Star Wars, Harry Potter and Cultural Impact

[wittdooley]

Here's a Friday Freewrite a bit early. Spurned from both seeing the new Harry Potter movie and a discussion at work.

Harry Potter & the Cultural Phenomenon (http://queencityguard.com/index.php/2011/07/21/friday-freewrite-harry-potter-the-cultural-phenomenon/)

As usual, please enjoy. C&C welcomed.

[eldargal]

Good article. I didn't realise the impact the HP films had on me until I finished watching the last one. At the end when they played the music from the first film it hit me that there would be no more and that an era of Harry Potter (and my life, having grown up with him) was ending. A lot of other people in the theatre must have had the same idea. I started crying, me seven girl friends started crying and about thirty other people in the cinema started crying.:rolleyes:

[wittdooley]

Yeah, I think that was one of the really brilliant things JK did to tie up the books, and the music made it translate so well on film.

[energongoodie]

I'll admit to a little lump in the throat during the 19 years later.

[MaltonNecromancer]

What a strange article. A line that struck me as bonkers was this:


Whether it is the naïveté and hope that comes with youth—and yes, I know I’m still comparatively young—when contrasted with the cynicism that festers within us as we grow older, there is a difference

because it's in total contrast with my experience. Being young was bloody terrible; I literally hated every single person I knew. It was horrible, and I was a horrible, deeply unhappy person. I'm significantly happier now I'm much, much older, and I've actually become significantly more hopeful.

I'm not jealous of young people having Harry Potter. I mean, it's nice for them and all, but frankly, they're just a bunch of films to me. Same as Star Wars (which, according to this article, I should be looking back on fondly, and I don't really - loved them as a kid, but don't really care as an adult) and the rest. It's a peculiar thing, the way geek culture raises certain stories to some bizarre, almost holy level. I mean, the definitive film of my childhood was probably "Clash of the Titans", and the defining films of my teenage years "Aliens" and "Hellraiser 2". But I've seen much better films since then - even "Aliens", brilliant as it is, seems much more like a fairly run-of-the-mill actioner now with really good aesthetics now (despite the fact I was obsessed with it to an unhealthy level between the ages of 15 and 20.)

I don't know, the whole article was a bit weird to me; kind of like he was nostalgic for a past he didn't have, which strikes me as both extremely self-indulgent, and more than a little silly.

[Denzark]

I like the article.

I am surprised at the commentary on the effect of Back to the Future as it is quite a niche 80's kitsch fillum series and never before have I heard it spoken of in conjunction with franchises such as LOTR or Harry Potter or Star Wars.

Also I think the HP films, whilst alright, are plop compared to the written word versions. Yet to see HP8 (this Saturday)

As such I cannot empathise with this - as I think the most fanatic HP fans are those who followed the BOOKS not the film - I have never encountered HP film fans as zealous as StarWars fans for example - not even heard such a beast referenced!

I did get some sense of loss at the end of book 7 - because as a product of the British (English) boarding school system, I empathised with his feelings as a first year and the look back at then end coincided with my age and similar look backs to my school years.

HP 8 the film didn't make me go at midnight - unlike Revenge of the Sith. I think the repetition of Star Wars combined with an ever expanding universe will see it into more longevity than HP.

[DarkLink]

I haven't even seen the last five harry potter films.

[wittdooley]

I don't know, the whole article was a bit weird to me; kind of like he was nostalgic for a past he didn't have, which strikes me as both extremely self-indulgent, and more than a little silly.

That was sort of the point of the article :) I, however, don't really see it as self-indulgent, though sure it's a bit silly to feel a lack of nostalgia. IMO, it's a really cool thing to be able to take place in something that is as culturally significant as Harry Potter or Star Wars. I was going to include a reference to the fact that I was glad I was in college when 9/11 happened (what a way to start the year...) because I was old enough to be able to talk about it, but still naive enough to not really understand how effed up the world can be (upper-middle class burbs in Ohio will do this). I think the media, and movies in particular, help us mark these moments in our lives really well. For my co-workers, Star Wars did that for their childhood. I didn't really have a "big" thing that did. Hence, the envy for those that are able to mark their childhood with the Potter films.

@ Denzark

Aren't all movie adaptations of books, though? :rolleyes: I think the Potter books do a really good job; in fact, quite a bit better than most adaptations.

Consider yourself this about the Zealotry: how long have Star Wars fans had to be fans? 40 years. Potter fans have had scarcely 10. I'm reserving my judgement till then :)

I do, however, completely agree with your sentiment about the Potter universe stopping. It still makes me sad. There's so much that could be done in that universe. There's still evil in the world, even though it may not be Voldemort level evil. We know Harry becomes an auror. I don't think Rowling is going to expand it further. She went out at the peak of her game, like Barry Sanders, and I'd rather have her do that then pull a Favre.