Celebrating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Oscar Worthy?

Harry Potter defined a generation, my generation, and like many of my peers I filtered from the dark theater after watching the Hogwarts Express pull away from Platform 9 3/4 for the last time into the light of a new day - a day without more Potter to look forward to.

Eyes glazed, I walked zombie-like toward the theater bathrooms. My cheeks were still stained with tears, heart pounding after the conclusion of the two and half hour emotional roller coaster that was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. As I waited in the impossibly long line, three little girls circled my legs brandishing tree branches like wands, casting spells at one another. Their mother tried to corral them; however, I couldn’t help but smile and remember the days when my brother, sister, and I would jam a pointy black hat on our heads to sort ourselves into houses (Gryffindor for me, Ravenclaw for my brother, and Slytherin for my sister) and spend the day mixing liquids and lotions for potions, chanting incantations to one another.

The memories of growing up with Harry made the finale bittersweet for me, but the story's legacy is what I find solace in. One of the proudest moments for my father, when I was growing up, was sitting me down and introduced me to Star Wars, the defining saga of his generation. This memory, along with the beautiful, sad, and touching nature of Deathly Hallows II, is what I’m basing my argument off of - that the Academy should recognize the final Potter film for the achievements of the cinematic arm of the entire franchise by awarding it the 2012 Oscar for Best Picture.

The material may be exhausted, but Harry Potter is not over, and there is no film that will come out this year (or possibly many more for that matter) that will have Deathly Hallows II's staying power. Some day (far, far off) I will sit down with my children and introduce them, through the books and films, to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, a world of broomsticks and bezoars, Hufflepuffs and hippogriffs, charms, potions, and - everyone’s favorite - Quidditch. The world of an orphan boy, marked from infancy, who grows up and in the meantime, learns about love and loss, mortality, morality, and friendship.

These are the simple themes that separate the epic sagas - Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings - from the imitators or the “Twilights” of the world. Harry Potter is not a children’s story. The antics of Harry and his classmates in their battle versus Voldemort - a perfect embodiment of unrelenting evil - are the lessons children grow with while reminding adults of their journey as well.

In the same vein that Return of the King was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture (along with ten others), Deathly Hallows marks the culmination of a series of films whose remarkable run at the box office over a decade may never be replicated.

The greatest achievement of the Potter films (and books), is that they remains committed to the human elements and simple charm that made the books a global phenomenon. Film's graphical capabilities and technology progress, the source material's plot becomes darker, more mature, but the heart of the books is Harry Potter and his friends. The films greatest success is capturing these relationships and not getting carried away with the grandiose technological splendor that marks the typical 2011 blockbuster.

Is history and heart enough to secure Deathly Hallows II a nod from the Academy - probably not. Harry Potter is not historical, not overly controversial, or "indie." But the truth of the matter is, shouldn't the Best Picture Oscar go to, well, the Best Picture? There will not be a film released this year that will touch hearts and resonate with a global audience they way the Potter finale did.

If the Academy wants to make a technical argument than fine - Deathly Hallows II, in my opinion, had the best film score of all the Potters since John William's Prisoner of Azkaban, maintained a steady tempo, the acting (particularly Alan Rickman as Severus Snape in the Pensive Scene) moved me to tears, and the cinematography looked like a Caravaggio oil painting brought to life.

This is not a time to bemoan the conclusion of this epic tale, for these books and movies, Harry’s entire wizarding world for that matter, will not soon fade away. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II deserves to win the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture to mark this film series' monumental box office achievements and well as celebrate the charm and character of this epic franchise. Even without new material to look forward to, expect Harry Potter to linger on with us the way such epic sagas as Lord of the Rings and Star Wars have before it...