The whole thing was a bad idea from the start. The movies are part of pop culture, right down to the casting and locations. Everyone knows Hogwarts looks like Alnwick Castle, and everyone hears Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, and the rest of the incredibly talented movie cast when they read the books. All the HBO series can do is make its audience want to watch those movies (or read the books) instead.
Harry Potter was always like "ya, whatever. It's ok. Kinda boring." But as for BLACK--LASH. Hey, they can spend their money re-making everything BLACK and I can spend my money NOT watching it and giving even less a shit about Harry Fotter than I already do.
Still one of the most baffling casting decisions ever made. Completely unnecessary with a 100% predictable reaction. And precisely because of that I have a hard time believing there is any amount of real panic. Because that would honestly mean that the people in charge didn't see it coming. And I truly, I mean this without hyperbole, have a hard time believing that people successful enough to be in a position to make these choices can be that stupid.
As for the question of why do we even need a new version of Harry Potter on screen, we don't, but Hollywood does like money (and I assume most of the readers of this substack are hardcore capitalists), so why should any of us be surprised?
American versions of The Three Musketeers have been filmed or released in 1911, 1914, 1916, 1921, 1933 (a serial starring a young John Wayne, updated to North Africa, with French Foreign Legionnaires replacing the Musketeers! I bet the villains were race swapped out for Berbers or Arabs - though I doubt any Berber or Arab actors were employed in the roles - so swoon over that, snowflakes!), 1935, 1939, 1948, 1973 (with sequels released in 1974 and 1989), 1993, 2011 (3-D, and avoid at all costs!), and 2011 again (direct-to-video, set in the modern US and with a female D'Artagnan). And that's leaving out the numerous French, British, Russian, Italian and Canadian versions that have been filmed, among others.
If anything, I'm almost shocked that they've waited so long to film a new version of Harry Potter, but then many of the adult members of the cast of the original eight films have passed away, while the kids are all in their mid- to late-30's and up. Hell, if the new series sparks a new generation of book readers, I'll dance a jig in its honor.
Mark my words, Black Snape will end up being the LEAST of this show's problems. They're gonna GIRLBOSS TF out of Hermione and gang-cuck all the male characters 😂😂😂
It's all so tiresome. The saddest aspect of the rampant (and honestly boring) girlbossery in film and television is that the qualities that do make women powerful are diminished or even ignored.
When tiny women fight against men, this is especially irksome. I am a slim female of average height, and no matter how many Krav Maga or boxing classes I take, I am probably not going to do much damage if I punch a 190 cm man who is determined to hurt me, except for maybe hurting my own hand. This is why I love practicing with my favourite pistol. This is something I am good at, and it doesn't require suspension of disbelief to accept I could protect myself.
Also, please let men be men. Why are we casting so many leading male characters as physically weak, pushovers, forever wrong, etc. (unless this is part of their character arcs)? Give the man a steak, for goodness' sake.
Everyone hates AI Slop, but *this* is part of why it’s so popular.
The alternative is Human Slop.
Having a black man play Snape, was and is, a terrible idea. Nobody thinks it’s a good idea. The studios *know* that nobody thinks it’s a good idea, and that’s why they went ahead with it.
Everyone is sick and tired of Hollywood productions that attempt to serve as societal subversion mechanisms.
I’m not a big Harry Potter fan, but the movies are fun and interesting. The fun is removed by making the story a means of subversion, and everyone can feel it.
That’s why so many newer movies suck, they’re not entertainment anymore, they’re literally propaganda.
They've clearly misread the backlash. It was never about Snape. It was about a production team that didn't respect the books. Nor was it a mere public relations problem. They will lose viewers every season because they just don't understand that people love the actual characters and stories, not just whatever happens to carry the Harry Potter brand.
All HBO stuff is crap now. The Pitt went from good but woke to a mess. They jumped the shark with that silly “photographic memory” bit. And that nasty women with cutting is even more annoying then the annoying chief resident from ER. Hacks went from brilliant to boring and unbelievable larry sanders lite. Tokyo vice got so caught up in boring side characters that in seemed like multiple shows spliced together, the green lantern show seemed to combine juvenile writing (shooting off kids head? Flashbacks instead of storytelling, magic man not walking through walls?) with really annoying characters (wild grandma, yellowstone bond villain, nasty white “hero,” ) . And please enough swords and s, and zombies and plagues. We had enough of that for years.
