The Indonesian Harry Potter That's Totally Not A Rip-Off (And Where To Watch It)
Popular franchises, whether they're movies, books, or television shows, have a big impact on society. As such, it is no surprise that many of them have spawned low-budget knockoffs, loosely based on higher-quality, critically-acclaimed productions. J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series is no exception, and has inspired several projects, such as Henry Skreever from "Arthur" and "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell. However, fans might not know about the show in Indonesia, merely titled "Alfa."
This series is a whopping 42 hours long, and is more than just a loosely-based adaptation of the popular magical books and movies. Despite claims that any similarities between Alfa and Harry's stories are not intentional and just pure coincidence, a lot of the plot points and characters of the "Harry Potter" franchise can be seen in the series. These include a teacher that can turn into a cat, and a troll attacking a girl in a bathroom, among other familiar occurrences.
This can make one wonder what led to "Alfa" in the first place. In 2011, Hollywood withdrew multiple films from Indonesia over a government dispute regarding taxes. As a result, much of the country was unable to see the final "Harry Potter" film. Though the issue was quickly settled, it raises the question as to whether "Alfa" is the result of fans wanting to see some form of their favorite wizard, or if it was just a blatant rip-off for less-than-desirable purposes.
Where can you watch Alfa?
The first episode of "Alpha" is free to watch on Youtube. The nearly hour-long episode opens with a scene that obviously takes inspiration from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It features characters equivalent to Dumbledore and Hagrid, reminiscent of the scene where they, along with Minerva McGonagall, discuss Harry's fate before delivering him to the Dursleys." Though neither the McGonagall character nor baby Alfa are present, the following scene shows Alfa, now eleven-years-old, waking up. Unlike Harry, he doesn't sleep under the stairs, but rather in a small and clean loft, which shows that he obviously has a better life than the protagonist of the Wizarding World.
He immediately gets his acceptance letter, and eagerly shows it to, what we can assume, are his aunt and uncle. Like the Dursleys, they don't want Alfa to go to a magic school, and tear and burn all the letters right in front of him.
Throughout the first episode, it's hard not to draw comparisons to the source material, especially when the creators made little effort to separate themselves from "Harry Potter." Like Harry, Alfa gets his wand from an eccentric shop owner — for some reason, he has to try different fruits before it appears — plays a magical game on lollipops instead of brooms, and even fights a poorly-digitalized three-headed dragon.
MD Entertainment has the entire "Alfa" library on its Youtube page, for those fans who make it through the first episode and crave more.