Does film reflect reality or create it?

The topic of my research question is more of a philosophical approach to this class.

Does the film reflect reality or create it? The answer to that is not simple and is up to
interpretation. I plan on using my favorite film franchise Harry Potter, more specifically
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 to examine this question and create the
argument that while the film may have been intended for mindless escapism it creates
the current reality that you and I both live in. I will also be touching on the topics of the
three reading positions, race, gender, sexuality, and film form that is represented in my
film choice. I intend to persuade the audience to look at the film as something to be
understood as a powerful tool to society rather than just entertainment and that we must
be responsible consumers of film.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows 1 or The Deathly Hallows as I will refer to it
throughout this paper was written by Steven Kloves and directed by David Yates as part
one of a two-part film. The Deathly Hallows was distributed by Warner Brothers, one of
the Original Big 5 movie major film companies. This film focuses on our protagonist
Harry being asked by the headmaster Dumbledore to help find and destroy Lord
Voldemort's Horcruxes after he has severed his soul into each object, giving Voldemort
immortality. This story has a lot of different film elements one thing that stood out to me
in this film was the use of lighting. The lighting throughout the entire film, even during a
joyous occasion such as the wedding, is shroud in darkness. This was done on
purpose. Understanding how cinema communicates or creates meaning requires more
than paying attention to what is specifically going on in the story the film's content; it
also requires paying attention to how various artistic choices (the form of the film) affect
the way the story is understood by the viewer ” (Benshoff, Harry M.. America on Film p.
4) This is true in this film as this was one of the sadder films in the franchise leaving you
emotionally tortured at the end and not following your typical classic Hollywood happy
ending. Some of the other films in this franchise would leave you feeling a little bit
hopeful at the end but this one was intentionally done to draw you to the next film which
if you were already at film number 7. How could you not watch film number 8.

While The Deathly Hallows is set in this made-up universe it is scary how accurately it
depicts racism and homophobia in America today; though on the surface, it doesn’t
appear that way. The divide between good and evil can be broken down into racists and
non-racists in the wizarding world. The Wizarding world is built on the ideology that
Magic Born individuals are superior to those that are mixed or from non-magical
lineages. There are even different slurs to describe those that are not “pure blood” much
like the slurs we have in reality. Othering is a common theme in this film as well as
classism shown by the struggle between the Malfoys and the Weasleys also shown as
more of evil vs good issue as many other movies portray. While watching this film, I
could not help but to think of some of the films we watched for class. Especially those
where we saw police brutality when thinking about the Malfoys and the Wesleys. As we
look at if film reflects or creates the reality we must also understand Hall's Model of the
three reading positions. Dominant readings, oppositional readings, and Negotiated
readings. “There are several examples of sexist and racist stereotypes which can distort
children’s understanding of reality and thus cause them to adopt prejudices and
inappropriate judgments” Based solely on this one film. PavšičB. “Understanding
Racism and Sexism in Harry Potter and Stuart Hall’s Model of Three Reading
Positions”. ELOPE English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, Vol. 4, no.
1-2, June 2007, pp. 69-80, doi:10.4312/elope.4.1-2.69-80.

During the film, there is a strong undertone of Hegemonic negotiation between The
Ministry or the authority on all magical things vs our protagonists. At one point the
Ministry has fallen to Lord Voldemort and Harry and his friends, especially Hormonie are
in danger because of their blood status. In one instance the trio takes a poly juice potion
to turn them into people that work at the ministry so they can successfully infiltrate and
destroy a Horcrux. During this time there is a giant statue where “muggles are in their
rightful place” as stated by Hermoine the statue depicts “muggles” as being crushed
under the wizards and witches. When I first saw the movie my immediate reaction was
that the wizarding world was built on the backs of “muggles” as depicted and that sadly
draws a parallel to how African Americans built this country and how they are treated
today.

