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A taster … Daniel Radcliffe in Equus at the Gielgud theatre, London, in 2007. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
If you had to pick one fault in the Harry Potter films, it would probably be their lack of sexual content. Sure, it's nice to see Harry and his chums lark about with Hagrid's pet hippogriff and all, but it goes without saying that the films would be much more popular if that aspect was balanced out with several gratuitous scenes of depraved wizard-on-wizard action.
Luckily, your wishes are about to come true. David Yates, the director of the final two Harry Potter instalments, has been telling Spanish-language entertainment guide La Vibra about just how naked Harry Potter is going to be during the film, describing "a fascinating scene in which Harry and Ron are trying to destroy a horcrux. It tries to defend itself and creates an image of Voldemort's soul that has a series of images where Harry and Hermione are kissing and embracing". He goes on to mention "another scene in King's Cross Station where Harry almost dies. In that scene he will also be naked".
The question here isn't why King's Cross was chosen as the location for the scene – in my experience King's Cross does appear to be the traditional home of the almost dead, naked young man, especially at weekends – but why Harry Potter needs to get naked at all.
If you have read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you won't be familiar with either of those scenes, because Yates has created them especially for the films. And it's not as if Deathly Hallows is a flimsy little pamphlet that needs to be padded out to fill a full-length movie: it's the size of a breeze block. The book is so gargantuan that reams and reams will have to be edited out to even squeeze it into two separate films. So what's the real reason behind this sudden outbreak of wizardy nakedness?
Could it be Twilight? It would make sense. Next to the Twilight series, with its endless middle-distance stares and emo-pop soundtrack and, crucially, the fact that none of the principal male leads seem to understand what a shirt is for, Harry Potter runs the risk of looking a little staid, like James Bond standing next to Jason Bourne. This might sound cynical, but could Yates be trying to cash in on the Twilight dollar?
It's not as if he needs to; although Twilight is the hot new thing, it's important to remember that Harry Potter films are more successful, plus they are based on better selling books, plus they have narked off the pope more than Twilight ever could. Is it really worth compromising the tone that's been carefully built up over the course of a decade just because some teenagers get a bit shrieky when they see Robert Pattinson's belly button?
Let's hope not. Let's hope the new Harry Potter nude scenes are there to push the story on in a cinematic sense, and not because everybody under the age of 15 suddenly fancies Taylor Lautner now. Because if that's the case, Yates would be setting a dangerous precedent. In effect, he would be telling children's book writers that their movie adaptations will only succeed if they contain endless scenes of sexuality. And there can't be too many people desperate to know what the Very Hungry Caterpillar's nipples look like, can there?
Harry Potter a great name to every one. I like most to read Harry Potter and movie also enjoyable. Thanks J.K Rowling.
Posted by: DrKeithCurrie | Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 02:57