HURRICANE HARRY SET TO DEVASTATE NORTH AMERICA

The seventh Harry Potter movie opens at midnight on Thursday.  My 15 year old daughter will be in attendance, front of the queue.

We made this t-shirt for her to wear to the premiere.  God knows what it’s referencing.  I know Dobby is the house elf.  Apparently he plays a role in this movie.

I’ve blogged before about the cultural comet that is the Harry Potter universe.

It just never bloody ends!

This drink would sell a whole lot!

As the parent of three avid harry potter fans i’ve seen first hand the comet-like impact the books have had on this generation. it makes star wars look like a cult hit. kind of.

I often wonder what the long term cultural effects of this utter infatuation will be. it’s interesting because as this generation’s parents got sucked into the internet the younger generation were getting stuck into a good 700 page book that was a real commitment in terms of time and energy. i never read a 700 page book in my life. much less when i was eight years old!

One effect i have noticed about this generation, and i realize it might be too much of an extrapolation, is that they are much more balanced about the internet than their parents. to them it’s purely a tool. something that’s always been there. like we would look at a refrigerator. they have a real sense of perspective about it.

Anyway, a kind Escape Pod designer whipped this bottle label up for my kids. You see we’re celebrating Severus Snape’s birthday at our house tomorrow. And i thought it would be nice if our fizzy grape juice had customized labels.
Spoiler alert! Snape would have been 51 tomorrow had he not…never mind.

Yes folks, It’s that scary!

The Harry Potter Generation

My kids (girl:13, girl:9, boy :8) all have one thing thing they all have in common: a complete and thorough knowledge of the works of JK Rowling. I remember back in 1997 first being asked to buy a Harry Potter book. i thought nothing of it.

This afternoon we all went to see THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE (part one) movie at the local luxuryplex. Even the most minor deviations from the sacred text were lambasted by my highly literate and knowledgable crew. “The Weasleys house never burned down in the book!” etc.

i have often wondered what the long-term impact of the Harry Potter books on this generation will be. I’m guessing it will be like Star Wars was on mine. an impact like a comet that will reverberate for a very long time.

firstly there is the very act of actually completing all seven or eight books. one more detailed than the other — my eight year old son recently read all eight in a few months. it encourages and demands voracious reading. and like the old saying says, once your mind is stretched it never goes back to its original shape. very true.

consequently my kids are world champion readers thanks to JK Rowling. they read and write incessantly. which runs counter to the millenial stereotype of short attention spans and texting as language. these kids are a throwback to the 1930s. they make my generation look like the tubers that we were.

they have a real good grasp of what they’re interested in. and it’s a very balanced mix. they are not wowed or enamored of any particular medium. unlike their internet crazed elders. i largely have my splendid wife to thank for all this goodness and I also realize that my kids aren’t representative of anything but my kids. but the success of the HP books has been about as big anything since the beatles.

books. who ever would have thought that? reading! kids today etc…