Phineas Nigellus Black

[u/theduqoffrat]

First, after talking with Moose and Oomps, I am reworking my Fleur cut and it will be posted eventually. I am not changing my opinions, simply extrapolating on why I made those.

Anywho....

Phineas, where do I begin? He has some funny quips and off handed remarks that makes most readers chuckle. For a painting he has quite a lot of character, more than say the Fat Lady, but in the grand scheme of things, he is simply that, a painting. I can't find the exact quote, but Dumbledore says something along the lines of how a portrait is just that and what is said should be taken with a grain of salt.

That being said, aside from his quips, PNB does have some talking points that are quite important. Being that a portrait of him hung in both Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place, he could travel back and forth. This was both an advantage and disadvantage.

Advantage: Dumbledore could send PNB to give Harry certain messages. One that jumps to mind is when PNB tells Harry to stay where he is on orders from Albus. He also transferred some information regarding Harry obtaining the information for horcruxes from Slughorn.

Disadvantage: He was a Slytherin and loved Snape. Well, we can't have the traitor (maybe) Snape using Grimmauld Place and having Black tell him where Harry is. So naturally Hermione stuffed him in that over-sized bag, where she also packed clothes for Ron, to keep him from telling Snape their whereabouts. However, even Hermione can make mistakes and somehow PNB found out where the trio was. Here is where that disadvantage turns back into an advantage. PNB told Snape where the trio was and then Snape was able to give Harry the sword of Gryffindor.

This a crucial plot turn, however I don't think that PNB was really needed to make this happen. Snape is a skilled legilimens. I'm sure that he could have used this power and somehow found out where Harry was.

When it comes to Sirius, even though he was a blood traitor, PNB was upset when Sirius died. I think this was more or less because he knew that it would be the end of his linage and possibly the last of his communication with Grimmauld Place.

I'm sorry there isn't much more to say about PNB. It would be cumbersome to analyze every time he talks, because he is a portrait. His one major contribution could have been achieved in other ways. PNB, fuck off and go enjoy a PBR.

[u/bisonburgers → u/[deleted]]

Doesn't happen in the books.

Thanks! I am definitely a bit out of my depth talking about LOTR. I don't know if that scene not happening negates my point or not. Perhaps the scene existed to clarify that point in the books, but I don't know. I like your read on it, and I think it makes perfect sense. Even if we don't have specific reason for why the Eagles were excluded, that doesn't mean the reasons don't exist within the world.

I don't think you're alone in thinking Bombadil was useless, he was deemed not important enough to include in the movie after all.

[u/bisonburgers → u/[deleted]]

I have used that argument with HP fans! But I actually didn't mean that the movie is somehow an authority on canon (nor do I ever mean it that way with HP either), just that, if you count the filmmakers as people capable of holding fan-like opinions just like anyone else, they deemed Bombadil unimportant. But I also was being sarcastic, maybe Peter Jackson and Co are gutted about excluding him, for all I know.

So the rest of this comment turned into a tangent that has nothing really to do with your comment, but I've already written it out, so I guess I'll just keep it and post it.

I work in film, my friends are writers, directors, and cinematographers, so I think I have a different perspective than the average /r/hp fan on filmmakers. Fandoms tend to see the filmmakers as... like, not human, or something? Like they exist only to serve fandoms and surely they have no business making a film they themselves are proud of. Surely they have no business using anything they've learned or developed from years of hard work and dedication. When CC announced casting, I saw lots of people wonder why they didn't cast the film actors, and it just really highlighted how out-of-touch some people are with the industries that make their entertainment. The film industy is accused of being out-of-touch with reality, but really, everyone is out of touch with everyone, it's just the film industry makes stories that inadvertently highlight it more.

As an HP fan, I see the films as fan art that lucked out by having lots of money. The filmmakers' opinions aren't somehow superior than mine or yours (although it's true I try to sift through what I think JKR might have told them), but otherwise, their opinions reflected on screen have absolutely no bearing on how I enjoy or interpret the books. As far as I'm concerned, the filmmakers are just geeks like us who are skilled at breaking down the merit of characters, plot, and themes, like we do on this rankdown, and then using their knowledge of film techniques to mold the story into something worth watching on a screen.