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| All pictures above were taken by me in my Universal Studios trip last March. |
This is the final draft of my feature that I wrote for my Reviewing the Arts class in college. The paper focuses solely on the Harry Potter series, its effects on modern culture, J.K. Rowling's inspiration behind the series, the play, and much more. Hard work and a lot of research was invested in this paper, so I hope you all enjoy reading this (extensively long) paper of mine.
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Albus Dumbeldore said, "While we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one." Since 1997, the Harry Potter series has captivated the hearts of young and old souls from all around the world; the books have built bridges and connections amongst people from different nations through their mutual love and infatuation of the Harry Potter books. The books have given people an opportunity to enter an enchanted community that is centered on mystical and magical creatures, objects, and gifted wizards and witches. It shares a tale of bravery, friendship, adventure, and love—a theme that resonates with many Potterheads in modern-day society. This imaginary universe that the author J.K Rowling has formed, has become an international phenomenon and continues to be relevant part of society due to the publication of The Cursed Child in 2016, which has given many people a chance to continue their immersion in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The Magic of J.K. Rowling
Through her Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling has taught readers to never give up on something that you feel strongly about. Harry Potter is more than just a children’s tale—it is a fable centered on good versus evil, love versus hatred, along with lessons of life and death. The inspiration behind all seven of the Potter books is a reflection of Rowling’s personal experiences of hardship, betrayal, love, sadness, and loss.
After leaving a tumultuous marriage in Portugal, she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to start anew with her young daughter in 1993. Although it was a new chapter in her life, she was a struggling, unemployed, single-mother who barely met ends meet. It was a dark period in her life, but it truly motivated her to start a book based on an idea she had in 1990, about a gifted and orphaned boy while traveling from Manchester to London King’s Cross (Inside the Magical World of 'Harry Potter' Author).
Her places of location and living situations are something that Rowling includes in her stories about Harry and the Wizarding World. Not only do Rowling and Harry share the same birthday—July 31st—Rowling was raised in a suburban part of south Britain, a home similar to that of Harry’s uncle and aunt, the Dursleys, which also had a little cupboard under the stairwell; fortunately for Rowling, she was not forced to sleep there. When Rowling was nine, her family moved to the country near Forest Dean—a forestry area where Rowling imagined magical creatures inhabited. Rowling has always been drawn to forests—she not only sees it a solitary place, but a place of enchantment, safety and shelter. As a result, she constructed The Forbidden Forest in her books, which is a part of the Hogwarts grounds. The forest is home to many magical creatures, such as unicorns, centaurs, and gigantic spiders (Inside the Magical World of 'Harry Potter' Author).
Similarly, Rowling and her sister Di have also endured the same traumatic experiences and disappointments that Harry did. In 1980, Rowling’s mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and as a result, the diagnosis strained her relationship with her father. Due to her unhealthy relationship with her father, it inspired her to develop ideal father-figure characters like Hagrid, Dumbeldore, and Sirius Black. Her mother would later die from multiple sclerosis, and the relationship with her father became nonexistent. It was the loss of her mother and the absence of her father that had a major influence in her writing about the stories and experiences of Harry. Dealing with the tragic loss of her mother and finding herself in an unhappy marriage, Rowling was in a deep depression that led her to create the foulest creatures in the Harry Potter books, the dementors; dementors prey on people’s happiness and suck the life out of human souls (Inside the Magical World of 'Harry Potter' Author).
Her personal understandings of unhappiness and tragedy are a part of the moral dilemmas shared in the series; in many ways, Harry is a reflection of Rowling. After finishing the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, she sent the manuscripts to various publishing houses only to be rejected. Fortunately, Bloomsbury publishing saw not only the potential, but also the magic in the book and decided to publish it in June of 1997. The book became a quick bestseller and rapidly spread across the globe (Joanne Rowling: The Girl Who Grew Up to Write Harry Potter).
