Harry Potter may have rushed the most important part of the story. Released between 1997 and 2007, the Harry Potter books became a global phenomenon, spawning the famous Warner Bros. movie series, which ran from 2001 to 2011. Although the movies are a millennial Christmas marathon staple, those who obsessively compare them to the books have noticed a lot of discrepancies between them. While some are out-and-out changes to the books’ material, some could be called “lies of omission,” and one of these key omissions sets up Harry’s scar and ties to the villain.
The Harry Potter movies, overall, do a very good job of communicating the books’ most important themes. Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger are exceptional at portraying the ride-or-die friendship of the Golden Trio. This often hilarious central triad is perfectly complemented by the dark conspiracies brewing in the background, but it was hard for the movies to show the plots in their full complexity. So it was that Snape’s (Alan Rickman) critical relationship with Lily Potter (Geraldine Somerville) was glossed over.
Snape’s History With Lily Is Shown In Rush Fashion
The Movies Didn’t Show The Complexity Of Snape & Lily’s Relationship
By Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‘s ending, it is clear that Snape was on Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) side all along, but it isn’t so clear whether he was on Lily’s side. And understanding that is integral to the story’s meaning. The movie depicts Harry ending up in Dumbledore’s office and viewing Severus Snape’s thoughts in the Pensieve, as per the books. But the movie rushes through Snape’s memories, oversimplifying his relationship with Lily (played as children by Benedict Clarke and Ellie Darcey-Alden). This obscured the crux of the story: how Harry came to defeat Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
True to form, the memories succeed in showing what is most important: that Voldemort’s Deathly Hallows extend to Harry himself, rendering him The Boy Who Lived. And that Snape was a double agent. This was no less of a big reveal due to the rushing of the Snape-Lily content. That Snape was “good,” instead of bad, was the biggest reveal of both the books and movies and the most memorable part of the sequence, inspiring faith in humanity. But the complexity of Snape’s morality was a little lost, and showing his friendship with Lily more would have helped here.
None Of The Key Snape & Lily Conversations Are Shown
Snape & Lily Had Some Difficult & Revealing Conversations
The Pensieve memory scene in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 prioritizes explaining Voldemort’s immortality in the Harry Potter universe, leaving less time for Snape and Lily’s most important conversations. The sequence shows Snape comforting Lily after Petunia (Fiona Shaw/Ariella Paradise) verbally attacks her for her powers, and it shows Snape spending time with Lily as a child and connecting with her, as well as Snape’s suffering at the hands of James Potter (Adrian Rawlins/Alfie McIlwain). But it doesn’t show Severus calling Lily a “Mudblood.”
The movie didn’t portray how Severus was a potential love interest for Lily, whether she ended up with James.
It also leaves out Lily insulting James and the obvious indicators that Snape had a crush on her. As such, the movie didn’t portray how Severus was a potential love interest for Lily, whether she ended up with James. Nor did it point out how Severus was dealing in ideologies that disrespected Lily’s right to live for many years while they knew each other. Additionally, the movie did not portray how easy it probably was for Snape to get sucked into Death Eater culture as an outsider and abused child, but not even the books really explored this element.
The Missing Aspects Lessened The Impact Of The Scene
Snape’s Memories Could Have Been A Lot More Telling In The Harry Potter Movies
Leaving some of Snape and Lily’s vital conversations out of the movie may have been wise, to keep the runtime acceptable, but it lessened the impact of the Pensieve scene. Neither the books nor the movies were obliged to dive deeper into Snape’s evolution into a Death Eater, given that it may have risked a lot of generalizations and, resultantly, elicited sympathy for the Death Eaters. But Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows could have shown the depth of Lily’s relationship with Severus and how it conflicted with her friendship with other characters and her own sense of self.
As Snape is one of Harry Potter‘s main characters, this would have been valuable. In failing to show Snape and Lily’s most important conversations, the Pensieve scene didn’t just fail to reflect Snape’s complex character, but it also didn’t set up Voldemort’s destruction as well as it could have. Snape’s love for Lily is a huge part of what got Voldemort killed. Although it failed to save Lily, as Voldemort disregarded Snape’s plea to spare her, it ultimately drove Snape to betray Voldemort in Harry Potter.
