Author’s note: As the Harry Potter film’s proceeded and the characters grew up there was a darker tone to the films, which led to an obvious conclusion
Concerns are growing over the decision of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to pass the new Harry Potter film with a 12A certificate after demanding only modest cuts from a film which Warner Brother’s admits contains some of the most brutal and explicit scenes ever filmed.
Christopher Columbus, the film’s director, admitted that he had pushed the envelope in deciding to release for classification a film that contains scenes of mutilation, violent bullying and beating a person to death with a broomstick. However he felt that the hyper-realism employed justified the inclusion of these scenes.
“It’s time young people grew up,” he declared. “Which obviously they will do. And this film will help them to understand the realities of society in a private school for wizards. This film does not pull its punches in revealing the sordid underbelly of bullying, intimidation and sex that goes on in these places. Christ, this film is so realistic it could be a fucking documentary.”
Although many familiar favourites from the book are included in the film, many have been altered to suit the new darker tone. The game of Quidditch is now based on Rollerball with heavily protected school children brawling in mid-air to grab the golden orb. One scene features Harry Potter ripping the helmet from a fellow player and repeatedly smashing his studded glove into his head. The replacement of the Ghost Nearly Headless Nick with a blood slavering, partially decomposed Zombie who appears in successive scenes exhibiting more and more putrefaction is also likely to raise some viewers eyebrows.
Mr. Columbus also defended scenes showing the “sexual awakening” of Hermione Granger. The scenes feature what Mr. Columbus describes as “Hermione’s first delightful forays into the pleasures of the flesh.” “They are completely valid in the context of making a film about kids struggling to understand their own bodies as they move into adolescence” claimed Mr. Columbus. “The charges that this is pornography tailored to satisfy the lust of men with an unhealthy interest in young girls is ridiculous. And anyway, let’s be honest, who’s going to be interested in a scene of a spotty 13 year old boy learning to masturbate?”
The film has also shocked some viewers by its use of language. A scene with Harry Potter confronting Lucius Malfoy and calling him a “cock-sucking motherfucker” then claiming he was going to “blow your fucking head off” with his semi-automatic wand loaded with dum-dum spells capable of “turning your insides to strawberry jam” caused some parents to faint with shock, although their children seemed unphased.
The BBFC justified its decision by explaining that it’s guidelines clearly stated that viewers were entitled to be treated like adults, especially children, and make their own minds up as to the acceptability of sex and violence in a film, adding “Kids today, eh? Who’d have ’em?”
Sex and Drugs and Growing Old 