The Harry Potter books have caused a worldwide fervor and sensation. In 2007, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows became the fastest selling book in the history—selling 2.65 million copies within the first twenty-four hours in the United Kingdom. Currently, the series is published into seventy-eight different languages and approximately four hundred and fifty million copies have been sold globally (Joanne Rowling: The Girl Who Grew Up to Write Harry Potter).
The Harry Potter Effect
The Harry Potter books not only relay a slew of invaluable moral quandaries, it has also brought a vast amount of cultural changes in society that continues to influence mainstream culture. Additionally, the series possess the power to bring together readers from all different age groups, social and ethnic backgrounds, in which sets it a part from any other children’s literature. Today, it has become unfathomable that life before Harry Potter even existed. The series is now viewed as a classic piece of modern literature, and has cemented itself as a permanent fixture.
The most imperative impact that the books have brought is the increase of reading levels among children and young adults as a result from the many themes that the books address. Both adults and children cannot only relate to the stories, but can also see themselves in the stories because of the moral dilemmas and decisions that Harry and his fellow Hogwarts friends are confronted with; the major themes are identifiable to readers. Research has proved that fifty-nine percent of children feel that the Potter books have enhanced their reading skills and inspired them to read a wide range of other books. Eighty-four percent of professional educators believe that the young wizard has worked his magic on children by making a positive impact in their reading abilities, and also two-thirds of educators believe that Harry has turned non-readers into bookworms (Smith).
Harry Potter has even had a bigger influence in the millennial generation as a whole, better known as “Potterverse.” Potterverse is the millennial universe that focuses on the moral imagination of millennials. It may be a literary work of fantasy, but it has been seen as a substitute religion for today’s era. The books are about the battle between good and evil—it teaches people that bigotry must never be tolerated, but that both tolerance and difference must be equally celebrated. According to the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers from different European universities show that those who have read Harry Potter are more tolerant; the study was called “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice.” The study continues to show that Potter books have improved millennial attitudes toward many stigmatized groups, as a result from the series’ examination on the social and discriminatory issues that take place. For example, in Harry’s world, “half-bloods” and “mud-bloods” are discriminated against because they only have one or no magical relatives (Kozlowska).
Besides its moral impact on today’s generation, the series have developed new startling trends ranging from amusement parks, costumes, merchandise, to even fandom sites; therefore, bringing an everlasting effect to society and cementing a legacy. Firstly, not only can Harry and his gang of Hogwarts mates play the thrilling game of Quidditch on a broomstick, so can muggles. In 2005, college students at Middlebury College in Vermont created a muggle version of Quidditch that blends both basketball and rugby into one sport. As a result, other college institutions and high schools followed suit by starting their own muggle Quidditch team, thus leading to the formation of a Major League Quidditch team and even international competitions. In the real-life version of the sport, five balls are used: a volleyball (Quaffle), three dodgeballs (bludgers), and a tennis ball (Snitch). The key element to the game is that each player must have a broom between his or her legs throughout the entire game (Sosa).
Although peoples love for Harry Potter have inspired many to start their own real-life Quidditch team, it has also led to the development of a Wizard-rock festival, better known as Wrockstock. Wrockstock is an annual music festival that features wizard rock music, in which Potterheads perform their Harry-Potter inspired songs. This type of music is also known as “lit rock” or just “wrock,” where all the songs are about the Harry Potter books and even other young adult fantasy novels, such as Twilight, the Hunger Games, or His Dark Materials. This wizard-rock inspired music has grown over the years and has become popular amongst librarians who host wizard wrock concerts at their libraries as a way to bring young people to the library and inspire them to utilize the libraries resources, as wells as use library books (Kittner).
