Beyond Harry

jmnosal | 7/20/2007 6:41 pm | Words and Otherwise

I debated for a while whether or not to write a post concerning Harry Potter and his final book which, as I don't need to tell you, comes out tomorrow (or really late tonight if you want to be a jerk about it). I am, after all, one of the least qualified people to discuss the topic. I haven't read any of the books, seen any of the movies, listened to any of the soundtracks, played any of the video games, or eaten any of those disgustingly flavored jelly beans you see circulating around. I can identify some key words and phrases as distinctly Potterian (accent the "o") but couldn't begin to tell who or what a "muggle" or a "dumbledor" is. My working excuse is that I am waiting to have kids so I can read the books with them (a nice father-child activity if you ask me), but truth be told I just haven't been that intrigued by the books to pick them up and start working my way through. People, lots of people, have tried to encourage me to do so but in the end I can think of a lot of other books I want to read before I even consider a Harry Potter (aficionados will recall Catch-22).

I was also hesitant to write anything because anything worth saying (and a lot of things not worth saying) about the series and culture has already been written 1000 times before by critics, teachers, children, priests, etc. to the effect that any of my own opinions would be far from fresh and new.

However, despite all this, I felt the need to ask a question that has been on my mind for a while now: What comes after Harry?

It is no exaggeration to say that the cultural impact this young wizard has had is unprecedented. I can hear the Star Wars people getting up out of their chairs in outrage but in my mind, the two aren't close. Between the books and the movies and those jelly beans I mentioned earlier, the franchise has made its creator a billionaire, has people lined up outside of bookstore and movies theaters for days, and is causing my mother to completely shut herself off from TV, newspapers, and the internet until she finishes the last book for fear of having the end ruined. It is unlikely that we will see again what we have seen with Harry Potter in terms of media saturation, the eclectic fan base, the anticipation and the impact it has had on several generations; so again, I ask: What comes after Harry?

When there are no more books to read, movies to see and jelly beans to buy, chew, and then spit out, there will be a huge void created which simply cannot be filled by the David Beckhams, Robert Langdons, or Oprahs of the world. Where this void will take the younger generations who have grown up over the past ten years on wizards and spells and "quidditch" I won't begin to speculate. Will they continue to read? Go to movies? Will witchcraft take over as the nation's leading religion? Or will people just sit back around the fire and recount their favorite Harry Potter moments, enjoying a laugh and a cry over some vomit flavored jelly beans? These are the questions, and I guess we'll just have to wait to find out.

blog entry tag reference

culture | Literature

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