| Apparently a small chapbook publisher in Calgary is releasing a book called… let me look… oh yes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on June 21. Luckily you’re reading this column, or you might not have heard of this rare, limited edition at all.
OK, enough joking. By virtue of (a) breathing and (b) having ears, you’re guaranteed to have heard about the new Harry Potter book being released this week. The ominous flapping noise? That’s not one of the owls from the Potter book delivering a message, it’s the flapping of endless TV commentators’ jaws as pundits rush to join the hype machine for the latest volume of this mega-popular series.
But is it worth the hype? Put it this way – is anything? Not likely. So to counter the gushing reports and reviews that you’ll see elsewhere, I’ve decided to do my own analysis of the Harry Potter phenomenon – the good, the bad and the ugly.
THE GOOD
· Harry Potter makes kids read. In a world where books compete not only with each other, but also with television, movies, music, the Internet and hanging out at the mall for entertainment value, author J.K. Rowling has kids reading. A lot. One hundred and ninety million copies of Harry Potter books have been printed so far and that number will top 200 million after the new book is released.
· It wasn’t hype that made the books a success in the first place. Underneath all the attention, the novels themselves are fast-paced adventures full of great characters, fabulous inventions and wonderful humour.
· For anyone opposed to welfare programs, this shows how giving a young single mother a bit of a helping hand can help her out of the welfare rut very successfully. (J.K. Rowling earned more than Queen Elizabeth last year.) To frame this point another way for you capitalists, Harry Potter is now a $3-billion industry worldwide. Voodoo economics indeed!
THE BAD
· The downside of the economic activity generated by Harry Potter is the crass commercialization of Rowling’s creation. You can buy Harry Potter CDs, board games, video games, shirts, socks, action figures and candy. Oh, and of course the books themselves, which just happen to be available in about a dozen different formats (hardcover, softcover, box set, collector’s edition, audio book, etc.).
· Although written for kids, adults are reading these books too. That’s good if you just want some escapism, or if you don’t read much and they encourage you to keep reading other books. But don’t be fooled – Harry Potter isn’t great literature. It’s Stephen King for kids – fast-paced stories with massive audience appeal but not much in the way of deeper themes and levels of meaning.
· Those saccharine movie adaptations might actually give you cavities just by watching them without the need for the super-jumbo soda.
THE UGLY
· And speaking of soda, Coca-Cola has a $150 million US worldwide licensing deal tied in to the Harry Potter movies. This isn’t just ugly, it’s evil when corporations that market what amounts to nothing more than liquid sugar use vehicles like Harry Potter to hook young consumers on their unhealthy products. (See www.saveharry.com for the full story.)
· Increased levels of Satanic activity. (Well, only according to the gullible, ultra-religious adults who think Harry Potter makes kids more likely to slaughter cows and dance through pentagrams. C’mon, people – grab a clue!)
THE VERDICT
The Harry Potter books – harmless fantasies in the tradition of Tolkien, Frank Baum and C.S. Lewis – are good. Even if the massive success is partly the result of big-money corporate deal-making and unsubtle marketing campaigns better suited for American Idol or the next Hollywood summer blockbuster, the fact that this phenomenon has led to 200 million books being read around the globe is better than good, it’s great.
Special Harry Potter events will be held at most bookstores around Calgary on June 21. Call your nearest bookstore for details. |
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