Tom Felton has been a regular part of my life purely by accident. You see he's an actor in this film series which helped define- and still does, a lot of people. The Harry Potter movies changed lives, just as the books do, and I am not ashamed to say that I am one of those people.
Potter was there for me during every summer holiday, the books whisking me away quietly and filling my head with ideas and magic. Potter was there every autumn as ITV religiously shows the movies as a countdown to the festive period. Potter helped me find friends and try interests and hobbies I probably wouldn't have looked twice at. It all started as an idea in Jo Rowling's head and look what it has transformed into now, the Potter fandom is more than just a community, it is a family, and no one will change that.
This is an inspiration to me personally, someone who has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up, but feels she is running out of time at the ripe old age of 24, to make a decision. It all starts with an idea, an opportunity, and I need to run with that.
It seems Tom Felton had a similar idea. Reading his book stirred up a lot of feelings. When he was a kid he jumped from interest to interest, as kids do. It seems like acting stuck and that was his window of opportunity. Without knowing it, just in those opening few chapters he has become an inspiration- more so than he was already. Just by writing down his uncertain thoughts and feelings, Tom showed us that it was okay and normal not to know who you want to be or what you want to do. It's refreshing really.
Draco Malfoy, perhaps Tom's most famous role, was always in my orbit. I was sorted into Slytherin mainly for my determination, and of course the films tend to draw a line between good and evil painting those little green and silvers as the evil side. I didn't want to identify like that, I didn't want my new friends thinking I was a horrible person. But as the films grew, the line became more of a grey area, it could be argued that some of our bravest lions were also towing the same line of the devious snakes. We got to see a bit more of Draco's emotional range in the later movies and turns out Slytherins aren't all bad at all, neither is anyone. I'm now proud of my house.
Beyond the Wand is not just about Tom's time on the Potter movies. This is obviously about him, but I felt like it was actually more about the people around him. Tom's love for the people around him are what has shaped him as a person and I feel him talking so extensively about them was a bigger reflection on Tom than any thing written to focus on him ever could be. He talks about the love he has for Emma, not romantically, but almost as a twin flame. They describe each other as soulmates but I think it's more than that, I don't think a connection like that can be described or labeled as simply as that. When you find a person who understands you so inexplicably, despite your rights or wrongs, and makes you feel so comfortable that outside pressures are nothing but a fleeting thought, then you've effectively found stardust.
He also talks about his family and how his three older brothers each helped shape him in their own way, he spoke of how his family was his anchor in the sea of fame and fortune. I really liked that about him actually, how friend and family orientated he is. You see these celebrities who have grown up with it all shut themselves away and think they are gods gift to people just like them. Not Tom. No, not at all.
What shocked me, well not shocked maybe but certainly surprised me a little, was Tom's battle with addiction and the mental health issues surrounding and stemming from that. It was towards the end of the book which disarmed me a little, the whole way up until that point it seemed like we were just having a gentle conversation, reminiscing at his past when all of a sudden it took a little bit of a dark turn. Yet the way he described everything that happened and the fall out was still very gentle and almost soft. Tom didn't sugar coat anything but again it was just like he'd thrown it into our cosy little chat so I could understand him better. It was like he needed someone to know that he shouldn't be held on a godlike pedestal, he was just human too. He made mistakes, probably still does, and his actions shouldn't be held against him or as an example. Despite the unusual upbringing I think Tom Felton just wants everyone to know he is a person with regular feelings and a heartbeat, and I respect that.
My favourite thing about this whole book is the insight we get of the people Tom worked with. Everyone was dying to hear the gossip about all those famous names he got to be around, but I just wanted confirmation on what I hoped was the case all along. That those very same people who meant a lot to me too were genuinely nice guys (and gals) and that they didn't let fame twist them like so many others.
Like Tom, I idolise Rik Mayall. I cried when he died but I look back fondly on all his work that still makes me laugh to this day. The memories Tom has of Rik just cement in my heart that he was a brilliant man. I could practically hear him in my head shouting 'Race you to the toilets!'. So thank you Tom for that insight. I'm still gutted he didn't make it to the films though.
When this book was published no one had any idea that Robbie Coltrane was about to pass away. It literally happened on the same day. But reading the happy memories Tom penned about him was a touching enough tribute. He sounded like a wonderful man and I am truly sorry he has gone just as I am sad I will never get to meet or work with him. I think that is the one of the most painful things about losing someone you never really knew, not only do you feel that you don't really have a right to grieve, but you know you'll now never get the chance to get to know them or meet them for real or work with them. Whatever your dreams are.
You expect when you are younger the people in your favourite shows to stay the same forever. You forget that they have grown up with you outside of that media. So you hope that they wont disappear, that you wont outlive them. But the chances are always quite slim. I'd always hoped to work with David Bowie when I was younger, I'd convince myself that I was just his kind of quirky and that perhaps he was proud of whatever I'd achieve if he'd known me. I pictured him still as he was in the earlyish music videos, not realising that he was actually a 69 year old man. I cried when we lost him, I was 17 and not even close to figuring out who I was, having those dreams dashed was almost as bad as being a world without my hero in.
I was still grieving when four days later Alan Rickman died.
Tom paints Alan to be almost as intimidating as Snape, but in a good way. This isn't a self importance gig, this is a young Tom Felton being in awe of an acting legend and the other using this as an advantage to conduct some mischief. Oh how I would have loved to have been a part of this world, to have been in the presence of these people just to understand their human side. Alas I was but a baby so tough.
As I mentioned before, this whole book just drifted by like a conversation. I felt like I've known Tom Felton for years (well I have known of him), I felt like I was greeted like an old friend and this was just a chat over a cuppa one afternoon. I devoured this book across two short evenings, and I hadn't even realised I was close to the end until it happened. Tom has a talent as a writer, just like he has a talent as an actor. He makes the reader feel relaxed and comfortable, and the disarming humour he inherited certainly shines during these pages.
I have a confession to make. I went ridiculously out of my way to get myself a signed copy of this book. Waterstones (other bookshops are available) were dragging their feet and for some reason I just really wanted an autographed book. I'm not even sure why, maybe because he was a familiar face and I wanted this as a keepsake from something outside the magical world that has taken up so much of my life. But shout out to The Portabello Bookshop who acted as my knight in shining armour. They posted that book the very same day I ordered it and no more than 2 days later I had it in my hands. I am forever grateful to that bookshop for humouring a daft passionate request, and it made me happy so that was all that mattered.
Before I chuck out a number I just wanted to say thank you to Tom. Thank you for sharing your life with us, thank you for your honesty. Thank you for keeping the magic alive.
Not that it overly matters, as this is a reflection of someone's life not just a book, but I give Tom Felton's Beyond the Wand a 8/10. I got teary eyed when my heroes were mentioned and the fondness in which those memories were penned. I was touched by the honesty throughout this book, Tom doesn't owe us anything he didn't have to share these things with us, and I was touched by Emma's note.
As a very last note, I just want you all to know that the photo on the cover of this book reminds me of a Gilderoy Lockhart publicity shot and it brings a smile to my face.
Join me next time for what will probably be a movie review! I watched Black Adam last night so that will probably be it!
Comments
Post a Comment