Making a book accurate series with the extra runtime would be a noble enterprise. Some of the movies are utterly offensive to book readers (see fourth movie, etc). But this ain’t it
Let me first say that honesty would fix this problem. If they would come out and say we cast the wrong actors, and will be replacing them in the scenes we haven't already filmed, that would fix the problem but because of their pride they won't. Now, the reason to redo the movies is because the last few movies botched the story and deviated wildly from the books and because Daniel Radcliffe (who didn't want to star in the movies anymore) phoned in his acting for the last two movies. The reason people are upset about the casting of Snape is because Paapa Essiedu is a black effeminate male playing a white masculine male and seeing how he has already voiced his opposition to JK Rowling's position that men are men and that women are women, even if he could act like a straight man (which is very important to the story), I don't think he's beyond sabotaging the show because he doesn't like JK Rowling.
I have my issues with colorblind casting in historical settings - like a deceased white business executive in 18th Century London having a black widow in MGM+'s current A Tale of Two Cities, or a fifth of the peasants in 12th Century Nottingham being people of color in the BBC's 2006-2008 version of Robin Hood - but people getting their panties in a twist over casting a black actor as Snape in 21st Century Britain is just reactionary/racist snowflakery of the highest order.
Yes, the character was originally white, but I don't remember anything that required the character to be white (such as the realities of 12th or 17th Britain), and if the author doesn't have a problem with changing the character's skin color, then why the hell should you care? Frankly, the only issue I have with the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Snape is his age. Alan Rickman was perhaps too old to be playing Snape when he was 54, but Essiedu may be too young at 36, unless we think Lily Potter had Harry when she was only 23 or 24, which I suppose is possible, but seems a little young to me.
I'm more worried about Nick Frost's Hagrid sounding flat in the trailer, as if he has no clue how he's supposed to be playing the character. Well, time will tell.
Eight blockbuster films that still run all over cable (not to mention HBO Max)-- who needs to watch a TV series run for 10 years to get to the ending of a story that has already been done well; bad casting aside, the show was never necessary in the first place...
The whole thing was a bad idea from the start. The movies are part of pop culture, right down to the casting and locations. Everyone knows Hogwarts looks like Alnwick Castle, and everyone hears Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, and the rest of the incredibly talented movie cast when they read the books. All the HBO series can do is make its audience want to watch those movies (or read the books) instead.
I miss Alan Rickman. RIP.
I miss them all. I’m always startled when I remember just how many of the cast have died in the 15 years since the series ended.
They don't make them like they used to.
Agreed. I don't get why they redid this. There was no need for it. HBO's version is always going to be a poor imitation, whomever they cast.
What Greg said. You can't recreate gold by throwing more money, and bad decisions, at it.
Harry Potter was always like "ya, whatever. It's ok. Kinda boring." But as for BLACK--LASH. Hey, they can spend their money re-making everything BLACK and I can spend my money NOT watching it and giving even less a shit about Harry Fotter than I already do.
Still one of the most baffling casting decisions ever made. Completely unnecessary with a 100% predictable reaction. And precisely because of that I have a hard time believing there is any amount of real panic. Because that would honestly mean that the people in charge didn't see it coming. And I truly, I mean this without hyperbole, have a hard time believing that people successful enough to be in a position to make these choices can be that stupid.
Having worked quite a few years in the corporate world, I find it easy to believe that they are that stupid.
We wuz Snapes an' shit.
As for the question of why do we even need a new version of Harry Potter on screen, we don't, but Hollywood does like money (and I assume most of the readers of this substack are hardcore capitalists), so why should any of us be surprised?
American versions of The Three Musketeers have been filmed or released in 1911, 1914, 1916, 1921, 1933 (a serial starring a young John Wayne, updated to North Africa, with French Foreign Legionnaires replacing the Musketeers! I bet the villains were race swapped out for Berbers or Arabs - though I doubt any Berber or Arab actors were employed in the roles - so swoon over that, snowflakes!), 1935, 1939, 1948, 1973 (with sequels released in 1974 and 1989), 1993, 2011 (3-D, and avoid at all costs!), and 2011 again (direct-to-video, set in the modern US and with a female D'Artagnan). And that's leaving out the numerous French, British, Russian, Italian and Canadian versions that have been filmed, among others.
If anything, I'm almost shocked that they've waited so long to film a new version of Harry Potter, but then many of the adult members of the cast of the original eight films have passed away, while the kids are all in their mid- to late-30's and up. Hell, if the new series sparks a new generation of book readers, I'll dance a jig in its honor.
Mark my words, Black Snape will end up being the LEAST of this show's problems. They're gonna GIRLBOSS TF out of Hermione and gang-cuck all the male characters 😂😂😂
It's all so tiresome. The saddest aspect of the rampant (and honestly boring) girlbossery in film and television is that the qualities that do make women powerful are diminished or even ignored.
