Why Harry Potter is Actually a Great Character
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- čas přidán 2. 05. 2020
- Harry Potter - one of the most famous names in literary history. And yet, the Chosen One is often seen as a sub-par protagonist for the series, and is sometimes criticised for being powerless or overly simple. I'm here to (hopefully) show you why that's not the case.
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If you think I've got something incorrect, please leave a (pleasant) comment about it down below, I'll check it out. If you do so, make sure to use some sort of reliable source, in oppose to a generic website/CZcams video/Wikipedia. If I conclude that I was wrong, I'll pin a comment about it, or just pin your comment.
Sources:
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Bloomsbury, 1997)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Bloomsbury, 1998)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Bloomsbury, 1999)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Bloomsbury, 2000)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Bloomsbury, 2003)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Bloomsbury, 2005)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury, 2007)
Being inside Harry's head in the books makes him so much more fun than the movie version. He's super funny. We're with Harry all the time for 7 books, if he wasn't an interesting protagonist the series wouldn't be great.
yeah, the movies really fail him. it's his inner dialogue, not his action that really makes his character. His thoughts and feelings is what separates him from the boring protagonist of the movies, he just dosent really have a personality in the movies and his flaws are stripped away.
i totally agree however are we really inside Harry’s head? i thought that would be if the writing was ‘i thought this’ instead of ‘Harry thought this’ (I was gonna say 1st person but there’s a chance I might be wrong). like for example the hunger games, we are really INSIDE Katniss’ head and we hear her witty mental remarks and how she views things first-hand. This is similar to HP in the way that Rowling conveys Harry’s thoughts as they are without really paraphrasing though.
@@blkbarbie2671 it's a limited 3rd person perspective I'm pretty sure. We can read his thoughts and see inside his head but it isn't Harry himself speaking. It's like an all knowing entity is writing it but it can only follow Harry around and therefore we only see scenes that Harry sees. It knows his emotions but it's describing them as if it's a third party.
I agree 3000%
Fr they made him so bland in the film. Whenever people criticize Harry Potter they’re talking about the films which is so so frustrating. It’s not Harry Potter overall that has that problem. It’s the films. No one understands that
That's why Harry is my number one character in the series. He's a normal guy, he is flawed, but his heart is in the right place. He could be any of us. Personally, reading the books I related to him very much, expecially in the most awkward and hilarious situations.
I think one of the things that people forget when reading the books or watching the films is that Harry is only a teenager. The way he reacts to things and the way he thinks is reflective of a teenager. but people are so used to the fact that protagonists are matured/older and that there is a "specific" ways in a protagonist "has" to behave.
I really feel like he is such an underrated and misunderstood character.
I always felt he was a perfect protagonist because he was relatable. He had many flaws but he was so good at his heart that sometimes i go out of the books and think of his humanity and the values he cherishes and fall in love with him. He doesn't deserve that much hate.
He gets hate because he suffers from "main character syndrome" that's inherent to protagonists in which the reader dismisses the protagonist as a legitimate character.
I'd love to see more videos like this.
I second that.
Yes!!
That kind of complaining about Harry is one of the reasons that ultimately made me distance myself from the fandom.
Harry always felt relatable to me, because he struggled with what his classmates thought of him, and how he sometimes felt lonely even with people he cared for.
It was hard to engage with people that had more sympathy with bullies and wizard Nazis than with their victims.
And the worst thing: people actually hated him and other good guys because they felt more relatable with the Death eaters because "they weren't as perfect and heroic, just like them", and that was just saddening.
:O
Oof, I didn't even know people disliked Harry.
I love your Snape video, so you've definitely peaked my interest. Harry is my favourite character of all time and I love to see someone look properly at both his strengths and weaknesses and separate book Harry from movie Harry. They're not the same person. His character gets underestimated by people so often. I love the ways that Rowling shows that Harry is special because of who he is, rather than because of the prophecy. For instance, how most of the Death Eaters abandoned Voldemort when he lost his powers, but when they believe Harry dead, it makes his friends only more determined to fight back. His strength is in how he inspires the people around him.
*piqued
This is why I always thought he worked so well with Ginny (among other reasons). He had that biting, clever sort of sense of humor, just like her.
Edit: Just saw that you pointed this out. Excellent video!
It's a really great similarity between two great characters. Glad you enjoyed it!
This was beautiful, thank you! Book Harry has always been a favourite of mine exactly because of the characteristics you’ve outlined.
source the art, some of it is BRILLIANT!
If you type in Harry Potter illustrations or Harry Ron and Hermione illustrations you get loads of fantastic work
Great video!! I absolutely how sassy Harry is in the books, he's hilarious sometimes. I love that you mentioned how both he and Ginny have a similar sense of humor, one of the reasons I feel like they were a great match.
HOLY FRICK This video has good editing, great quality, and amazing writing- HOW are there only 6,000 views?!?!? Much, MUCH more is deserved!!!
