Harry Potter Mania -- Discussion

There is a great discussion going on at WorldMagBlog on the whole Harry Potter mania. Nothing to do with Latinos, I suppose, but I thought I would ad my two cents.

A reader commented:

I think its interesting how much people want to be in a group that is all connected by some common thread. It says a lot about our desire for homogeny, not always along racial, sexual or religious lines, but also simply based on what we do in our spare time.

The interesting thing about Harry Potter fans vs. Star Trek fans is that a vast majority of them are kids who have grown up with the books, or the parents of said kids. I wonder if what sort of effects this will have on them as they get older (and whether or not they will remain HP fans).

We live in an obsessive culture.

Posted by David B. at July 22, 2005 07:54 AM

This is an interesting phenomenon. I would think it is indicative of our society, more than anything else. I tend to agree with the idea that it shows a desire or need for community or belonging in a way that crosses boundaries. Why is it that this seems so hard for the church to do? I am generalizing of course, as I know many churches that are doing a great job crossing boundaries in building community.

I have to agree with this reader, who points out it's a good example for other writers.

The books are very well written and [other] writers should read them in order to see good examples of excellent plotting, well-defined characters, multiple back stories, well-placed humor and irony, keeping the reader interested, etc.

However, I do agree that things have gone to excess. After all, the stories are well written from a childrens (and even adult) literature perspective, but the stories are not so singular that they should consume our lives.

Posted by outdeep at July 22, 2005 08:04 AM

On the other hand, it would be interesting to see what could happen if C.S.Lewis's Narnia series was re-packaged, perhaps with some new illustrations, and maps? Would the county jump on that band wagon? I think it would do well, but I would suspect that there would be many in the main stream media that would quickly point out to it's evangelical roots. We'll see what happens after December and the movie, I suppose.

Obsession can never be a good thing. Is potter mania creating a renewed interest in reading in general, or are these kids reading one book (Potter) every couple years?