Compared to the Harry Potter books, the movies made Hermione Granger’s character far too perfect, and it ultimately had an impact on the way her relationships with friends were perceived. It can be difficult to include the nuances of a character’s literary personality in a book-to-screen adaptation, since there is often not enough time to explore them. The result of this can be a more superficial character than in the source material. In the case of Hermione in Harry Potter, it meant that she lost a great many of the flaws that made her interesting.
When Hermione was first introduced onscreen in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, she was just as much of a bossy know-it-all as in the book. Over the years, however, this quality mellowed out of the character. The same was true – to a point – for her book counterpart, since Hermione did grow up and recognize she could not hope to have friends if she constantly talked down to them. Still, this flaw never went away completely. In fact, even though Hermione became better about giving unsolicited advice, her opinions seemed to grow even more inflexible with age – very different from her movie portrayal.
Hermione Could Be Extremely Closed-Minded In The Harry Potter Books
Even though Hermione became a perfect witch and a friend who never made any mistakes in the Harry Potter movies, her book counterpart could cause many problems because of her closed-mindedness. She had always been opinionated in the books, but by the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ending, Hermione had started to become almost impossible to sway. When she came to a conclusion, she struggled to open her mind enough to consider that she could be wrong. This flaw made for an inherently more interesting and relatable character.
When it came to others’ opinions – especially opinions from Harry, who depended far more on instinct than logic – Hermione could be downright mean. When Harry suspected Draco had become a Death Eater, Hermione essentially laughed in his face, scoffed and rolled her eyes whenever he brought it up. Later, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she argued with Harry about the existence of the Hallows items, claiming that they could not possibly exist and that he was wasting his time even thinking about them. Of course, Harry was right in both situations, but Hermione would not hear it.
Hermione Had To Learn That Not Everything Can Be Solved With Logic
Hermione Granger’s quick wit and careful logic saved the life of Harry Potter repeatedly, and he always appreciated her ability to help him work through a problem. Over time, however, Hermione became too reliant on her logic, and often underestimated the value of gut instinct. This was something that Harry had in ample supply, and it often set them at odds against each other in the books. Hermione never apologized to Harry in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for being wrong about Draco – even though, as far as she knew, it had cost Dumbledore’s life. Additionally, she continued disregarding Harry’s instincts the following year on their Horcrux search.
Hermione had been sure that the Deathly Hallows items could not be real. Yet, in the end, Harry proved they were. Harry’s entire story defied logic, from the moment he survived Voldemort’s Killing Curse as a baby to their final Harry Potter battle with the Elder Wand, and that logic-defying quality was precisely why Voldemort never saw Harry’s victory coming. Voldemort was a genius who failed to learn that there were mysterious powers at play that went beyond the logical. Though Hermione was on the side of good, she had to learn the same lesson. There is a time and place for logic but, sometimes, one must follow the heart.
Hermione’s Perfection In The Harry Potter Movies Altered Her Relationships
Hermione was a wonderfully imperfect character in the Harry Potter books. Her journey of realizing that academia and cleverness were not the only things of value made her arc enjoyable. That journey is also what made her match with Ron work so well. They were both imperfect characters who found a certain degree of balance in each other. Hermione learned to let go and value different kinds of intelligence, and after Ron left in The Deathly Hallows, he learned to put aside his jealousy. In the movies, where Ron’s imperfections were actually amplified, Hermione’s overly perfect personality did not line up neatly with his.
Instead, since Harry and Hermione’s friendship was so perfect in the movies without their arguments, their chemistry seemed far better on the screen. Without Harry’s inner dialogue, audiences could not perceive that Harry thought of Hermione as a bossy and somewhat frustrating older sister. He loved and appreciated her, but there could never have been romance between them. Movie Hermione might have made a great match for the Boy Who Lived in Harry Potter, but book Hermione was far more interesting.