While watching any Hollywood movie it is hard not to notice a romantic subplot. While
the trio is searching for Horcruxes to destroy they are isolated by themselves. Ron
begins to get jealous of Harry because he thinks Harry and Hermonie are too close and
Ron and Hermonie are in a relationship though it is never explicitly stated there is no
representation of any other sort of relationship other than between what is a man and
what is a woman. There is an instance at the beginning of the film that was almost
homophobic with many people including two couples in a scene all drink poly juice
potion to turn into Harry to create a diversion. During this scene, the couples stand
close to one another and are a couple, but after taking the poly juice potion they
immediately distance themselves because they are all boys now though one of our
couples is also interspecies one is a werewolf and one a witch the part that draws
physical distance is when they are all of the same sex. While this may not have been
intentional the audience could be coded to think that this would be the proper order of
things. Above I have mentioned two examples of how a film is a reflection of reality
exploring racism and homophobia. Those are two unfortunate themes many Americans
live with and experience today.
Moving away from how film reflects reality and how it creates reality I’m first going to
discuss the synergetic release of the Deathly Hallows part 1. Harry Potter is a pop
culture phenomenon. While none of us may be magical we try to emulate the magic in
different ways. There are entire clothing lines, amusement parks, and communities
based on the various Harry Potter movies and books. While we use film to escape we
have created a subculture that is rooted in this film and its counterparts Harry Potter will
forever be embedded into our American society not only because of the books but
largely in part because of the films and the synergetic releases. Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows was originally 1 book. The movie was split into two parts. Though the
film was shot concurrently they released 2 parts at two separate times drawing
excitement from an already aware fanbase. The Deathly Hallows symbol is now
embedded in our society as a mark of strength and a master of death. Many Suicide
survivors will get the Deathly Hallows tattooed instead of the popular semi colon
because of the power it holds. I believe this is the reason why Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows is a perfect example of how Film creates reality. We now live in a world
where “Magic” is all around us. What was once thought to be satanic is now
commonplace in our world today.

While I may not be able to show you how this film has created magical things. There are
many themes that would not exist today without Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or
any of this fantastical franchise. Film contributes to our reality therefore creating a reality
of its own. While we may not be able to fly on broomsticks, travel by magical creatures
or create potions for things like love, success, or even luck. Film gives us tools to make
these things possible within our own reality even if it is not exactly as the film is
portraying it. Things like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks would not
exist without film. There would not be an International Quidditch Association where we
have made quidditch an actual sport to be played.This is not to say that all film creates
all reality but it is a contributing factor in the reality in which everyone of us lives now,
whether or not we want to be apart of it. While my paper is speculation I hope that you
can see where I’m coming from. I hope that when you watch movies, you will stop and
wonder if what you are consuming is creating reality or mimicking reality and what
themes or ideas you take away from the film.
Citations

Walters, Tiffany L. “Not So Magical: Issues with Racism, Classism, and Ideology
in Harry Potter.” Https://Commons.nmu.edu/Cgi/Viewcontent.cgi?
Article=1045&Context=Theses, May 2015, commons.nmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1045&context=theses.

PavšičB. (2007). Understanding Racism and Sexism in Harry Potter and Stuart
Hall’s Model of Three Reading Positions. ELOPE: English Language Overseas
Perspectives and Enquiries, 4(1-2), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.4.1-2.69-80

twoodsco07 Follow, twoodsco07. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Marketing Plan.” SlideShare, 18 May 2011, www.slideshare.net/twoodsco07/harry-
potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-part-2-marketing-plan?next_slideshow=1.

Orel, Brigita. “Racism and Sexism in Harry Potter.” Brigita Orel, 7 Feb. 2017,
brigitaorel.com/published-works/racism-and-sexism-in-harry-potter/.
 “Harry Potter (Film Series).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Nov. 2020,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_(film_series).

Tsatsa, Filippa. “Gender Roles in Harry Potter Stereotypical or Unconventional?”

Https://Gupea.ub.gu.se/Bitstream/2077/33244/1/gupea_2077_33244_1.Pdf, 2013,
gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/33244/1/gupea_2077_33244_1.pdf.

Fiorelli, Lindsey. “What Movies Show: Realism, Perception and Truth in Film.”
Https://Repository.upenn.edu/Cgi/Viewcontent.cgi?
Article=3501&Context=Edissertations, 1 Jan. 2016,
repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3501&context=edissertations.