The End of an Era

Uh, hey guys. So I guess the final Harry Potter trailer came out today, or something.  Well, I watched it for the first time today, anyway.  And let me tell you, I love Harry Potter.  Like, midnight-premiere-of-movies-AND-books love.  (I just don't think you can be a true fan if you haven't read the books. Sorry.)  And come July 15, 2011, the Harry saga will officially end.  All movie franchises must come to an end eventually, because people just aren't creative enough to think of crazier and crazier stuff.  And because J.K. Rowling made a happily-ever-after epilogue that basically put the kibosh on any further story lines.

After Harry Potter and The Very Long Camping Trip (aka Deathly Hallows Part 1)  this movie will pick up where the final battle left off as well as incorporate the quest for the hallows.

I actually vividly remember my first Harry Potter experience: in second grade, we were supposed to share our favorite books with the class.  One kid brought in Sorcerer's Stone.  He got in trouble because his mom actually read the book to him, instead of him reading it himself.  I didn't like that teacher very much.  Anyway, not long after my parents decided to start reading the Harry Potter books to my brother and me.  It became a family tradition for several years: the whole family would read a chapter a night.  Around the fourth book, my parents started staying up after family reading time, and would end up finishing the book.  Then it became a free-for-all: whoever could get their hands on the family copy of the latest book got to read it first.  So I kind of grew up with the young wizards, like many kids.  And every summer I re-read the entire series, usually in anticipation of a book or movie release.

So now what?  Just like the Toy Story series, our childhood peer is now grown up. (Andy was a child when the first movies came out, and was leaving for college in #3, the same summer I was.  Another important pop-culture coming-of-age event.)  Come July, I know which of my friends I will be attending the midnight premiere with.  You know who you are.  It's gonna be a memorable experience.