In theHarry Potternovels,Ginny is shown to have a hero-worship crush on Harry. Over time, her crush on The Boy Who Lived is meant to transform into feelings for Harry as a person. Ginny had taken a step back from her crush on Harry and grown into herself as a person.The books allowed Ginny to grow into a confident, strong, powerful, and quippy teenager. She gains a sense of character and awareness of danger from her years at Hogwarts, all of which help her develop and give her a sense of weight to the story. When Harry eventually starts having a crush on Ginny, who loves Quidditch, steals her brothers' brooms to ride, and is good with magic, it makes slightly more sense. Although the novels do not do the best job on the romantic front for the duo either, as Harry’s feelings for Ginny are a duplicated sense of what he felt for Cho Chang previously, Harry’s relationship with Ginny is given time to develop throughout the book. The movie does not offer the same development and, as such, butcher whatever sense of romance the duo’s novel counterparts had gained.
In the movies, Ginny’s development is null and void, considering she barely has a character in the first place. In the films, Ginny comes in where she is needed for the sake of the plot, but everything that makes her exciting, and a character worth rooting for, disappears as she becomes just another person on screen. There is nothing about her that feels that she has anything to do with the plot other than being Ron’s younger sister and Harry’s eventual girlfriend. Except, nothing leads to show how Harry came to like Ginny romantically other than their reunion at the beginning ofHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Princeas a hug to say hello becomes used to suggest that Harry has somehow, in seconds, grown romantic feelings for Ginny that are mainly portrayed as jealousy throughout the film whenever she is seen with Dean.
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Lack of Development as a Couple
In the novel’s portrayal ofHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Ginny get together early enough in the book that there are paragraphs referencing their growth as a couple. Although their romance is not the central part of the book, as that goes to Harry and Dumbledore’s lessons about Voldemort, the novels devote more time to showing Harry and Ginny’s growing romance and the hurt that comes from their breakup when Harry determines that Ginny would be safer if she were not directly connected to him. Since Harry does not plan to return to Hogwarts anyway, Harry is setting Ginny free in case something happens to him. The aftermath of their breakup is acknowledged in the next novel when they get a final goodbye before Bill and Fleur’s wedding.
But, in the film portrayals of both, it would be difficult to claim they had a relationship at all. One kiss is not enough to suggest a serious relationship is brewing, but that is all Ginny and Harry receive inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. From that, the seriousness of Harry and Ginny’s relationship is meant to be implied as they move intoHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. But, although a kiss is present between them there as well, that does not do anything to show the seriousness of this relationship. Furthermore, when they are shown to be married in the time jump, it is done so without showing any significant emotional or relevant moments between Harry and Ginny.
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Ginny’s Film Portrayal Doesn’t Match the Book
In the movies, Ginny feels like more of a placeholder as a love interest rather than someone of their own strength and individuality. The film completely butchers Ginny’s character and everything she does of importance, leaving a shell meant to be a love interest. Just from watching the movies alone, it makes no sense how Harry’s romance with Ginny ends the series as he portrays far more integral relationships with nearly every other character.Harry is given far more emotional content with Hermioneand Luna than with Ginny, both of which are far more developed as characters. While Ginny may be a force to be reckoned with in the novels, that personality never comes through in the movies, and she is barely anything more than just there.
The movies should have taken a more significant interest in Ginny. If she was meant to become a love interest, the films should have taken the time to adapt her personality into the movie rather than pair up Ginny with Harry just because that is what the books said to do. Also, if the film were going to make such a massive change to Ginny, they were better off changing the final couple, too, considering the person Ginny is throughout the films is barely present rather than the strong-willed persona in the books.
Harry’s Feelings Are Barely Explored
AlthoughHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Princetakes on a romantic comedy genre, rather than focusing on the dangers and necessity of Voldemort’s childhood, those elements are more closely associated with the continuing budding relationship between Hermione and Ron. For example, Harry’s feelings for Ginny in the books, while appearing reasonably quick, are given more than jealousy, even if that is mostly what he is experiencing. However, the connection feels a little more organic due to Ginny’s growing character arc in the novels. Also, Harry appears jealous whenever Ginny is with Dean in the movies. But, due to the lack of buildup toward their romance, Harry’s jealousy comes across as being out of nowhere.
Beyond jealousy and showing a romantic interest in Ginny, there isnot much time devoted to exploring what Harry likes about Ginny. The movies do not make it clear, considering the lack of Ginny’s personality traits. It is not entirely understood how deep Harry’s feelings for Ginny go in the films compared to his feelings for Cho Chang in the previous movie.
