Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Part 1

Yes, it is here.  Yes, we went to see it at midnight last night.

By 'we', I mean Will, Helena (and her friends), and me.  Bill stayed home and went to bed.

Harry Potter has become a bit of an obsession with Helena.  She ADORES the books, movies, storyline, author, actors, and everything that has anything to do with it.  In fact, this is not our first midnight showing.

Last year, I took the kids to see #6 at the midnight premiere and had a good experience.  We went back to the same theater this time and had the same good experience.  That theater really knows how to run a successful premiere!

Let me back up and start from the beginning.

A month ago, I bought tickets to the 12:03 showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 for the kids, their friends, and me.  Advanced purchase is the ONLY way to be able to see a midnight premiere, as they sell out weeks before the show.

Originally, Will's friend, Dallan, was going to be invited.  After reading all the press about nude scenes, Will and I both agreed not to invite Dallan after all, because his mother would most likely say 'no' (both to the 'nude scenes' and the fact that it was a midnight show on a school night).  Will said he didn't need to invite a friend, so that left one available ticket.

I tried to give the ticket to my sister, Kirsten, but she was out of town.  Drat!

The final solution to that extra ticket was to turn the midnight show into a double date for Helena/Daniel and Megan/Christian (Megan's current boyfriend).  Done.

Two days before the premiere, I was frustrated to discover that my early morning faculty meeting got bumped back from Wednesday to Thursday morning.  That put my early morning to work on the same day as my stay up all hours of the night premiere.  Double Drat!

The day of the premiere, the school day seemed extra long to me.  When I got home, my plan was to take a nap for at least 2 hours in the afternoon to try to 'bank' some rest.  I set an alarm on my iPod and went to bed.

That lasted 30 minutes.  Helena and Megan got home from a quick shopping trip to WalMart and accidentally woke me up.  I tried to go back to sleep, but my brain wouldn't shut back off.  You know how that is?

So, I gave up the idea of a nap and just got up.  I made sure everyone had their tickets.  Helena and Megan planned to go over to the high school and watch Daniel compete in a dodge ball tournament (don't ask me!), then when it was over, they would head to the line that was forming outside the theater.  However, Daniel (who had never been to a midnight show before) was super anxious about getting a good spot in line.  So, Helena and Megan (with Will who had joined them) just took a few pictures of Daniel in his first game, then went to the movie line.

The kids took camp chairs and sleeping bags with them.  They stopped at a store and stocked up on junk food, too.  They got to the line at 6:30 pm. and began their vigil.

More power to 'em.

Meanwhile, I still couldn't sleep.  I spent my time doing some artwork, before finally giving up on that, too, because I couldn't get the Harry Potter theme music out of my head!

I guess I am as bad as the kids!

I finally joined the kids in the line at 9:00 pm.  We only sat there in the camp chairs for about 45 minutes more when, suddenly, it was time to pack up chairs and sleeping bags and take them back to the car.  15 minutes later, at 10:00 pm, they began loading the theater one line at a time.

The movie theater had the premiere playing on every screen.  The show times were staggered by two minutes.  The first show time was 12:01.  Ours was the second show time of 12:03.  Every show time was sold out.  You can imagine the crowds!  Helena's friend, Alec, bought tickets to the 12:09 showing, but his mom made him sell them because it was a school night.  Bummer!

There were lots of people dressed up in costumes for the show.  The costumes ranged from fantastic and expensive looking, to pathetic and rather disturbing.  The kids and I did NOT dress up.  I may be nuts, but I am not that nuts.

Anyways, the management and security staff kept the loading polite and orderly.  We were all settled with our ticket stubs and concession popcorn & sodas and spent the last 1 1/2 hours waiting in the comfort of theater seating.  The kids' early wait in line paid off in fantastic seats for everybody in our group.  The double daters sat up top in the middle, Will and I sat dead center.

I won't be a plot/movie spoiler, mostly because this post is long-winded enough already!  Suffice it to say that if you are a big Potter fan, you'll love it.  If not, you'll probably hate it.

What about that 'nude scene'?!?  You ask?  You are wondering why I am such a degenerate mother that I would allow my 14 year old son see nudity.  I suspected that the press had blown it out of proportion, possibly to add a bit of scandal to the publicity.

I was right.  The 'nude scene' turned out to be very mild, by my standards, at least.  I know that I am a lot more relaxed and liberal than many of my neighbors about things like that.  I am not really sure how Dallan's mom would feel about it, but I never felt a twinge of nervousness & Will never felt the need to cover his eyes (which he does if he ever feels uncomfortable with a scene on the silver screen or the boob tube).  For those of you who have read it, the 'nude scene' happens when the locket horcrux is trying to convince Ron that Harry and Hermione are lovers.

Anyways, we all had a fantastic time and the show ended at 2:38.  I know, because I looked at the time when the lights came up.

Will and I hurried home and he headed to bed immediately.  I had to wait up for Helena (Daniel was driving her home) until 3:15 because they took longer getting out of the theater & parking lot.

Once Helena was home, I had a shower and finally got to bed at 4:00 am.

FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!!!!

I got up at 6:30 am to get ready for work.  Ugh.

Most kids who go to the midnight show skip school the very next day.

I didn't let Helena and Will skip.

I suffered through work on 2 1/2 hours of sleep.  They suffered through classes.

And now, here I am, at 10:00 at night, STILL UP!

I need to go to bed.




But I can't wait to do it again with Part 2 in July!  So glad I'll get to sleep in the next day.