Rowling did a wonderful job writing these books…I hope that they don’t add anymore sexual content to these last three films. Don’t blame this on twilight….it is what it is as well a “young adult” book…they both maybe pg-13 but their content is completely different.
Melinda:
That’s just sick, a bit thick, noone wants to see the Cat in the Hat’s Di….
Will he do her on a boat, will he do he with a goat? In a car, at the bar, you will hear him scream near and far.
- Dr Seuss
If the movies need sex to “keep them fresh,” then I wonder why they bothered to choose a best-selling international series to make a movie from in the first place.
Beyond that, I wonder why people are so afraid of sex. As if a movie is going to make a difference one way or the other about teenager’s interest in sex. Just because a movie has sex in it does not mean that sex becomes more enticing to those watching the movie – just another attempt from parents to pass the responsibility for raising their children onto society at large. The thought that sex in movies does have an adverse effect on children has it’s roots in sexual repression itself. The best way to entice someone to do something, is to counter-intuitively forbid it – like forbidding sex amongst teenagers.
How quick our society is to forget that 100-200 years ago teenagers younger than 16 were married and having children with societies blessing. It’s the artificial prolongation of childhood which we should have issue with
I would only have to say that J.K. Rowling failed at developing the chemistry between Harry and Ginny. That’s the only relationship that I didn’t find handled well in the entire series – and that was simply because it felt like she rushed into it. I hope the movies deal with it better, though, since they’ve been laying the groundwork for their relationship since the second movie. But yeah, that Rosenberg…I disagree with her for the same reasons that were mentioned in the article above but I do agree that JK Rowling did fail to write ONE convincing relationship…
I think HP has complex relationships enough without having to add sexytimes in there. Ron and Hermione = adorable and angsty, and they don’t consummate it on the page. Plus, when would they have TIME? They’re always fighting something evil, it’s not like they have a lot of down time, and when they do, it’s not like Harry is polluting his “kill Voldemort” mission with his hormones. That would take away from the story, in my opinion, if he was always thinking about girl characters and getting it on with them. Eww?