Harry Potter’s story ended 19 years later with an “all was well” and no play will convince me otherwise.
When “The Cursed Child” came out, it was an exciting idea. At the time, it seemed like an idea with potential, a story dealing with the next generation and Harry’s life after all the chosen one stuff. Sure, it had the hint of fan fiction on it, but good old JK Rowling had proved herself a competent writer; if anyone could make it work, it was her.
She didn’t. To be fair she isn’t credited as the sole writer. Jack Throne and John Tiffany are credited alongside Rowling on the story and Thorne actually is the scriptwriter. But this more being about a principle, I’m boycotting the play. I refuse to give them money, because when this makes them a bunch of money from both the book sales and the play, they’re going to keep making things like this. Tickets cost $20 in the cheap seats for part one, because the play, like the last movie, is divided into two parts. So $40 dollars from each devotee, plus roughly another $20 from each book sale. And in the U.S. alone, 2 million copies were sold in the first 48 hours according to its publisher, Scholastic. They’ve made money. And the plot of this record-breaking script is nonsensical and seems to actively spit on the lore the original seven books took such care to weave.
Everyone has heard the critique of broken time turners for the plot, “Why doesn’t anyone go back in time and kill Voldemort as a child?” The answer for that is usually given as, well, they can only go so far back.
“They saved Buckbeak, why can’t they go back and save Sirius?” All of the time turners were destroyed in the battle at the ministry, so this provides a good enough explanation for the plot holes.
The core of the story revolves around best friends, Albus Severus, Harry’s dreadfully named son, and Scorpius Malfoy, Draco’s son, getting ahold of a time turner to go back in time 26 years and save Cedric Diggory, of all people. This messes up the timeline, and now the two boys have to fix it. Apparently Voldemort also has a secret time traveling daughter. Despite all the plot holes this play creates, the plot is killed by its own characters that seem determined to be nothing like the ones a generation fell in love with.
So in a moment of clarity, I refuse to be a part of this. I will not buy it. I’ll just wait for “Fantastic Beasts,” for I drank the butterbeer long ago.