Let's Fix Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

alright alright alright you find folks have waited long enough quick disclaimer this video is a follow-up check out what went wrong with Harry Potter and the cursed child for the full story let's get it on so last year I put out a really long really monotone really weirdly successful video about the shortcomings of the West End stage play Harry Potter and the cursed child in the video we discussed the shortcomings of the plays storyline and I dropped a few hints about what I would have done that might have worked better so without further ado allow me to formally reintroduce myself my name is Austin and today I'm going to fix Harry Potter in the cursed child [Music] so for the purposes of this video let's push a hypothetical suppose Jack Thorne and John Tiffany called me up and said you know what homie you're on to something let's meet for lunch I fly out to London we hit up the local hibachi restaurant and they give me the four one one here's a sitch McConnell you think you can do better than us prove it then they bounce leaving me the check and drive off in a blue 2015 Honda Civic leaving me with the directors credit and no working capital does that sound oddly specific anyway so here's the challenge I've got to fix the show but I'm only allowed to use the cast crew sets and props that are already in house no new cash no new budget no elaborate gimmies I just have to take what the show is currently using and rework it in a way that provides a better experience all right so I'll give the source material one thing the first few scenes are actually pretty good we're keeping them albus get sorted into Slytherin befriends Scorpius their first two years at Hogwarts passed by uneventful II story is basically going to be the same up to act 1 scene 5 just one little fix before then each platform 9 and 3/4 scene needs to set up a contrast between Alan Harry that grows deeper and deeper as Alice's school years progress Harry needs to set up great expectations for his son that wind up never happening so before each train ride we should get something like this first year big year I remember my first year all kinds of adventures did I ever tell you the story about the mirror of Erised ed ok son second year a big year my second year was tough but you'll do better I remember our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Gilderoy Lockhart did you mother ever tell you about him of course that was you I saved her life something along those lines if you're gonna use Harry's sons and Harry needs to function as the struggling father figure think about it he's the most famous wizard who's ever lived he saved the world his school experience was unlike any other so as amazing as his life story has been he is woefully ill-equipped to connect with his son or anybody on a regular level hearing his father's exploits over and over again should place pressure Albus to live up to his father's iconic stature that way his complete and utter failure at wizardry in his first few years will have a greater impact Albus should act as a bit of a character foil to Harry as a wizard Albus should be a dud we should see him struggle to cast the most basic of spells we should witness him making a conscious effort to avoid trouble to avoid being a hero Albus as a failed wizard is the opposite of the audience's expectations and thus it becomes more compelling to watch every main character needs a story arc Elvis's story is the story of failed expectations at Hogwarts Albus earns the nickname the cursed child because of his total inability to perform some of the most rudimentary skills required of wizardry to be honest I like the way that the West End play sets Albus is characterization up he's moody he lacks leadership skills he has trouble making the right decision and as a general lack of self-confidence this is gold in our story we'll play this up more so let's head to scene 5 I've said before this is the most squandered opportunity of the entire stage play it takes place in Harry's office at the Ministry of Magic Hermione the new minister is busily cleaning up Harry's desk when he walks in sporting a fresh cut on his cheek Harry's a big bad wizard detective nowadays and he's just back from his recent mission as the scene is written in the original script the two shares some playful banter back and forth we get some exposition about a time Turner and that's pretty much it Harry heads home so here's how my fix starts to really change things in the original script midway through Harry and Hermione's conversation we get this weird moment between the two where she offers him some toffee to eat maybe it's just the way my mind works but when I first read that part my mind immediately went white a man aren't I having an affair guess what in my version they absolutely are in my version toffee is a little code word they use around the office get it Harry turns the offer down he's not really feeling up for it at the moment and they continue their usual conversation so we place little subtle innuendos like this throughout the next few scenes never explicitly stating that they have something going on until we show it later doing this leaves the audience the edge of their seats in anticipation anytime these two share a scene together the audience is thinking to themselves the whole time wait a minute are they or aren't they why add an affair subplot simple because it immediately raises the stakes of the story in Thorne and Tiffany's version they really only develop the new characters the original trio may take a backseat that makes the cursed child seem less like a passing of the torch and more like a cheap fanfic somebody should occludes Lorne and tiffany into something nobody bought tickets to see the misadventures of Harry's son they want to see Harry it's his name and the title you dig so give him in the characters we grew up with something to do during the story expand them as characters give them a new and interesting conflict quit playing it safe by only really raising the stakes for characters we don't really care