Potter-mania does not stop there, Durham University in the United Kingdom are offering students a course that focuses on the world of Harry Potter, called “Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion,” in order to evaluate the prejudice, citizenship and bullying in today’s society. According to the university, eighty undergraduates have signed up—it will be a part of the Bachelor’s of Arts degree in the Education Studies program. The course will focus on a number of themes that the series explores; it will place the books in a “wider social and cultural context” to help students understand important fundamental issues. Dr. Martin Richardson, who is the head of the Department of Education at Durham University, created the class in response to the growing demand from the student body; he sees the novels as a serious educational tool to understand society’s moral universe (Durham University Students Offered Harry Potter Course).
The Boy Who Lived is not the only inspiration behind the current Harry Potter modern trends, Professor Severus Snape—the most unlikeable, stern Potions Master professor in the series—has motivated some Potterheads to start a fiction-based religious sect called Snapeism. The religion consists of Snape fans, mostly women, who have developed a retelling of the fictional character. Women in this religious group are called Snapewives or Snapists, who channel Snape and are involved in romantic relations with the character—they also view Snape as a vital part of their lives for daily guidance. These Snapeists are Snape devotees are spiritual spouses to the character. Snapists believe that Snape exists independently of Rowling, and lives in feeling spirit; believers claim that Snape is as real as the Christian God. In the article by Zoe Aldterton, "‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom,” Snapists believes Snape to be “the reason, the reason [of] my sanity, my life, my growth, my guidance, my love, my focus, my aid, my Lord, my Master, my Teacher…everything and so much more” (Alderton, 219-67).
It is evident that some Harry Potter fans have taken their fandom to an extreme level of fandom, but the obsession does not stop there. Harry Potter fandom has become massive that the term for non-magic people, “muggle,” has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). According to the dictionary, muggle is defined as “a person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill.” Furthermore, the famous beverage mentioned in the Harry Potter books, Butterbeer, has also become an actual beverage in the muggle world. Buttbeer recipes are available to anyone’s disposal online, which has even led to the creation of the alcoholic Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer that could be bought at TalDepot.
Fictional wizards and witches are not the only ones who can enjoy the magical universe Rowling has constructed—muggles can too. In 2009, Universal Studios created the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which consists of two different areas in two different theme parks. The first one is Hogsmeade, located in Islands of Adventure at Universal. In the books, Hogsmeade is a magical, wizarding village in Scotland where Harry and other Hogwarts students come and explore for adventure, as well as for some Butterbeer; Hogsmeade at Universal also includes the marvelous Hogwarts Castle. Then there is Diagon Alley, which is nestled inside Universal Studios; it is a city block that consists of many side streets and features the Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Visitors are also given a chance to take a ride on the Hogwarts Express train at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where they can watch a simulation of their trip to Hogwarts as they travel to Universal’s Hogsmeade. At Hogsmeade, guests also get a chance to purchase their own Ollivander’s wand and other magical goods (Insider’s Guide to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter).
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
After nine years since the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, thus ending the most beloved series in the world, the magic returned on bookstore shelves with the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on July 31, 2016. It is a play written by Jack Thorne, along with the creator of Rowling, in which follows Harry’s friends and his children who set off for Hogwarts.
The play mainly focuses on Albus Severus, who is the second son of Ginny and Harry Potter, and his friendship with Scorpio Malfoy—Malfoy Draco’s son. Both Albus and Scorpio try to bring back Cedric Diggory, who died in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Lord Voldemort, by stealing a Time-Turner from the Ministry of Magic. The Time-Turner allows them to go back in time to the to the events leading to Cedric’s death at the Triwizard Tournament. Although they do this with good intention, their attempts to change the past effect major changes to their life (Begley).
The play premiered in London at the Palace Theater. Before the premiere, Potterheads got a chance to see a sneak peek of the production through Pottermore.com—a website created by Rowling that solely focuses on the Harry Potter books and characters. Currently, the play has made its way to the United States, in the New York Broadway stage. The script has sold over two million copies in North America, and in the U.K. it sold four million in the first week. What makes the play so relevant is not only its continuation of the most beloved series in the world, but it retouches many of the novel’s original plots, themes, and moral dilemmas—which hits home for many long-lasting Potter fans (Begley).