When tiny women fight against men, this is especially irksome. I am a slim female of average height, and no matter how many Krav Maga or boxing classes I take, I am probably not going to do much damage if I punch a 190 cm man who is determined to hurt me, except for maybe hurting my own hand. This is why I love practicing with my favourite pistol. This is something I am good at, and it doesn't require suspension of disbelief to accept I could protect myself.
Also, please let men be men. Why are we casting so many leading male characters as physically weak, pushovers, forever wrong, etc. (unless this is part of their character arcs)? Give the man a steak, for goodness' sake.
right on all counts! women need to rise up and speak out against this character assassination!
They already did that first time round, almost entirely at Ron’s expense.
The vibe change will be if Ron gets his moments of heroism back.
which we know will NEVER happen 🤯🤣
There is an above 0% chance that Rowling will do it just to BTFO Emma Watson.
So, they managed to piss of both woke dorks and chuds. What a winning strategy
Everyone hates AI Slop, but *this* is part of why it’s so popular.
The alternative is Human Slop.
Having a black man play Snape, was and is, a terrible idea. Nobody thinks it’s a good idea. The studios *know* that nobody thinks it’s a good idea, and that’s why they went ahead with it.
Everyone is sick and tired of Hollywood productions that attempt to serve as societal subversion mechanisms.
I’m not a big Harry Potter fan, but the movies are fun and interesting. The fun is removed by making the story a means of subversion, and everyone can feel it.
That’s why so many newer movies suck, they’re not entertainment anymore, they’re literally propaganda.
We need a race swap for all POC villains in all movies. They need to have tiny hats and long noses
They've clearly misread the backlash. It was never about Snape. It was about a production team that didn't respect the books. Nor was it a mere public relations problem. They will lose viewers every season because they just don't understand that people love the actual characters and stories, not just whatever happens to carry the Harry Potter brand.
All HBO stuff is crap now. The Pitt went from good but woke to a mess. They jumped the shark with that silly “photographic memory” bit. And that nasty women with cutting is even more annoying then the annoying chief resident from ER. Hacks went from brilliant to boring and unbelievable larry sanders lite. Tokyo vice got so caught up in boring side characters that in seemed like multiple shows spliced together, the green lantern show seemed to combine juvenile writing (shooting off kids head? Flashbacks instead of storytelling, magic man not walking through walls?) with really annoying characters (wild grandma, yellowstone bond villain, nasty white “hero,” ) . And please enough swords and s, and zombies and plagues. We had enough of that for years.
Making a book accurate series with the extra runtime would be a noble enterprise. Some of the movies are utterly offensive to book readers (see fourth movie, etc). But this ain’t it
Let me first say that honesty would fix this problem. If they would come out and say we cast the wrong actors, and will be replacing them in the scenes we haven't already filmed, that would fix the problem but because of their pride they won't. Now, the reason to redo the movies is because the last few movies botched the story and deviated wildly from the books and because Daniel Radcliffe (who didn't want to star in the movies anymore) phoned in his acting for the last two movies. The reason people are upset about the casting of Snape is because Paapa Essiedu is a black effeminate male playing a white masculine male and seeing how he has already voiced his opposition to JK Rowling's position that men are men and that women are women, even if he could act like a straight man (which is very important to the story), I don't think he's beyond sabotaging the show because he doesn't like JK Rowling.
I have my issues with colorblind casting in historical settings - like a deceased white business executive in 18th Century London having a black widow in MGM+'s current A Tale of Two Cities, or a fifth of the peasants in 12th Century Nottingham being people of color in the BBC's 2006-2008 version of Robin Hood - but people getting their panties in a twist over casting a black actor as Snape in 21st Century Britain is just reactionary/racist snowflakery of the highest order.
Yes, the character was originally white, but I don't remember anything that required the character to be white (such as the realities of 12th or 17th Britain), and if the author doesn't have a problem with changing the character's skin color, then why the hell should you care? Frankly, the only issue I have with the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Snape is his age. Alan Rickman was perhaps too old to be playing Snape when he was 54, but Essiedu may be too young at 36, unless we think Lily Potter had Harry when she was only 23 or 24, which I suppose is possible, but seems a little young to me.
I'm more worried about Nick Frost's Hagrid sounding flat in the trailer, as if he has no clue how he's supposed to be playing the character. Well, time will tell.
Eight blockbuster films that still run all over cable (not to mention HBO Max)-- who needs to watch a TV series run for 10 years to get to the ending of a story that has already been done well; bad casting aside, the show was never necessary in the first place...