about the introduction of Harry and Hermione carrying on a secret affair not only gives a little fanservice to folks who supported the pairing but also establishes that Harry Ron and Hermione aren't little kids anymore they got grown-up problems and in a grown-up world not everything is always black and white good versus bad Harry vs. MALDI if I had turned the page of my book and found out that Harry and Hermione had a secret side thing going on I would have immediately been like you've got to be kidding me they're actually going to give us a mature love triangle in a Harry Potter story turns out nope she's seriously just offering him candy to eat do things my way we change that so they continue on in their conversation and Harry gives his report a group of masked vigilantes stole an ancient magical artifact from a museum and I don't know Knockturn alley or someplace what's the artifact no idea don't know don't care maybe it's a deathly hallow maybe it's some weird mind-control necklace maybe a ring that gives the wearer the ability to petrify or curse people it doesn't really matter we just need some kind of object to get the conflict going we'll call it the magical MacGuffin Harry was able to stop a few of the thieves and arrest them but the leader of the group got away with the MacGuffin Harry plans to interrogate those captured and find out what the master thief is planning finish the scene off by having Hermione's looking longingly into his eyes or some such nonsense and bidding him good night and good luck with his invest Harry hops from the telephone booth and leaves cut to black scene over and immediately the story is ten times better than the one we had before the audience has all kinds of questions swirling around in their heads they're glued to the story are Harry and Hermione secretly an item does Ron know what happens if he finds out what happens when he finds out Oh what happens when jenni finds out who is this new mysterious enemy what's the magical MacGuffin going to be used for and how do all the kids factor into this think about it were you asking any of those types of questions at the end of this scene as it's originally written no stage lights lift up and we're at platform 9 and 3/4 with Harry prepping now for year number 4 same routine for Thea big year my 40 of the Triwizard Tournament happened now I ever tell you about my friend Cedric Diggory yes dad everyone tells me all the time and at that point in our story Cedric degrees name is never uttered again while getting everybody set for their next year at Hogwarts Allen Harry finally have it out picture the big blowup the two had and Thorne and Tiffany's version except in our story it doesn't take place at the potter's house in Al's room it takes place right here right on the platform in the middle of everything surrounded by the hustle and bustle of all the Wizarding families in Britain everybody stops what they're doing they turn and they watch the two scream at each other a few folks from the Daily Prophet are there and they start snapping photos of the argument it's a total disaster right at the climax of the fight there's a huge explosion masked vigilante swarm in and the platform is suddenly under attack Harry instinctively moves the protected Sun and a huge fire fight breaks out maybe a leavin steps in to try and help out but he's quickly disarmed and nearly killed by one of the terrorists in a split second Harry has to save his son's life and in a flash of parental protection he doesn't hit the assailant with a stupefying he uses a big bad unforgivable one for the first time in his life the attacker drops dead right at the feet of Albus the masked menaces turned tail and flees but not before putting up a dark mark kill all the lights in the theater the only light that the audience can see is the green skull up in the rafters we then quietly begin to hear various news reports about the event whispers that Voldemort has returned Harry being investigated for using the unforgivable curse and a few tabloid stories about he and Al getting into a fight just before the incident the whole thing climaxes and a familiar whisper from the Dark Lord Himself Harry snaps awake the next morning in a cold sweat he has a heart-to-heart with Ginny and then heads to the trial Hermione manages to pull a few political strings and Harry avoids any real charges the ministry then convenes they have to try and figure out a plan to face this new enemy the MacGuffin is allowing the assailant to avoid capture and Harry leads the investigation to track down the culprit next scene then takes us back to Hogwarts al Scorpius and Rose are all trying their best to put the events at the train station behind them as they start their fourth year turns out there's a new transfer student named Delphine she looks a little older for her age I mean pretty soon Howe and Scorpio boast smitten beyond words delphi's put in Ravenclaw somesuch and pretty soon she's turning up the charm 211 to try and woo the son of Harry Potter I'm not getting paid to give you all the play-by-play so I'll just hit the highlights of the rest of the story you get an A plot in a B plot team young guns and team og while Harry and company are trying to solve the mystery of the new big baddie now Scorpius and Rose are getting into more and more hijinks as the year goes on Delfy in the middle of all of it see house boring school days are at an end once she comes on the scene think near death mishaps like but of a slightly more pg-13 variety Delfy gets able to sneak out of the castle one night for a little romantic rendezvous and before they know it they're cornered in the Forbidden Forest by the masked menaces I really need to come up with a better name than masked menaces how about the new Death Eaters I guess that works they end up being rescued by headmistress McGonagall dan if you really need a cameo and despite our best efforts he's quickly becoming Bad News Bears around the castle well all that's going on Harry Ron Hermione and jenni are on the trail of the enemy and investigating a slew of murders seems like the new Death Eaters are