Fans are highlight at premier of new 'Harry Potter' film

I am a huge fan of the "Harry Potter" series of books and movies, so when the Granite Hills Girl Scouts invited my family and me to tag along to a private screening of the next installment, I grabbed my wand and headed to the theater.I knew going in that "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," at more than 700 pages, would be the hardest book of the series to translate to film. From the World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament Rita Skeeter to the house elf liberation movement (S.P.E.W.), there was so much to cover, something had to give. Unfortunately, it seemed that everything gave a little and the movie became a rushed, super-condensed version of one of the best books in the series.Despite my feelings about the movie, the evening was not a total loss. The group we went with had arranged a trivia and costume contest, making the premier more of an event. Anticipation was like a spell cast on the entire crowd of Girl Scouts and their families and the result was magical.I have been to a number of premiers - the second two installments of the first "Star Wars" trilogy come to mind - but most of those were in my youth (B.C. - Before Children). Yet the most fun I've had at the movies is amongst a large group of fans.I think that has always been the draw of "Rocky Horror Picture Show." It's not a fantastic movie, but the fandom surrounding the experience is the draw to those midnight showings.Similarly, seeing "The Ya Ya Sisterhood" (the chick flick to end all chick flicks) with a women's group in a theater filled with about 60 women and one man was far better than renting it. I love renting movies and I'm a longtime member of Netflix (the online rental company), but watching some movies from home is just not the same. Seeing "Batman" or "The X-Men" with a darkened room full of comic fans is just different than seeing it alone in your living room. It is more than the big screen, the surround sound and the popcorn - these days you can accomplish all that in your home. Some movies just need to be seen in a room full of people from all walks of life united only through their joint love of the story and characters unfolding on the screen."Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" may have been a disappointment, but the experience of seeing the premier with a bunch of fans will stay with me for a long time to come.- Susan Jameson is a weekly columnist for The Press-Tribune. She can be reached at susanj@goldcountrymedia.com.