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Random Fic-Writing Thought of Today
May. 8th, 2005 10:53 pmOkay, so... I'm back to playing in the Harry Potter sandbox. No, this isn't a big deal, and no, I haven't even finished a new HP fic yet. It's actually been hard to get back into the swing of things since Michael Gambon took over as Dumbledore. Having read the books, I realize that this shouldn't make all that much of a difference -- as one friend pointed out, Dumbledore was written as Dumbledore before the roles were cast. As I write various scenes, though, I "see" and "hear" Richard Harris as Dumbledore: I use his pacing and intonation as I work on dialogue, and I use his facial expressions and body language as I envision the scenes. It just doesn't seem to work for me any other way.
On the other hand, I've now seen Prisoner of Azkaban four times on DVD; I've even gone back and watched the two miniscule Dumbledore snippets today, trying to get a clearer view of what Gambon is doing with the character. He's not as warm and fuzzy as the Richard Harris-Dumbledore, and he seems to have read too much of T. H. White's The Sword in the Stone; I keep worrying that he'll start wearing bermuda shorts and casting spells backwards next. I think he's taken Dumbledore too far in the sillliness direction, and distanced himself a bit from the emotional attachments of the characters. This is somewhat in character -- as we see in Order of the Phoenix -- but it makes it very hard to make the same connection with his portrayal as we have with Harris' portrayal.
That being said, he is growing on me. I've found that, as I watch for the smaller nuances, he really doesn't do a bad job -- it's just very different from what we saw before. I think that I might even grow to like him as Dumbledore; he certainly doesn't seem as fragile as Harris (the robes and beard hid a multitude of sins -- i.e. his weight loss and rather scrawny neck), which might make him seem more formidable in the battles to come. And the 'shipper in me wants to see how well he and Maggie Smith work together as Dumbledore and McGonagall. They are, after all, a matched set. ::grin::
...when does Goblet come out again? Clearly not soon enough!
Oh, and as an aside, DH has announced that he will get to read Half-Blood Prince first because I got to read Order of the Phoenix first. I told him it wasn't fair -- I'm the one that plays in the sandbox, after all. Gotta keep up with the Joneses -- on in this case, the Dursleys! ;)
On the other hand, I've now seen Prisoner of Azkaban four times on DVD; I've even gone back and watched the two miniscule Dumbledore snippets today, trying to get a clearer view of what Gambon is doing with the character. He's not as warm and fuzzy as the Richard Harris-Dumbledore, and he seems to have read too much of T. H. White's The Sword in the Stone; I keep worrying that he'll start wearing bermuda shorts and casting spells backwards next. I think he's taken Dumbledore too far in the sillliness direction, and distanced himself a bit from the emotional attachments of the characters. This is somewhat in character -- as we see in Order of the Phoenix -- but it makes it very hard to make the same connection with his portrayal as we have with Harris' portrayal.
That being said, he is growing on me. I've found that, as I watch for the smaller nuances, he really doesn't do a bad job -- it's just very different from what we saw before. I think that I might even grow to like him as Dumbledore; he certainly doesn't seem as fragile as Harris (the robes and beard hid a multitude of sins -- i.e. his weight loss and rather scrawny neck), which might make him seem more formidable in the battles to come. And the 'shipper in me wants to see how well he and Maggie Smith work together as Dumbledore and McGonagall. They are, after all, a matched set. ::grin::
...when does Goblet come out again? Clearly not soon enough!
Oh, and as an aside, DH has announced that he will get to read Half-Blood Prince first because I got to read Order of the Phoenix first. I told him it wasn't fair -- I'm the one that plays in the sandbox, after all. Gotta keep up with the Joneses -- on in this case, the Dursleys! ;)
