The Journey

It is another one of those times in the Harry Potter fandom where there is so much film news coming out, you literally don't know where to start. TV spots emerging, 8 posters released and magazine specials left right and centre, there's so much to talk (squee) about! In an effort to make my blog a bit more personal (inspired by MEAW) I wanted to focus on the magazine article part of that first sentence.

Deathly Hallows has been the first HP film I've really been able to throw myself in to the pre-release hype for. When I first found the online wealth of Potter websites, Half-Blood Prince was being filmed so technically that was my first taste of the excitement and anticipation. I remember waiting and waiting for the HBP trailer, the rumours and the disappointment when they failed to follow through, and the buzz all over the internet when the trailers were released. Of course the HBP build up was also tainted with disappointment when it was announced that the film would be released later that planned. A lot later. This was also the time that the big announcement about Deathly Hallows news broke; the book would be adapted in to two films.

So yes, I had a taste of the excitement, but it was to be halted prematurely when my health took a turn for the worse. How would this affect my ability to follow the film news I hear you say? Well, for a start I was unable to use my laptop, which pretty much cut me off from that world. My laptop screen was too bright, now that light sensitivity had returned to my life with a vengance, and extreme weakness in my wrists meant typing was out. Over the next few months and years I would hear snatches on the radio or the television which was something. Of course during this time, I was also unable to read, which meant I was separated from my rekindled love affair with the Potter books, and so the series drifted from my mind after several attempts at reading had caused me nothing but misery due to my symptoms making the task impossible.

Fast forward to 2010, with improved health and my ability to use my laptop to connect with the world restored then I could once again throw myself in to the media frenzy that surrounded the Potter series. The scanning of news sites resumed, the awaiting of trailers, posters, pictures, anything that would be released in the build up to the second to last film in the series.

Over the year clips and trailers would be released, meaning either a late night to stay up to watch the online release (thanks to U.S time zones!) or else a very early morning rush to the laptop once I was out of my zombie M.E coma. But 2010 was also a year I was leaving the house more, after months and years of being housebound, and leaving the house meant shopping! So it was for the first time that going to the newsagents became a real possibility, and when news of Deathly Hallows features being released in magazines broke, I could make it to the shops and have the satisfying feeling of seeing the latest issue of Empire/Total Film sat on the shelf, being able to pick it up and pore over the new pictures and interviews. As the release of the film came closer, more issues appeared in different magazines and newspapers offered special giveaways or dedicated pull-out sections containing more interviews than you could shake a stick at! And my ability to be involved in the build up to the film had been given back to me, so I grabbed it with both hands. I missed out on the build up to the final books, so the build up to the films had replaced that gap. I was revelling in the excitement and buzz around the films, and enjoying every moment.

Not only that, but over the course of last year I can relate so many of those Potter stories to where I was in my life health wise at that time. My first trip to the local shops in my brother's car without my wheelchair to buy a copy of Empire magazine, nipping in to WHSmith on my way home from a hospital appointment and spotting an issue of SFX magazine with Daniel Radcliffe right there on the cover. To most people grabbing a magazine is something you do without even a second thought, picking up something to read on the bus or train, or a long car journey, a regular treat to sit on the coffee table. Most are to be discarded, thrown on to that week's recycling pile. But could I throw away anything Potter related? No I could not! So here is my collection, which not only shows my geeky, fangirl-ness but charts a journey of improving health and holds so many memories upon those pages.

On 15th July the pre-film buzz will officially be over, when the final film is release and the series reaches its end. But that doesn't mean that it will be forgotten, for many the days which are spent hitting refresh on web pages til the latest snippet of news appears before them, will be the best days of their life, no I'm not kidding! And tonight marks the journey coming full circle, with the showing of an exclusive clip at tonight's MTV Movie Awards. This time last year, the fandom received it's first glimpse at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. So tonight, with a little over a month until the release of the final film, we get that same feeling of excitement for one of the last times. Enjoy it! I certainly will.

And a slightly late edition to the post as my "thing worth sharing" wasn't released when I posted, the MTV Movie Awards clip can be found at this link!