A Literate Filmography: Novelizing the Prequels

Originally Published: September 2, 2020 {Updated: September 4, 2020}

I mentioned on Twitter that Fantastic Beasts is a genius film then what people realized. The reason that is is due to the author's use of structure and that it is an unconventional way of telling a story. Another film also was seen as Unconventional was Batman V Superman by Kevin Smith himself. JK Rowling was an English teacher who created a development for her books with teases and revisitation; setting up what we would eventually see and know. Perhaps the most important factor is how the reader can connect to the world one will explore and that is through a normal family (a world we know all to well) to find out there is something else besides us and within us. The Reader is being taken through as the hero himself and he seeks out info about objects or organizations that the reader him or herself also wants to seek out. That us why Harry is a Gryffindor. As JK said IF THERE WASN'T A HAT THEN WE WOULD ALL BE GRYFFINDORS. Butt with Fantastic Beasts, she tends to undue her style and inverts it to, what some would say, dupe us into thinking it is the worst film made (at least the worst in the series and to normal moviegoers). The following halves that I will divide and go into are:

1) The Beauty of 'Fantastic Beasts': The Mirrored Reflection of the Journey of the Hero

2) The True Hero of 'Fantastic Beasts': Unreliable Narrators

3) A Novelized Proposition: A Different Perspective of Newt's Journey

"Come with me and you'll be, In a world of pure imagination"...

The Beauty of 'Fantastic Beasts': The Mirrored Reflection of the Journey of the Hero

[Fantastic Beasts] (The Crimes of Grindelwald "is not a good movie". I know one who said this and I am sure others did say this in regards to the sequel. The film has a single shot of Newt and Leta up close in a vastly emptied Ministry of Magic, and even thou it does have what is perceived as a better villain then Lord Voldemort, it has a path that is more of a roller coaster that just continues to fall endlessly into a small dip. That could be intentional. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is what I see as an Anti-Chamber of Secrets story with an Anti-Journey of the Hero structure. 'Harry Potter' is the protagonist of the novels so, the reader in turn can easily follow him through the mysteries of the Wizarding World. The reader knows what Harry knows so, the reader and the Protagonist must SEEK OUT the answers by being observant but, mostly, sneaky. In 'Chamber of Secrets' the Protagonist finds a diary that is written on and in turn, the previous owner of the book responded o his questions and GAVE US ANSWERS. The owner of the diary, Tom Riddle, is the villain but also a straight forward villain. Tom Riddle knows what he wants, he knows what to look for (which is the opposite of Harry/the reader who seeks it). But as Tom knows what he wants, he also has an endgame planned; eternal life via Horcruxes. This is where 'Fantastic Beasts' is different and why it is an odd choice of progression. With loads of theories and videos on the franchise, such as Newt's Patronus and The Masculinity of Hero, my attempt is to notice the films with the Literature Structure of a Text, or Literature Structure in a Film.

Despite the name of the video, it has nothing to do with the subject but all have to do with the author's tweets on Twitter regarding her views on Gender. The video points out how 'Fantastic Beasts' is an invert of her novels and how the audience is following a side character who finds himself in the middle of the actual plot. In literature, and film, there is PLOT, NARRATION (which us usually the protagonist)/POINT OF VIEW, CHARACTER, SETTING, SYMBOLS (METAPHOR), and THEME. There are also the steps of the journey such as the Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Conclusion. Others include the UNRELIABLE NARRATOR and that is what Newt Scamander, the protagonist of the 'Fantastic Beasts' films, is. He is a side character who is having his own journey to find and nurture Fantastical Beasts all over the world and write a book on protecting them from destroying them. American witches respond to animals with such destruction because of how much they reveal their world to No-Majes for instance. But when Newt arrives in New York to set a Thunderbird free, he finds himself in the middle of a plot that he is unaware of. [Originally there was a scene in the beginning that shows Newt reading a letter by his brother, Theseus, about the unknown whereabouts of Gellert Grindelwald. It is deleted so the audience doesn't see it as canon. The scene, however, can be shown in Lego Dimensions game as it was during pre-production]. That scene would have the literate structure of how it begins and ends as a circle or bookends as an independent novel. Newt has no idea what the plot is so the audience doesn't know what is going on and this decision does put the Mystery genre right in the viewer's face. As for the Plot? There is a plot in the film, but the plot of the film is set primarily in New York with its inhabitants regarding Grindelwald, mysterious killings of No-Majes, and Destruction of the city in No-Majes radar range. Rising Action is when the Beasts have escaped, Climax is the unveiling of something called an Obscurus, the Falling Action is the battle against Credence and ending with the Subway and finally, the destruction of Credence and reveal of Gellert Grindelwald as the conclusion followed by the aftermath of Newt's Departure.