😊
I completely agree! The books do portray a better Harry
In all fairness they do have a lot more time to build upon that character, and the unique ability to see into his thoughts and feelings.
The book built upon the world a lot more and made it more then a book for some people, it’s the reason so many people feel connected with it, the characters all have flaws e.g. Hermiane is way too arrogant and doesn’t know when to stop knowing the answer, Ron is way to jealous of other people and Harry is way too confident. It makes them way to relatable because none of them are Rey- I mean Mary Sues.
Harry despite the childhood abuse , getting bullied by a teacher , being a horecrux turned out to be a pretty decent human being. He was famous before he knew why and yet he was a humble , caring and extremely forgiving guy for the most part.
As stupid as his naming scheme for his kids is, it actually shows his gratitude.
He even honoured the guy who bullied him all through his school years , because he played a part in saving him and the Wizarding world in general, perhaps as a form of forgiveness .
I would love to see more comparisons between the book and movie. I could talk someone's ear off about it and I want to see someone else's take.
Yes he wasn't the most powerful but I think that's what made him a hero, a kind hearted normal kid , with a serious imposter syndrome implications, defeat Voldemort , arguably the most powerful wizards of all time.
Voldy and Harry's childhood had similarities, and the choices they made , made all the difference
Loved this, more potter dissection pls
I think it's easy to say that Harry is simple because the road to his defeating Voldemort seems pretty linear at a first glance. Its easy to forget that this is a child who experiences complex emotions just like Snape or Draco Malfoy. His emotions have to do with insecurity in his own abilities, imposter syndrome, and anger management problems that most likely stem from emotional abuse and not having time to properly develop a reliable support system, or healthy coping mechanisms. His existence is defined by his actions and his ultimate life purpose is to murder somebody and die in the process. I think when including the epilogue (which I don't count as canon) into the equation it seems like that purpose is fulfilled and he can live on with friends and family and bask in that happy ending. I think when you look into how fans like to take this and expand upon it into more emotionally realistic outcomes it becomes clear that this ending is somewhat superficial and unsatisfying. I like to consider how these events have permanently damaged this actual child and how that will and does affect his life in and outside of the text. He's complicated and hurting throughout the books and movies and it's heartbreaking to know that without that defining life purpose he'd probably breakdown when he does have the time to reflect on himself. He's a very engaging character that a lot of people can relate to in terms of his flaws and aspire to in terms of his bravery and strong moral compass. He's honestly a super cool character who shouldn't be demonized. He just needs the care and attention fans give to all characters. Honestly, I love fanfiction, and that's the perfect place to learn to love this reckless idiot.
I wish I could like this comment a thousand times! Harry is such an underappreciated character even though he's so well-written and compelling. A large part of my love for this series is because of my love for the main character.
This is FANTASTIC and I can see that you've put loads of work into this. Well done.
Please do more videos like this please!😉
This is one of the best analysis of Harry. The most special thing about him is that he's normal. Great video!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I don’t think Voldemort necessarily chose Harry over Neville. I expect the plan was to off Harry and then immediately go on to Neville, it just didn’t work out for him.
That's a good thought.
In the Book Dumbledore says it's interesting that Voldemort assumed it was the halfblood like himself that was the chosen one.
Thank you for this video! I've always felt the need to defend Harry, because he's so often bashed and under-appreciated. You definitely summed up a lot of my thoughts. He was a perfectly balanced hero. Never too perfectly good, never too unlikable. He wasn't a genius protege, but he wasn't completely incompetent. In fact, he had a lot of street-smarts. He was good at some things, and at other times he needed the help of his friends. Despite being a Chosen One, it never felt like he had no agency. Harry doesn't find out he's the Chosen One until book 5, so all his actions before then are his own and not done because of some prophecy. Even after he finds out about the prophecy, he realizes he was always going to fight Voldy as a matter of principle. People say Harry was a boring, generic Chosen One character, but I've always felt he is one of the more compelling and interesting examples of that character trope.
These videos are so great, I’d like to see more!!!
I had never read the books but youve made me want to read them. Im going to do that now
Should warn that you may never be able to watch some of them again once the plots finally make sense lol
They're not just great reads, they're super easy and comfortable to get through too!
I REALLY LOVE THIS! PLEASE MAKE MORE!
Harry Potter is powerful an average character and student with friends
I think you should do a part two to this video. It would give you a chance to tackle the things you weren’t able to cover in this one.
Fantastic video(along with the snape one), subbed
Awesome video, would love a follow up with the rest of your points and maybe the input you get
Perhaps in the future, glad you enjoyed the video!
I absolutely love Harry. Great video!
The Stephen fry audiobooks are absolutely amazing, probably the best way to experience the Harry Potter saga.