hunting down one by one some of the key figures that led to the fall of Baldy former Death Eaters turncoats Horrors all of them are winding up dead thanks in part to the magic skill boost of the MacGuffin part one should end something like this team og finds out that the leader of the new Death Eaters is actually you guessed it Delfy turns out she's not some transfer student but a 50 or 60 year old sorceress who is using the MacGuffin to operate into and out of Hogwarts undetected all the while using ancient wizardry to mask her appearance about that time Rose finds out the truth on her own and confronts her Delfy attacks Rose but a feuding Scorpius and I'll get there just in time to have her back Harry and crew show up as well and we've got an all-out showdown during the battle Delfy curses either Ginny or on for some unknown spell and then gets away curtain falls with ROS rescued Harry or hermione holding their significant other in their arms and the future uncertain part to the fallout Jenny or Ron is in constant pain and torture from delphi's curse they're sent off to st. Mungo's and it looks like there's no real hope for them to be cured at least until Delfy is defeated Harry and Hermione are forced to come clean about their affair to their respective families and Ginny on which everyone isn't cursed obviously packs their bags and leave unable to forgive them for the betrayal her Miami faces huge political backlash for the attack at Hogwarts and Al guilt-ridden by the fact that a Death Eater deceived him sets out with Scorpius and rose to get their revenge Hermione's main political opponent let's use this guy hires private investigators to dig up dirt to try and oust her his Minister is the opposition party no longer feels she has the ability to lead in the face of the new enemy guess what they find ya they blackmail Harry and Hermione about the affair and both of them resigned to avoid the public finding out our heroes have now either lost all their power or direction Delfy continues her reign of terror on the world at large and soon gains a reputation on par with you-know-who himself either way you slice it or dice it each one of those scenes I just described is grounds for amazing dialogue and character development that rivals and in some cases exceeds that of the original books point is everything is broken in the beginning of Part two and it looks like all hope is lost The Young Ones road trip adventure puts them face-to-face with some truly evil enemies and they level up along the way al gains a new perspective on how hard life is and was for his pops and the two inevitably reconnect Harry is fresh out of a job but he's still pulling a few strings and getting info on where Delfy might be to exonerate himself so with the climax father and son finally make up and join up and came young ones and team og work together to track down Delfy there's a final showdown in which of the group is rescued at the last minute either by Ron or Ginny whichever spouse left at the beginning of Part two and the battle is won our story ends with Delfy defeated curse reversed MacGuffin destroyed order restored and the day saved but Harry and company they still have to figure out all the personal stuff and emotional repercussions and when we drop the curtain the entire group bruised and wounded in more ways than one agrees to work together to pick up the pieces of all that was broken so there you go the cursed child if I had a crack at rewriting it here's why I think my version works better first not to beat a dead horse but most obviously no more time travel I went to great detail in my first video about why the time-turner plotline cheapens the story and becomes an albatross that weighs the entire show down worry not going to repeat that whole spiel again the point is with alternate universes and timelines out of the way we can get back to the roots of what makes Harry Potter great Harry Potter books are great because Harry Potter books are mysteries disguised as fantasy novels Harry Potter and the cursed child fails because it's a time travel story disguised as a Harry Potter story my version puts the focus back on the mystery and instead of the Wizarding World equivalent of the butterfly effect we've got a new Irish whodunit with a bit of forbidden romance on the side and a little boarding school adventuring peppered in for an added kick secondly this rewrite works because it pays respect to the original heroes in the West End play right now the old crew comes off as clueless hapless and profoundly unproductive I mean Harry's supposedly the best detective in the Wizarding World yet he does no sleuthing gets to the bottom of nothing and spends more time in his pajamas than he does fighting dark wizards my version changes all that in this version Harry's on the case he's got plenty of action scenes to get our nostalgic hearts pumping Harry's the title character he needs to be in it I understand wanting to introduce a new generation of characters but that doesn't have to come at the expense of the old ones in the West End version we rarely see Ginny and we barely see Ron who I would remind you was part of the original trio he deserves stage time he deserves a storyline West and delegates him to just a few minutes of comic relief my version puts both characters right in the middle of the plot as the victims of infidelity this gives them plenty of meaty scenes to work with as they discover the affair and I might add it makes one of them the last-minute hero at the end the lack of Ron is actually a symptom of a greater problem with thorn and Tiffani screenplay which is a severe lack of character development nobody really grows during their story at least not in a way that feels meaningful Rose is underwritten Scorpius and Alba's friendship feels overwritten and Harry Ron and Hermione just feel like a footnote all that time-travel stuff is a waste of time that could be better used giving both the old crew and the new crew space to explore character flaws and overcome personal challenges you can't tell me watching her Maya get muscled out of her job as Minister