‘Harry Potter’: What The Movies Changed About Hermione Granger
Hermione Granger is a crucial character in the world of Harry Potter. She is one of Harry’s most loyal friends. Hermione is, along with Ron, always there for Harry and joins him on his adventures.
Though Hermione is equally important in the books and the movies, there are certain things that the movies changed about her character. Some of these changes are key changes that affect Hermione’s character as a whole. What are these changes? Find out, ahead.
What is Hermione Granger like in the ‘Harry Potter’ books?
There are some key similarities between Hermione in the books and Hermione in the movies. For example, both versions of the character are extremely intelligent. However, there are some key differences as well between the two versions of the character. For example, according to Screen Rant in the books, Hermione is not always the most calm character.
While in the movies, she always manages to get herself, Harry, and Ron out of any trouble and keeps a cool head through it all, the books tell a different story. Hermione often has moments in the books where she panics and does not know what to do. One example of this is when the trio is faced with the Devil’s Snare in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Hermione knows how to stop the Devil’s Snare, with fire, but laments that there is no wood around to start a fire with.
Ron then has to remind her that she’s a witch and can, therefore, create a fire with magic. This scene in the book shows that Hermione, despite her intelligence and magical abilities, is just a normal person. It’s interesting, then, that the scene was changed for the movie. It may have to do with how the movies portray Hermione’s character compared with the books.
How do the movies portray Hermione’s character?
Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter books is an admirable character, definitely. However, in the movies, she’s pretty close to perfect. While no character can be perfect, Hermione in the Harry Potter movies comes pretty close. She is portrayed as wise beyond her years, which she is to some extent in the books, and as always keeping calm and being the voice of reason.
The problem with this is that it makes Hermione’s character almost too amazing to relate to for some fans. It also makes other characters, including Ron, look worse in comparison. By exaggerating Hermione’s strengths and downplaying her weaknesses, the filmmakers made her character very different from her book counterpart.
How else is Hermione different in the movies?
Not only is Hermione a lot calmer in the movies and pretty close to perfect, she also seems to have absorbed the traits of other characters, including Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore. Hermione gets a lot of Ron’s more heroic moments from the books in the movies. She also gets Dumbledore’s calm when it comes to Voldemort. In the books, Hermione is not always as secure about saying Voldemort’s name.
In the movies, however, Hermione says that fear of a name increases fear of the person himself. This is actually Dumbledore’s line in the books, given to Hermione in the movies. It would make a lot more sense, actually, for Dumbledore to say that line given that he doesn’t fear Voldemort. Hermione, as intelligent as she is, is only a child and therefore is at least somewhat scared of Voldemort, at least for a while.
Hermione’s differences in the movies are all key changes. Making her calmer, eliminating her fear of Voldemort, and making her pretty close to perfect are all crucial differences from her book counterpart. It seems that the filmmakers wanted to make Hermione look even better than she is, unfortunately at the expense of other characters and even of Hermione herself.
