As J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ empire grows to fantastic proportions we have an interesting look into the culture that has made the epic tale so popular. It is pretty easy to see why both the movie and the books are so popular for kids. The books are extremely easy to read and very entertaining. The movies fit well with the books, and are pretty kid friendly themselves. But what about Harry Potter is so appealing for adults? Especially, why is this story, which is so similar to other stories of its type, so popular now? In part 1 we will talk about the movie’s and books on the surface and we will try to see if the movies brings in any new ideas. In part 2 we will talk about some of the more adult messages being put forth in J.K. Rowling’s books.
First let’s talk about how this story is similar to epic tales of the past. J.K. Rowling has painted a fantastic background that is truly astonishing but how much of it is new? Witches, wizards, trolls, unicorns, dragons, giants, flying broomsticks, spells, potions, werewolves, vampires, hags, ghosts, the list could continue for awhile, but you get the point. We have been seeing these imaginary icons for a long long time. Also, this long epic tale’s main themes are nothing new either. The protagonist has some strange connection with antagonist, how often do we see this? Our hero grows up in a completely mundane life with his aunt and uncle, do I really need to list all the epic stories we see this situation in? Ok, Star Wars (again), Lord of the Rings,Braveheart,Aragon, Spiderman, etc. But surely an epic tale of friendship has never been written?
Ok so this genre share’s a lot of its plot points. But J.K. Rolling does something different, which people find endearing. She thrusts this plot into the context of our world; which we do not see very often. She embeds this story into the world we are in every day. This plays into kids and adults alike. Who doesn’t like to think that there is the ridiculous wizarding school pumping out pointed hat wearing, broom stick flying, spell casting witches and wizards right in our back yard. It’s kind of fun to think of this alternate reality, a reality that is usually far removed in other epic tales, operating right under our noses.
JK Rowling used familiar characters to tell her story and it has obviously worked, i.e. it’s hugely popular. As you can see with the popularity of other sequels and remakes people don’t like big surprises, they like to see some new aspects, but largely they like to be told a story where they don’t have to work to imagine an entirely new world. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I don’t know. All book to movies, remakes, or any other translation play into this fact that people will always choose what they are more familiar with if given two equal options. Furthermore, it makes the story telling a lot easier. But the question we ask a lot here is, in this instance are the story tellers taking a short cut and playing it safe with something that is tried and true, or are they using the framework of something that is already familiar and using it as a tool to tell their own story. It is my belief that the Harry Potter movies were undoubtedly made because it is tried and true and safe. There aren’t any new ideas put forth in the movies that aren’t in the books, however this isn’t necessarily bad. There is real entertainment and enjoyment in seeing what you have read played out in the theater, if only to add beauty to the story. But also I think the books use the framework of an epic tale and traditional imaginary characters to tell her own very unique story.
-By Jim deVries
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