for magic as she struggles to cover up an extramarital affair while battling a radical group of anarchist dark wizards running amok in Britain is less interesting than a pointless time travel rescue of Cedric Diggory look I'm just saying if it were me and I was allowed to write a canon story featuring the characters of Harry Potter you better believe i'ma put them through some stuff it's an awesome universe and characters that almost all fiction readers are familiar with if you're a writer that's an amazing opportunity don't throw away a shot if you've got permission to use the characters then use them that leads me to reason 3 I prefer my way my story has state no more this time-travel tomfoolery the story conflict shouldn't be an etch-a-sketch that you get to wipe clean at the end of every scene each choice made by the characters should mean something there should be some fallout from the action and in my version there is Hermione loses her job Harry's family becomes tabloid fodder both of their spouses lose faith in them and their kids have a very real chance of dying if the bad guy isn't stopped in my version there are serious narrative consequences for every failure see look at the end of the day you're not allowed to end your story with they lived happily ever after Thorne and Tiffany's cursed child leaves no lingering effects and as a consequence you don't have very many unanswered questions or speculation about the future my version leaves the characters triumphant but never the same the audience walks away from my take wanting to know what happens next that's the mark of a winner winner chicken dinner if I do say so myself reason number 4 my version creates a memorable new villain the West End cursed child screenplay suffers from the same problem most continuation of huge sagas suffer from they can't get out of the shadow of the original bad guy you see it in Star Wars and you see it here the big plot twist of thorn and Tiffany's cut is that Delfy is the illegitimate offspring of Voldemort now this doesn't work for a ton of reasons if you want them line by line just look for the longest and most drawn-out comments by diehard continuity nerds on my first video Delfy is vol DS daughter makes it seem like a second string villain I mean her only objective is to just bring back another bad guy how does that make her come off as threatening here's a quick story hint if you're new villains only mission is to resurrect the villain that came before them you need to come up with a more compelling villain my friend truth is West End Delfy stinks she needs to establish herself as an antagonist in her own right and make the audience believe she'll be able to carry on the legacy of evil my Delfy has no connection to Baltimore other than I don't know maybe using a MacGuffin he created she's not some 20-something girl with daddy issues in my version she's an old dark witch who manipulates others and works in the shadows to create chaos and destruction you know what make are a hundred years old if you want make her ancient an enemy older and even more experienced than you know who Baltimore shouldn't be a crutch that all future bad guys have to lean on use the cursed child to show that villains outside of his orbit can still be compelling and threatening in their own right final reason I like my take it strikes a healthy balance between old-school nostalgia and new-school novelty the audience members really just want to things out of the cursed child first we want to catch up with the characters we've come to care about over the years and second we want to recapture the charm and feel of the original story focusing on two main plot lines that influence each other accomplishes this to a satisfying degree team OGIS story gives you a look at the adult forms of our favorite characters and puts them in new and unique situations that test them in a way we've never seen before meanwhile team young one story harkens back to the school days of yesteryear is Albus Scorpius and Rose get into hijinks and exploits of their own maybe it's just my interpretation but West End story has a tendency to feel like the action is always happening elsewhere and it feels like the more compelling story is always taking place just off screen my rewrite lets us see our old heroes in action and our new heroes get a coming-of-age story to boot now look you don't have to agree with this fix 100 percent maybe some parts you like some parts you hate and that's fine point of this vid was to show how the mediocre script currently being used can easily be retooled into something far more compelling matter of fact if the powers that be want to take this pitch and use it themselves they can have it the thing I ask for is front-row tickets to the show also use of this guy for an original short film and a large order of curly fries from Arby's in that order look I'm not stupid enough to actually think that my fix is going to change anything that's not how showbiz works but for real if anybody can prove that this video gets watched by rolling thorn Tiffany or any of the show's cast your crew you'll get your own star on my channels Hall of Fame I want to reiterate it I did in the last video that I don't doubt the quality of the stage play itself the cast and crew working on the cursed child right now is top-notch my problems with the story should in no way - tract from the highly skilled team working to bring the show to life these guys are professionals they're way better than me and in absolutely no way do I claim to know what I'm talking about all I know is I started reading the cursed child with high hopes and when I closed the book for the first time ever I walked away disappointed in something from the Wizarding World universe so how do you feel about the cursed child do you agree with my fix and most importantly if you were handed the keys what would you do differently that was a long video to put together thanks for watching folks share it if you want I guess and like it too if you want to see more stuff like this subscribe to my channel for more or don't I don't really care [Music]

