If you’re a Harry Potter nerd like me, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them is pretty much the best thing to happen in all of 2016 (expect maybe the week they re-released all the Harry Potter movies in theaters). There’s a lot of different opinions about the movie, some good and some bad. I am here to tell you all of the reasons that this is going to be a great thing for the Harry Potter world.
#1—It’s going to answer questions you didn’t even know you had.
Listening to JK Rowling talk about this new series is inspiring. She is so passionate about her work that you can’t help but hang on every word she says to try and catch a hidden clue. This new series is virtually a prequel to Harry Potter, but it’s connected in ways you could never expect. After reading the Harry Potter books, I couldn’t think of one question that I felt hadn’t been answered. After seeing this new movie, I can see that I was totally wrong. What happened when Dumbledore and Grindelwald fought? Was Dumbledore’s sister and obscurial too? Did Voldemort get his ideas from Grindelwald? I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’re going to find out in this new series.
#2—Bringing back the magic
While it’s not exactly Harry Potter, and no one is going to miss seeing Fred and George’s pranks as much as me, you have to admit hearing that Harry Potter theme song again gave you butterflies. With JK Rowling working so closely with the directors and writers, you know that this is going to be exactly what she has imagined the history of the wizard world would be like. With so many advances in technology since even the beginning of the Harry Potter series, the magic will feel so real in these new movies.
#3—Two words…Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne did an amazing job as Newt. He’s quirky, cute and awkward all at once just like Harry was (we all remember when Harry accidentally spit out his water when he tried to smile at Cho). Watching Eddie Redmayne in this role made the movie feel familiar, like he had been part of the Harry Potter cast all along. His innate care for the magical creatures and his empathy towards them made him feel lovable, someone that you can root for. Plus he’s adorable!
# 4—JK Rowling always kills it when dealing with social issues
In the ordinal Harry Potter series, it was evident that the idea of Voldemort and his followers wanting to suppress muggles and have wizards be the dominant group was a metaphor for racism in the world and white supremacy. That is why so many people connected with the books so deeply. This new addition did not disappoint. In a time where so many different groups are told not to be themselves, to keep their differences in, JK Rowling proved that is exactly the opposite of what you should do. In this new movie, there is a “creature” called an obscurial. An obscurial is a child who is suppresses their magic so much that it all comes out in bursts and ends up hurting and even killing people. There are characters in the movie, like Newt, who want to help these children to get rid of the dark magic inside them so that they don’t hurt anyone. There are other characters who are so afraid of them that they want to kill them without trying to help them. In the end, JK Rowling is trying to say that you should never suppress who you are, because it will only lead to pain and suffering. What an inspiration.