The first film was a piece of cake in structure, it is simple and introduces the audience to the franchise as a Prologue. The second film uses the Anti-Journey of the Hero fully this time as we are taken down a slope more than any rising moments of information. While there is a plot, a falling action, a rising, and a climax, the author's purpose this time is to do the opposite of what was done in the second 'harry potter' book and not give us answers. Grindelwald knows the audience/credence wants answers but he pays with us. He guides us into and through a false path that was by design to reveal what really was going on, a rally that reveals what was the point all along. In this entry, Grindelwald is Rowling herself, Rowling is toying with the audience. For every step that seems to be right, its a false ending. The movie follows characters who are now only in the area of guesswork and interpretations. The plot largely revolves around a Prophecy that is not clear yet each character has a view of understanding. Kama and Tina have an interpretation of their own and it is told but Newt has no idea what any of it is and Leta tells a truth to stop the guesswork. Course THE TRUTH can be seen as HER TRUTH from REALITY. In a way, Albus does this as well by given Newt and the Audience a clue in the form of a story that played no role at the time but as a literature structure in the end. Albus also is just applying his own understanding or truth of something that is out of the blue. Unless he knows very well that Credence is indeed a Dumbledore. Look at the following scene:

One of the many moments of a false path. Credence/The Audience is close to finding out who he is, only to be taken away by design. Its an example of being played with. Credence saught out Irma Dugard; a half-elf for the Lestrange family. She clearly recognized him but, Bounty Hunter and Dark Wizard Gunnar Grimmson kills her before the answer is revealed. This upset a lot of people and why did Rowling pull of this gesture. It is revealed Grimmson is a follower of Grindelwald and, what is not told of, a mole in the ministry. Rowling/Grindelwald wanted this to happen. This is a very unnatural way of telling a story. The Director, David Yates, said that Rowling does not follow the guidelines of screenwriting and this could be extended to storytelling. A notable scene is the rooftop sequence when Credence and Grindelwald are facing one another and Gellert promises us the answers will be revealed (only it was not the answer we thought). An important scene regarding Tina as the true hero is when Queenie arrives in Paris to find her sister after a card was given to her.

The True Hero of 'Fantastic Beasts': Unreliable Narrators

In the center of the Journey of the Hero is the Heroine, Tina Goldstein, who was already on the path when she spied on a family of No-Majes who is aware of the superstitions in the city and Credence at the center of the investigations. [In my theory of stories there are at least 2 primary protagonists that the audience should be aware of. There is the title character who is often the Leading character, but there is also one who is a Focus character who is not always the lead. In Star Wars there are 2 Protagonists; Anikan and Luke. Luke is leading hero but Anikan is the Focus hero. In 'Fantastic Beasts' that theory can be applied as well with Tina and Newt.] Tina had already begun the plot prior to the introduction to Newt Scamander abroad the ship. She continues to be the secret hero in the sequel as well do to her already being in the location of another plot. But the audience isn't treated to be the equivalent as her but Credence in the sequel. The audience, like Credence, is in desperate need of answers and the audience will take any answer these days to these questions.

A Novelized Proposition: A Different Perspective of Newt's Journey

Many members of the "Harry Potter" fandom likes and hates the new entries and there are those who would like to see the films, which are "documents" in the world of the series per Newt's information in his book, in a novelized format from what we got. A suggestion to do this is, to me, is by taking the full unedited script and turn it to a novel like a director's cut or rather an extended cut. This way all of the deleted scenes, like with Queenie's background information about her time in school, can be realized in a new light. My full proposition, however, is to not only adapt it directly but tell it from another angle of its hero, Tina Goldstein. The way to do this is to start a lot earlier and mirroring the events of the films so the films can still be canon in its own right with Newt's Story. The first novel would largely have New York as a character and the audience would know what Tina is thinking of in every second of the story like in the deleted scene with Percival Graves wiping mustard from her lips. The title would change however to fit her path and her journey is largely around the Second Salmers who she intervened prior to the film which ended up with the family having their memory erased, or deepened. The Second Salemers are primarily referred to as NSPS or New Salem Philanthropic Society. Tina Goldstein and the Philanthropic Society would place the title akin to 'Order of the Pheonix' who appears in it subtly. The true story is about Obscurus or Obscurial.

The second novel based on the second film could be given the same title unchanged, The Crimes of Grindelwald. I foremost love the title due to it being akin to a Parisian1800s novel that could be a 'Sherlock Holmes' entry. The first would be a 1900s American Novel. Tina Goldstein: The Crimes of Grindelwald. However, the novel would still parallel to the film and follow Tina directly, so it would revolve around the Prophecy of Tycho Dodonus. Tina Goldstein and the Prophetical Son. Hypothetically, the third entry is called "The Blood of Dumbledore". This would fit how the second title alludes to the ending reveal of the first entry but also acts as a reflection to the second title with the mention of Grindelwald. It can be seen as obvious that Albus Dumbledore would share the title screen at some point since it began. But would we see Tina take up the secret Hero role once again? or will it be a joining effort? Or will Credence finally take the role of the protagonist? (doubtful).