Channel: AustinMcConnell

Views: 1,817,317

Rating: 4.8118615 out of 5

Keywords: harry potter, the cursed child, harry potter and the cursed child, harry potter stage play, the cursed child sucks, sucks, new harry potter, harry potter play, rewrite harry potter, jack thorne, john tiffany, jk rowling

Id: TSQJ9W4SxiQ

Length: 23min 36sec (1416 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 24 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/Englishhedgehog13]

Affair idea is dumb and the reasoning behind it is dumb. Everything else, sure.

[u/better_be_ravenclaw]

So relieved that this guy didn't get to write CC. It's as awful as the real one. There were a few good points but the rest... It's not good storytelling, it's cliche! First that affair? WTF! How does Hermione get to transform from Harry's sister-like friend to his mistress? He claims it as mystery story when the reveal is at half way the plot. The one good thing about CC - Draco Malfoy's characterisation- has been removed. He's reduced to his school yard bully status. Albus is in Slytherin but he shows no cunning, no resourcefulness, no ambition... And worst, he doesn't even conclude the characterisation arcs - hinting at possible sequels. shudders

[u/Sir_Snackbox37]

I had a lot of gripes with CC, but after getting to see it this week all of them have been addressed and are no longer an issue (apart for trolley witch). By reading the book, you are getting barely half of what you're supposed to be getting! It is a play that is meant to be watched that way! And when you do, it is truely amazing! I didn't consider it canon before I saw it, but now, I am more than happy to consider it canon.

[u/zeze3009]

I like this alot more than CC. The guy explains it all in detail and it actually makes sense. Its definitely true that characters do lack real consequences in CC, when time turner mess is over, everything goes back to normal. No time turner and no Delphi as Voldy's kid would already make the plot a lot better.

[u/Djammer]

This is exactly what the Cursed Child needed. If somebody wanted to go and novelize this story I would almost be willing to pay to have it published myself. This is the kind of treatment the material needed.

[u/InquisitorCOC]

The only way to fix CC is to get rid of the time turner travels completely.

Instead, make Al find an artifact that allows dimensional travel to parallel universes.

For example in Universe 1: no Voldemort there, James and Lily are alive, Harry and Ginny still got together, but Ron and Hermione did not. The travelers exchange some words with people there and continue on.

In Universe 2: things diverged after Voldemort's fall. The Trio became revolutionaries and overthrew the Ministry sometime in early 2000s. They now rule magical Britain with an iron fist. The travelers are treated as spies for some time, but are allowed to continue on.

In Universe 3: Voldemort won here, and Delphi betrays them. But they somehow escape, make contact with the Resistance. Together, they bring in reinforcements from the canon dimension and liberate this dimension from Voldemort.

This would be IMO a far better story.