hogwarts

Haven't we all, at one point or another in our lives, wanted to go to Hogwarts? I think that, beyond most other things, is why Harry Potter is as popular with people (mostly kids) as it is. Of course, when I say 'we all', I mean my age group, as the Harry Potter series was created in the mid 90s, for exactly my age group. Indeed, people who are now between 20-22 are the people who were Harry's age when the book came out, and so therein lies another reason why it was so popular: people could empathize with him. They felt like they could relate. I mean, okay, not EVERYone has their parents killed by a magically-armed psychopath, but sure, I guess the whole '11 year old boy with a true heart of gold who is routinely picked on by bullies is suddenly chosen for something much larger and grander' aspect of the story is what really appeals to everyone.

To go back to Hogwarts, though, I truly believe that while Harry/Ron/Hermione as characters are the ones that HOOK the reader (because, indeed, you [as the reader] meet them before Hogwarts even comes around the next bend of the train tracks), the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the real part that intrigues everyone. I mean, it’s like any other super popular and enduring franchise, you know? Yes, the characters are what draws you in, but it’s the WORLD that keeps you there. Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader. They’re all awesome, and no one would ever deny that, but it’s the universe and everything that goes on that makes you so interested. It’s the reason Boba Fett is such an enduring character despite the fact that he has all of 15 seconds of dialogue; it’s the reason that even the smallest planet or species has a backstory. Star Trek is the same way, and so is Lord of the Rings. But, I’m getting off track again. Hogwarts.

To me, one of the reasons it was so popular was because it was solely based in the United Kingdom. Until the 4th book came out, everyone read the books and perhaps vaguely wondered to themselves if there were these magical schools in other parts of the world as well. I mean, the UK couldn’t be the ONLY place in the world where there were witches and wizards, yeah? Then, as I mentioned, the 4th book was released…and we were introduced to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, the French and Russian schools, respectively. We didn’t learn much about those places, other than that they were different from Hogwarts. That seemed to suggest that there WERE other places, and of course, to my friends and I, the biggest question was “what about North America?” I STILL wonder about that. I mean, where would it be? Is there one for ALL of North America? Is there one in Canada and then one in the States? Or one on the Atlantic coast and then one over by the Pacific? Who knows?

Yes, the books for Harry Potter were definitely enthralling to a lot of people, myself included. They’re not superbly written, but the plot is definitely interesting, and the overarching series of events was enough to keep me interested, no matter how many pages J.K. Rowling hurled at me. Then…they made the movies. Honestly, the movies just aren’t good. I just don’t think they’re very good at all. The acting by the main three actors is terribly wooden, and when that is the performance of your main three people, then there’s a problem. I will admit, the movies (over the course of the years) have featured a who’s who of British actors (I regret that Liam Neeson couldn’t have found his way in there somewhere, but then again, he’s Irish), and they have largely been fantastic…but, still, the three main ones were godawful. You could have honestly replaced them with cardboard cutouts in ANY of the movies, including the last one (more on that in a bit), and there would have been literally no difference in their performances.

The last movie, which is not my favourite, got a ton of hype…because it was the last movie. It was, at best, an average movie. The special effects were pretty cool, and the actors (supporting cast) were great. Ralph Fiennes kind of hammed it up a bit, but, oh well. Still, though, it’s ridiculous just how much hype – and subsequently, money – this last movie made. Right now, on the all-time list, HP7.2 sits at #3 in terms of money grossed. It’s not as impressive when you take into account for inflation, in which case Gone With The Wind obliterates every other movie ever made, with Star Wars right behind it, but still. I think, however, the MOST annoying thing about HP7.2 was when everyone was lamenting that their childhood was over. I honestly just wanted to punch those morons in the face. I don’t know if they realize this, but, Harry Potter was over when the last BOOK came out, several years ago. Not just this past summer. Despite my dislike for the movies, the books are far superior, and therefore, the more important part. I will never understand the people were CRYING for god’s sake during the last movie; keep your eye-water inside, I don’t need people ruining a movie that I paid in excess of 15$ to go see (thanks, 3D, for making the movie unnecessarily more expensive).

My one consolation is that, despite my enjoyment of Harry Potter, it’ll never even touch Star Wars, in terms of being a lasting phenomenon in pop culture. I mean, it doesn’t matter to me personally, as in, I don’t profit or anything like that off of one or the other doing better, but it’s just nice to see something like Star Wars (which is just so much BETTER than HP) still be so far ahead. Sure, HP fanboys, bring on the ‘lol HP is the highest grossing franchise ever’ argument….despite the fact that it needed eight movies over ten years to do. Even if I removed the prequel trilogy from Star Wars, attendance for the SW series absolutely demolished HP, and this was without the terribad 3D crap. Yes, I admit, the PT tarnished the legacy of SW, but even with that small blight on record, all six films still kicked the crap out of HP. Actually, no, nothing could redeem ‘Attack of the Clones’ from being one of the worst movies I’ve seen in recent memory, not even the greatness of the rest of the movies. All of this last paragraph (and indeed, most of my blog posts) is subjective, but, whatever, I don’t give a ****. Harry Potter, as a universe, is great…but it ranks below Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and a number of others. Hell, had Firefly not gotten the axe by the idiots over at Fox (which also aired the episodes in the wrong order, and even left out three episodes completely), I guarantee more of the world would know about it, and it would be even MORE wildly popular than it is now. Perhaps not as popular as HP (because, let’s be real here, HP is more relatable than cowboys in space), but, still, pretty darn popular.
All I’m grateful for now, is that all the Facebook statuses about how HP is over have all died down. Sure, there’s the occasional person who posts about Pottermore (dumb), or about how HP7.2 is a masterpiece (have you SEEN any other movie in your life? Probably not, if you’re saying something as stupid as that), but for the most part it’s nice. Here’s hoping it doesn’t spring up again!