By Mary Leong
The Harry Potter books have captured the world’s imagination, and the movies continue to work their magic. UBC professor Giselle Baxter and psychology student, Tania Pardisi, share their reactions to this worldwide phenomenon.
The second installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows earned a box-office shattering $186.5 million over its opening weekend, attracting enormous queues of costumed fans young and old.
Giselle Baxter, sessional instructor in the English department, said the generational breadth of the Harry Potter fanbase can be ascribed to several factors.
Firstly, the turn of the millennium heralded a greater appetite for epic fantasy, fuelled by the popularity of the Lord of the Rings movies. Second, big-box bookstores were able to increase reach by hosting midnight galas and book release parties as the Harry Potter books were published. The increased ubiquity of the Internet also helped drive the Harry Potter fandom.
“In the 60s, Star Trek fans had to mail each other fan material or go to conventions, which took a lot of effort,” said Baxter. “With Harry Potter, fans of all ages could connect with each other easily through discussion boards and fan sites.”
Baxter makes a distinction between two types of Harry Potter fans. The first are teenagers or adults who became Harry Potter fans after the series had gained traction – either through watching a movie or reading several books at once.
Then there are the fans who grew up during the 1990s, and waited for each book in the series to be published. Tania Pardisi, a third-year Psychology student, is one such fan.
“I’ve been watching the movies since I was 10 years old, and reading the books even before then,” said Pardisi. “I used to wait for the books to come out, and then I would wait for the movies to be released. I have literally been following this series for half my life.”
Pardisi and her friends waited in line for six hours before the release of Deathly Hallows.
“I dressed as a Gryffindor student, and my friend went as Bellatrix. I’m very happy that I went to the midnight screening,” said Pardisi. “The vibe and energy is just so different because you know that everybody who was there and willing to line up is actually a big fan.”
Baxter is interested to see how the fandom will shift with the culmination of the film series, particularly around fanfiction or an “expanded universe” much like the one Star Wars fans created.
“It will be interesting to see if the generation that grew up with the books take a more canonical approach to fanfiction, or whether alternate universe stories – first written by older fans – remain popular,” said Baxter.
Baxter predicts that there will be a remake of the Harry Potter film series, just as Peter Jackson had done with Lord of the Rings.
Still can’t get enough of Harry Potter? Check out J.K. Rowling’s latest project, Pottermore.
