July 21, 2007
harry potter and the order of the phoenix/joe strummer: the future is unwrittten
British Prep School Boys Against Evil.
Only one of these movies has Johnny Depp in it, and Depp's dead man's chest is not to be found in Potter's field. Rather, he shows up to testify on behalf of the oldest and deadest member of the Clash. The curious thing is that he was apparently interviewed on the set of one of the Pirates movies. Either that, or he dresses like that all the time: Depp gives the standard issue Strummer-is-god monologue in full Jack Sparrow regalia, down to the double-dangles of the beard, which automatically makes it the most riveting part of the film except for early Clash footage (especially the opening of Joe laying in the vocals for "White Riot") and the brief second or two of Big Audio Dynamite live.
Now that you mention it, that may be the best future for Harry. Though we hear he ends up a wise Hogwarts parent, it would be a bit better if the Pirates trilogy turned out to be the last three episodes of Harry Potter, wherein Harry, now a wizened and amoral pirate, has to decide again and again whether to be good or evil; the appearance of Keith Richards as his dad would explain almost everything.
Also noted: brief shot across the bows of postmodernity. "The Ministry has determined," says the sadistic schoolmarm Dolores Umbridge, "that a theoretical knowledge of spells should be enough to pass your exams." Quoth Harry, "what good is theory when you're actually attacked"? Etc Etc. Dolores is of course from the Ministry, and is en route to deposing good ol' Dumbledore from his post. As with The History Boys, the posing of theoretical or abstract knowledge as proper to those who have achieved and maintain political power is merely bizarre.
In Order of the Phoenix, the training montage is replaced by a teaching montage, in which Harry takes on the task of imparting pragmatic knowledge of magic to the other students. "You're a really good teacher, Harry — I've never been able to stun anything before."
For Joe Strummer, this was less of a problem.
Posted by jane at July 21, 2007 11:07 AM | TrackBack