2008 Woodie Awards
Harry Potter: it's a kind of magic
The Editorial Board
Issue date: 7/18/07 Section: Opinions
It's the end of an era.
We're not being facetious. As the decade of Harry Potter comes to a close, it is impossible not to acknowledge the huge impact the series has had on pop culture and "children's" literature.
The books are almost excruciatingly popular, spawning film series and merchandise, and, more importantly, inspiring millions, children and adults alike, to engage in reading and participate in the rediscovery of the imagination. It's no coincidence that the number of fantasy novels aimed at children and young adults has exploded in the past decade, as well as the number of films containing fantastic elements and magical worlds. As corny as it sounds, Harry Potter almost single-handedly revived the magic that had been lacking in youth-targeted media.
Children are inspired by Harry Potter, not to study witchcraft and the occult like some decriers of the Potter machine have claimed, but to think of a magical, wonderful place where it matters more what choices you make, good or bad, than where you were born or what you can do. It shows children that heroes have knobby knees, buck teeth or bad eyesight, and that strength is not how much you can lift but how much you can care.
All this sounds sort of childish and more than a little hokey, but adults eat up the Potter novels just as voraciously, if not more so, than the target audience. J.K. Rowling's writing is less than extraordinary, but it is her complex, interesting characters that make the books hard to ignore and even harder to put down.
In honor of the end of the Boy Who Lived, we've put together a few things we would really like to see happen to or with our favorite characters in this final chapter of the Potter saga:
1. Ron and Hermione will finally do something about all of that sexual tension. Seriously. Get married. Get a room. Anything.
2. Hagrid will finally be important. Really important. Rowling spent a lot of time making us like him, and it would be nice to see the other characters recognize him as more than a loveable buffoon.
3. We hope that Draco will prove himself to not be a good guy or a bad guy, but just come to terms with being the unpleasantly biased jerk that he is, but that he'll do something noble while he's at it - like doing away with his horrible father, for instance.
4. We want Sirius to come back, some way, somehow, in some capacity. Seriously.
5. There must be some moment where Harry and Snape will face off and be about to finish the grudge match between them once and for all, but just before they can really go at it, something insane suddenly happens that changes everything.
6. Whatever happens, we don't want it all to end predictably.
After all, we expect more from Harry Potter.
We're not being facetious. As the decade of Harry Potter comes to a close, it is impossible not to acknowledge the huge impact the series has had on pop culture and "children's" literature.
The books are almost excruciatingly popular, spawning film series and merchandise, and, more importantly, inspiring millions, children and adults alike, to engage in reading and participate in the rediscovery of the imagination. It's no coincidence that the number of fantasy novels aimed at children and young adults has exploded in the past decade, as well as the number of films containing fantastic elements and magical worlds. As corny as it sounds, Harry Potter almost single-handedly revived the magic that had been lacking in youth-targeted media.
Children are inspired by Harry Potter, not to study witchcraft and the occult like some decriers of the Potter machine have claimed, but to think of a magical, wonderful place where it matters more what choices you make, good or bad, than where you were born or what you can do. It shows children that heroes have knobby knees, buck teeth or bad eyesight, and that strength is not how much you can lift but how much you can care.
All this sounds sort of childish and more than a little hokey, but adults eat up the Potter novels just as voraciously, if not more so, than the target audience. J.K. Rowling's writing is less than extraordinary, but it is her complex, interesting characters that make the books hard to ignore and even harder to put down.
In honor of the end of the Boy Who Lived, we've put together a few things we would really like to see happen to or with our favorite characters in this final chapter of the Potter saga:
1. Ron and Hermione will finally do something about all of that sexual tension. Seriously. Get married. Get a room. Anything.
2. Hagrid will finally be important. Really important. Rowling spent a lot of time making us like him, and it would be nice to see the other characters recognize him as more than a loveable buffoon.
3. We hope that Draco will prove himself to not be a good guy or a bad guy, but just come to terms with being the unpleasantly biased jerk that he is, but that he'll do something noble while he's at it - like doing away with his horrible father, for instance.
4. We want Sirius to come back, some way, somehow, in some capacity. Seriously.
5. There must be some moment where Harry and Snape will face off and be about to finish the grudge match between them once and for all, but just before they can really go at it, something insane suddenly happens that changes everything.
6. Whatever happens, we don't want it all to end predictably.
After all, we expect more from Harry Potter.
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