The reboot series of Harry Potter is about to start, aiming to retell the well-known story. Especially one character could benefit from this, as she was grossly neglected and altered in the movies.
Which character is it about? Ginny Weasley is the youngest child in her family and makes a brief appearance in the first Harry Potter film. In part 2, she becomes a Hogwarts student and thus gets closer to Harry, whom she secretly crushes on.
Ginny plays an important role in “The Chamber of Secrets” as she gets hold of Tom Riddle’s diary and becomes manipulated. Harry saves the day, defeats the basilisk, one of the most dangerous creatures from the wizarding world, and saves Ginny from death.
From that point on, a subtle love story develops throughout the various films. Ginny’s personality plays a significant role in this, after all, Harry falls in love with Ron’s sister for that very reason.
If you watch the films and compare the character with the book version, you almost get the impression of having two different characters in front of you.
Ginny was wronged
What are the differences? In the books, Ginny is shy but becomes more assertive starting from part 3. She stands up for herself, is funny, brave, and strong-willed and plays Quidditch very well. In part 5, she introduces the name “Dumbledore’s Army” to name the resistance group against the vile Dolores Umbridge. In short: Ginny is much more active and her own person in the books than she is in the films.
There, she often diminishes to being merely a sidekick, appearing bland and uninteresting. She gets sidelined until she is really needed. In the film adaptation of part 6, she finally gets more screen time as her relationship with Harry takes a more prominent shape and develops. However, this feels forced and not very natural.
Actors Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright may do their best, but the chemistry just doesn’t seem to spark – it feels lacking.
On Reddit, a Reddit user sums up the problem well: “The entire development of Ginny in the films was thoroughly poor. Terrible scenes, terribly awkward lines, which Bonnie (Wright) couldn’t really do much with; hence the not-so-great acting.”
These omissions could be corrected in the upcoming HBO series.
What might change in the series? HBO is currently working on a reboot of the Harry Potter saga in series form. While many fans are still skeptical about this undertaking, there’s a good chance to better portray Ginny’s character this time.
With a new writing team, new cast, and much more time that the series format brings, Ginny can finally take up the space that the character needs. After all, each season of the series is supposed to cover one book.
We can only hope that the creative minds at HBO will write a more natural and comprehensible character and adhere more closely to the books. Also, other aspects of Harry Potter have been altered in the films: Harry Potter: The 10 biggest differences between films and books in ranking
