The Harry Potter series debuted over two decades ago and has yet to fade from pop culture entirely. From the books we’ve seen movies, and from those movies we’ve seen spin-off movies, and from the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows we’ve seen a Tony award winning Broadway play. There’s also, unofficially of course, the thousands of pieces of fanfiction, fanart, Etsy stores, online forums, original theatrical pieces, and a wide variety of other works to remind us that, despite the original series concluding in 2007, Harry Potter has yet to leave our minds and will likely continue to have a home there for years to come. All of this raises the question: why is this series so popular?
A few answers to this come to mind. To begin, Rowling has created a world where you can easily see yourself being inserted into the fantasy of it all, and more so you want to be. From the offset of the first novel, she creates divisions and factions that one can identify with. Are you a muggle or a wizard? Are you a Gryffindor or a Slytherin? Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff? It also helps that she spends all of page 118 explaining the differences between the houses so that you can more easily align yourself with one of them. As a second grader reading Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time, I was always partial to Ravenclaw and was proud to tell anyone who asked. Of course, that’s also another part of this self-insertion: I’ve found that whenever someone chooses to have a casual conversation about the Harry Potter series they focus not on the plot itself but instead on asking questions like ‘what house are you in’ or ‘what would your patronus be’ or ‘which pet would you choose to take with you?’ The general reader is entranced by the magic and world-building of it all but less so by the plot.
This leads me to my second explanation for why this franchise is so popular: the intricacy and fantasy of the world that has been created. I’ve found personally that fantasy novels have to toe a very fine line between not being descriptive enough (even magic needs to have a bit of believability for the audience to buy into it) and being too overloaded with details (Tolkein’s novels are beautiful but sometimes there’s simply too much information in Lord of the Rings to take in at once). What Rowling does well is create a setting that has clearly set restrictions but also enough room to play that you can imagine your own ideas about it without them immediately being disputed. She has also created a world and series that matures with the reader as they progress through the novels, inviting an older audience to partake. There seems to be a sort of stigma that the older you get, the less acceptable it is to read fantasy books, so the Harry Potter novels seem to be an exception to this rule and allow people of all ages to enjoy a little magic. After all, just because you mature doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of the more fanciful things in life.
As a second-through-fourth grader, the Harry Potter novels were a constant staple in my backpack, keeping me company on the playground, in the classroom, and at home during my free-time. I rediscovered them as an eighth grader, and now again I’m being enticed to read the entire series upon the conclusion of the first novel. There’s something timeless about the whimsy and fantasy of these books, but more importantly about how one can imagine themselves flicking through spells and boarding the Hogwarts Express. Sure, a part of me was disappointed when I didn’t receive my Hogwarts letter as I was getting ready to start middle school. However, these novels remind us that while their contents may not be real, there’s nothing wrong with a little imagination of what it would be like if they were.
My favorite point you made about the Harry Potter culture is that when one Harry Potter fan meets another, they do not talk about the plot, but what their experience would be if they were in Harry’s position. I have only read one Harry Potter book and have only seen one of the movies. I have never considered myself a huge Harry Potter fan. However, before reading the book or watching the movie, I knew exactly what the four houses were, I knew about the game of Quidditch, and I knew Voldemort was the antagonist. I ask myself how I knew these things even though I had never read the books. The answer to this is due to the Harry Potter craze. The culture of Harry Potter has become so prominent that even non-fanatics, are unconsciously guided into this “wizarding world” whether we want to or not, and eventually, even we get curious as to what house we would be in. Rowling’s choice to personalize almost everything in relation to Harry’s wizarding journey instantly engages readers because it is so easy to imagine themselves in Harry’s shoes. I think this phenomenon can be related to the American Girl store in Chicago. A little girl walks into that store and is given the opportunity to create her own doll. Naturally, all of the little girls create a doll that physically resembles herself the most. Because the doll is personalized specifically for her and it reflects her physical attributes, this new doll is exponentially more important to the little girl than any other generic doll. Because there are multiple different fountains readers can relate to in Harry Potter, such being a part of the four houses, the ongoing Harry Potter craze is inevitable, and readers are so much more emotionally invested to it.
ReplyDeleteAs an avid Harry Potter fan, the cultural impact that the series has had on the world still takes me by surprise. J.K. Rowling did not simply write a series of novels, instead she created an entire universe for everyone from die-hard fans to casual readers to get lost in. J.K. Rowling’s favorite quote from the books is “Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean it is not real?” (Deathly Hallows), and I believe that this so accurately describes why the series will forever be popular. Rowling was able to not only tell a story of good vs evil and of friendship and war, but her imagination can so easily be shared and experienced by taking a House quiz on Pottermore or sipping on a cup of butterbeer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando. When describing the lines outside bookstores as kids lined up for the release of the final book, the New York Times says “there has never been anything quite like it, and nobody knows whether there ever will be again”. No other book series has achieved the success that Harry Potter has, from the eight movies to the multiple parks created around the series, there is something in the series for everyone to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHarry Potter is different to a lot of young adult fiction novels that I read for this reason. The Harry Potter Series provides an alternate reality to the world we live in, and, for many children, it is one that holds much more excitement. It feels like a fairytale that everyone enjoyed when little, but it provided the coming of age story that young adult’s love. Instead of portraying a large meaning behind metaphors, Rowling simply portrays a drama full of excitement. Her novel is meant for the enjoyment of her readers, and they definitely enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteRowling does provide a world where readers can simply insert themselves. Because Harry’s character is vague, he is so relatable to many children. This feature allows them to place themselves into an elaborate fantasy full of magic and fun. To add onto this, he is also experiencing the world for the first time, just as the readers. Scenes like the scene in Diagon Alley portray the wizard world as superior and exciting, and it sets the reader up for imagination. For example, Rowling describes Harry’s amazement saying, “Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping” (71). As Rowling continues to set the scene, she provides readers with a full, eye-opening experience of a world much different than their own.
However, I think most people do not entirely read the novel from Harry’s point-of-view. Instead of reading from a third person perspective or imagining it through Harry’s eyes, many young readers picture themselves attending Hogwarts and practicing magic. In fact, reading Harry Potter is usually a personal experience for readers, because they can place themselves into a house, buy merchandise, and imagine their own ideas about the wizarding world. Because of this, the books are still popular to this day, and you can find Harry Potter merchandise in almost any bookstore.