No, its the german version, read by Rufus Beck :)
@@j.n.4946 I disagree, in the first few books he makes it very obvious that what he is reading is a story intended for children (which it is of course, but apart from the fact that there are probably more adult fans of the series than there are kids that like it these days, kids can handle being read to like they are adults whereas an adult feels kinda strange listening to something that sounds like reading to an eight year old) it just doesn't stand the test of its listeners aging in my opinion. When I first heard Rufus read a line that Fred and George say together I physically cringed. At the end of the day of course this is merely my opinion and everybody should listen to the version that they get the most enjoyment out of.
How do you not get more views?! This is amazing!!
Thank you! I'm sure if enough interested people click we'll get some more, but if now at least those who watched it enjoyed!
Harry is kind, but not a pushover. He’s brave and protective towards his friends, has a strong sense of justice, but he also can be revengeful. He has some anger issues, especially during puberty, but given the pressure and bad experiences he had, it’s not surprising. He’s humble most of the time, isn’t arrogant and he’s talented, but not the ace like Hermione. He’s the chosen one, but not special.
This is litteraly why Harry is my favorite character.
I hate it when the main character is an unrelatable Mary Sue
oh i wish you had mentioned everything you think about harry i'm so curious now! i think you have an interesting point of view
Ah thank you that's very kind, but unfortunately the longer the video is the longer it takes to make, so if I go on forever the video will never be released...
@@dougajames Maybe you could release the video in parts? lol
More More More HP content! I know you have a Hinny video in you
great!! more please..
There's a reason why I drew a fake scar on my forehead and wore fake glasses when I was a kid. I loved having the books read to me. I could relate to his personality.
i dont get why people believe he was not powerfull, he may not be the most powerfull wizard ever, but he certainly was an above average one , like , just the fact that he was teaching advanced spells in his 5ft year even to older students shows it
Many good points.
Please do comparison videos for Ron, Hermione and Ginny!!
Somebody PLEASE make a video of Harry approaching Voldemort in the dark forest to die, with Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky” playing at the same time. It fits because it’s about mortality and not being afraid of death, but it’s also intense. The loud, screaming part at the beginning could be at the moment he uses the stone. The quieter part for when Voldy kills him. A good thumbnail idea is to make the deathly hallows, but have The Dark Side of the Moon cover be the triangle. I think it’s a splendid idea
Great video, now do one on Luna!
Harry is definitely my favorite character from the books. I'll never understand the flack he gets. He brave, kind, loyal, funny while also being a bit of doofus jock. That's such a different protagonist then we usually get in fantasy series. He's incredibly relatable.
In particular, I find his characterization throughout Order of the Phoenix to be very engaging. You can really see the trauma of Cedric's death doing a number on him, which is something a lot of YA novels struggle with.
I can't relate to some "most powerful of all time" character, there's no conflict
May I recommend Mob Psycho 100? You can definitely have conflict with a powerful main character.
Harry and Voldemort are related to the Peveral family making them distant relatives of each other, and as Voldemort is descended from Slytherin and its implied that Harry is descended from Gryffindor, makes there battle just an extension of Slytherin's and Gryffindor's battle.
The perfect protagonist is Ramza Beoulve from Final Fantasy Tactics, but I'm open to hearing about this one.
Which film is it ok to start fancying hermione?
Yikes
@@turgon327 yikes indeed
Half Blood Prince. Emma Watson was 19 when that came out.
I don't think Harry is the perfect protagonist, but he's certainly one of the best in my opinion.
I always felt him to be an extremely weak protagonist as he never has agency over the events of the series, he was always at the mercy of events, never did he make a choice that affected events. Even the Da was something he was forced into not something he was chose to do of came up with himself he never has any agency over the plot he is simply along for the ride always reacting never acting. I prefer characters who can at times make choices that affect the plot rather than simply be affected by it
Except he did make choices. Bad guys set things in motion, heroes react to it. That's part of the genre.
Besides, when Harry's proactive, things also go wrong sometimes.
Harry makes a choice that effects the plot in a HUGE way. His decision to stop Lupin and Sirius from killing Wormtail enables Wormtail to escape and bring Voldemort back. If Harry had allowed Wormtail to be killed Voldemort wouldn’t have come back or at least not when he did. I think think part of the reason it feels that Harry doesn’t effect the plot much is the school setting. There is a fixed schedule so Harry can’t really change events that easily. He certainly makes a lot of choices in the 7th book.
He does make choices. None of his actions are because of any prophecy. He makes the decision to go after the stone and stop Voldemort, not because a prophecy said he had to, but because of his own bravery. He makes the decision to investigate who opened the chamber of secrets and stop the heir of slytherin. A large part of his personality is that he is curious and rebellious and not content with blindly following the orders of authority figures. And a lot of the events in the story happen because of Harry's curiousity and impulsive nature.
You make really good videos but there are to many ads for such a short video. It breaks up the flow of your video a lot and takes [away] the ability to focus on your points when you're constantly interrupted.
2:00 J.K. Rowling confirms that Harry was actually Indian
Never heard of headcanon? ;)