Harry Potter and its Wider Social Context
On a wider social and even cultural context, Harry Potter examines and teaches people of all ages and backgrounds of imperative principles. As mentioned before, the Potter series is cutting-edge because it fills the differences in culture; it gives readers a chance to evaluate the books many undertones, also the themes and characters are greatly identifiable; but lastly, the books combine academia and human development.
Rowling’s use of fictional magic has performed real-life magic because the books provide readers with social and moral guidance; the stories deal with universal issues. Although the Potter books were mostly inspired by her personal experiences, it was also through myths and folklores—which has impacted the moral themes that the story examines. Folklores and mythology have the power to display what humans are able to know and experience—it has influenced civilization in unbelievable ways. The author’s use of folklore and myths touches upon Rowling’s moral messages. Britain is used as the backdrop for the series since it has so much rich history, such as the nation’s governance and past tyrannical ruling, conquest of land, national identity, and progression of culture—topics that the books address as well. As a result, she utilized and included history to give more depth to her world and the principles she wants to teach (Vanderstock).
The author constructed a fantastical world that fills in for the moral education of adolescents and even adults. Rowling gives power to the Wizarding World by making her characters confront everyday issues that real-life people deal with, it teaches children how to co-exist with other people (muggles and pure bloods), and how to combat the most greatest evils like Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters (Vanderstock). As readers’ journey along with Harry and his friends, the books effortlessly teach human kindness and understanding.
Although stated previously, there are some essential lessons and principles that the series has taught readers. The first lesson is that genuine friendship can help a person get through the rough patches. The trio—Harry, Ron and Hermione—continuously proved readers that real friendship creates an indestructible bond. Together, the trio was able to combat the greatest evils that the Wizarding World has ever seen, along with surviving the struggles of being a teenager. The second lesson is a cliché one, but it is to never judge a book by its cover; meaning that making a quick judgment of someone may not always be accurate, which was the case of a scary half-giant who turned out to be kind, friendly, and a gentle comrade. Thirdly, it teaches people to not be afraid to ask for aid; sometimes you cannot do things alone and this mindset can have crippling effects. The fourth is that heartbreak is bound to happen; in the case of Lily Potter and Severus Snape, sometimes things do not work out like we want them to, but life does go on. The most important one is that true love is everlasting. Love is a well-known theme in the book, it was Lily’s love for Harry that gave him protection; the lesson is even though a person you love has died, the love you have for them does not fade (Rowling).
These are principles that are applied to everyday matters in life. It is these moral dilemmas that have taught readers to be genuine and kind-hearted individuals. In a world fixated on division and dislike for others, the Harry Potter books provide readers with a human outlook on social issues and problems of today. These are principles and lessons that will never grow old nor will it ever become irrelevant to our ever-changing society. The Potter books continues to teach compassion in young children and even touches the hearts of many adults—it provides readers with a different outlook on situations and social contexts that are not truly addressed in schools and sometimes in everyday life. Potter books prove that books have the power to influence and change the minds of all kinds of people.
Conclusion
After twenty years, it may be safe to say that Potter mania will not die down anytime soon. Readers continue to view the series as an escape and as a form of comfort, because the books are identifiable to people of all ages—not just children. Most importantly, the Harry Potter books also prove that literature and words contain unimaginable power; it has the power to teach, influence, and unite people of all ages and backgrounds. The themes that the books addresses has impacted readers in unimaginable ways because it teaches and emphasizes pertinent principles, such as love, friendship, kindness, loss, sadness, and good versus evil. Not only does it teach readers important lessons, but it has had amazing effects on modern culture like the invention of a real-life Quidditch team, new religions inspired by the series, college courses based on the books, and much more. Now with the production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, Potterheads can still continue their journey and love for the books and characters. Harry Potter is not just a fantasy series, to many it is real magic.
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