GENERATION WHY?: Contemplating fellow Gen Y-er, Mr. Harry Potter

You may have heard that the last Harry Potter movie came out last Friday, so I figured now was the time for a tribute. After all, it be silly to write a column about this generation's experience without mentioning one of its biggest cultural phenomena. We grew older as Harry did; in other words, he himself is a member of Generation Y.

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GENERATION WHY?: Contemplating fellow Gen Y-er, Mr. Harry Potter

POSTED: Monday, July 25, 2011, 10:00 AM

Filed Under: Critical Mass

Harry kicks ass between homework sessions

Matt Cantor puts Generation Y-ers on blast.

You may have heard that the last Harry Potter movie came out last Friday, so I figured now was the time for a tribute. After all, it be silly to write a column about this generation’s experience without mentioning one of its biggest cultural phenomena. We grew older as Harry did; in other words, he himself is a member of Generation Y.

I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about these books and movies that hasn’t already been said by millions of people. Ever since the books took off, mainstream commentators have been trying to figure out just what it is that makes them so popular. I can’t answer that question for everyone, but there is one aspect of the stories that I am uniquely suited to explain: why I love them.

A decade or so ago, I picked up the first book with some doubt. An orphan who realizes he’s a wizard? Doesn’t sound hugely original. Yet I was quickly swept away.

It’s always hard to analyze why something is appealing, but I think the key to Harry’s success is J.K. Rowling’s perfect balance between reality and fantasy. After a prologue that foreshadows the magic to come, we’re quickly dropped into a world we know well from our own lives — no weird creatures, no alternate universe, just a fairly generic suburban household. The book pulls us into the fantasy world slowly. There are unexplained powers and mysterious letters, but we’re still rooted in a drab English town. When, finally, the book makes its major transition — from the known world into the wizarding one — we’re seeing it all through the eyes of a character who understands only as much as we do. That serves two purposes. First, it lets us believe in this odd new world, because it seems as bizarre to Harry as it does to us. And second, though we might be embarrassed to admit it, it lets us believe — especially as children — that perhaps all this could happen to us. Even if we’re just awkward, everyday kids struggling to get through childhood.

Even after we arrive at Hogwarts, there are powerful strains of the familiar amid the magical. These kids may be witches and wizards, but they’re also thoroughly human. Though the overarching conflicts of the books are matters of life and death, matters of social life are often equally important. We may not all be wizards, but we can certainly identify with discord among friends and reputations crushed by false rumors. Along with defeating Voldemort, Harry’s got to deal with questions like whether friendship is a good enough reason to put a bad player on the Quidditch team, or how to react when his classmates turn against him. And, of course, there are the romantic plotlines that appropriately deepen as Harry ages. The pages devoted to very real matters like these, I think, have inspired as much loyalty among fans as the book’s mysteries and adventures. It’s a big part of what separates Potter from books like Lord of the Rings: Both Frodo and Harry are tasked with saving the world, but Harry has to do his homework, too.

(matt.cantor@citypaper.net)

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