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Harry Potter Comparison EssayElizabeth

J.K. Rowlings text, The Philosophers Stone, is intended for a much younger audience than her text, The Half-

Blood Prince. Throughout the Harry Potter series, the characters not only grow up cognitively, morally and

psychosocially but the text is written for an audience also growing up in these ways. This can be seen

through the changing image of Voldemort, the complexity of the different plots, the consequences for the

characters actions, the motivation for the choices the characters make and the different psychosocial

themes present in both of the films.

During the film, The Philosophers Stone, Voldemort is a fantasy and a legend and doesnt seem real to the

characters. However in the film, The Half-Blood Prince, Voldemort has an immense impact on the characters

even though he is not seen directly. The Philosophers Stone is targeted for an audience of predominantly

ten to twelve year olds and as children at this age dont realise the importance of ideas, concepts and people

unless they are directly involved in their life; the film is made in a way in which they can relate to it. This is

shown by the characters automatically assuming Snape, a character predominantly shown in the movie, is

the one hiding the Philosophers stone as opposed to Voldemort, a character not shown until the end of the

movie. Another way this is shown is by referring to Voldemort as the one who must not be named. This isdifferent to The Half-Blood Prince as the film focuses on Voldemorts corruption of the wizarding world and

Harrys struggles to try and defeat him. This film relates to the target audience of sixteen to eighteen year

olds as during this time in their life there are external influences that do not have direct impacts on them

that determine the course of their lives and their future. These characters and people in the audiences and

Harrys lives are a vital influence and this is demonstrated in the film by Voldemorts name being spoken

freely. Harry goes so far as to explain that he is not afraid of speaking his name even though Voldemort is

presenting Harry with severe danger.

The amount of material and the type of content a ten year old can be exposed to and grasp during a film are

very different to that of a sixteen year old. In The Philosophers Stone, the plot is straight forward andtherefore entertaining to a 10 year old because it follows an adventure type plotline. In contrast to this, The

Half-Blood Prince features many dark intertwining plot lines that have been considered for the target

audience of a sixteen to eighteen year old. The colours used in the Philosophers Stone are chosen to remind

the audience of a magical, faraway place that is an escape from the characters lives with different fairy-tale

characters like trolls and unicorns. The plot is simple and presents a series of straightforward challenges that

Harry Potter and his friends must overcome before moving on to the next one. This is appealing to the age

group the film is intended for as ten to twelve year olds always like to be the hero of their stories just as

Harry Potter was a hero and overcame Voldemort and Professor Quirrell. The Half-Blood Prince contrasts this

as each character has their own plot line and the overall tone of each component is dark and monotonous.

The themes of this movie, although suitable for the target audience of sixteen to eighteen year olds, are too

malevolent for a ten year old to process especially due to the unresolved ending in which the audience

doesnt know if Harry Potter will or will not be the hero.

As a ten year old cannot be held responsible for their actions, the consequences for their decisions are less

severe than that of an older adolescent. This resonates with a ten year olds way of thinking as it is an age

where they can rebel without many future consequences. In The Philosophers Stone this is evident when

Harry Potter decides to leave at night to go see Hagrid and the consequence for this is the loss of house

points. As Harry grows older, his decisions have real world effects, not just punishments and his decisions

affect not only the future for himself and the life he is creating but the others around him. This is shown

when Harry decides to leave school to destroy Voldemorts horcruxes and Harry knows if he doesnt, his

choice might result in Voldemort killing more people.

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Harry Potter Comparison EssayElizabeth

The motivation for why an early and a late teenager would decide to break the rules is completely different.

Although they both rebel against the rules, an early teenager is only beginning to learn that rules can be

bent for mutual benefit however an older teenager starts to think about how something may be the right

thing to do even if it doesnt seem to benefit either of the parties at the time. An example of breaking the

rules for mutual benefit is shown in The Philosophers Stone where Harry and his friends decide to fight the

troll in the girls bathroom because they know Hermione is in there. Both Harry and Ron realise that this is

breaking the rules but decide to continue as they know they are helping their friend, Hermione. By the time

The Half-Blood Prince is set, the characters are now at the Universal Principle stage of moral development

and this is shown by Harry giving Dumbledore the potion even though he knows it may kill him. This decision

was hard for Harry to make because although he was told to make sure Dumbledore kept drinking the

potion by Dumbledore himself, he is conflicted because he doesnt want to hurt him. This type of decision is

similar to ones many older teenagers make as they establish their moral compasses.

The psychosocial themes present in both of these films are adapted to suit the audience it is targeted at. The

philosophers stone shows the relationships between the students as they start the equivalent of high schoolforming an identity and learning how to deal with bullies. At this stage they are relying not only on their

parental and familial love but also developing important relationships outside of their homes. An example of

this is seen where Harry buys an excessive amount of lollies to try and please his new acquaintance Ron. By

their late teens, the characters in The Half-Blood Prince are struggling with such issues such as the

complicated ties of these relationships they have formed in their younger teens, and the long term rivalries

that have been established earlier in the films such as Draco and Harry. The film also illustrates how various

conflicts can appear when friendships and romantic relationships start and break off. This is shown in the

film where Harry and Ron are about to fall asleep and Ron is talking about his sister, Ginny dating, and it

becomes evident that Harry likes her by his body language.

The Harry Potter series, by J.K.Rowling, was written to delight many different age groups. Through the

changing role Voldemort has in the series, the complexity and themes of the different plots, the different

consequences the characters have as they grow older, the motivation the characters have for their choices

and the psychosocial themes present the series adapts to suit the audience it is intended for. Younger

children can relate to the element of fantasy associated with The Philosophers Stone and older teenagers

can identify with the psychosocial and complex relational themes present in the film, The Half Blood Prince.

Through this, it can be seen that each film has been made with a particular aged audience in mind.