A bit too wild about Harry Potter?
By Marjorie Kehe | 11.17.08
When it comes to Harry Potter enthusiasts, it’s a wacky world out there. Parents, of course, want their kids to learn to love to read. But could it really be a good thing for anyone to obsess over any books the way some young readers do over Harry Potter?
This is a question you may find yourself asking as you watch “We Are Wizards,” Josh Koury’s documentary film released in theaters last week about some of Harry Potter’s more, well, let’s say “dedicated” fans.
“Ten percent of Harry Potter fans are addicts,” admits blogger Christopher Campbell. “This is a fact, according to a recent scientific study. But after watching ‘We Are Wizards,’ a documentary about Harry Potter fandom directed by Josh Koury, it seems clear that the study was a waste of time. One only needs to see this film to know that Potterphiles go a little overboard with their love for the boy wizard.”
The 79-minute film actually covers a fair amount of territory – too much, complains a review in the New York Times – as it touches on “fandom as an act of creation, intellectual property rights in the Internet age, conglomerate bullying.”
But the heart – and charm – of the film is its investigation of Harry and the Potters, an indie rock band formed by brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge in 2002. The band, which prefers to play in libraries, performs songs with Harry Potter-inspired lyrics. They have released three full-length studio albums and have performed internationally. (The Boston Phoenix calls them “the Pink Floyd of Potterdom.”)
Actually, according to Campbell, there are at least 300 “wizard bands” out there, groups like “The Wands, who aren’t in the film, apparently have songs about what it’s like to be a wand and The Whomping Willow (now The Whomping Willows) writes from the perspective of, yes, a violent, magical tree on the Hogwarts grounds.”
Is this an incredible flowering of creativity based on books that represent a golden moment of children’s literature? Or is it something darker and more dangerous (as at least one speaker in the documentary suggests)? Or is it perhaps just craziness?
You may have to go see “We Are Wizards” before you can decide.
Comments
2. Sarah | 11.17.08
Harry and the Potters and similar bands is just a bunch of kids having fun. Yeah, some fans do become a bit obsessed and it goes a little overboard, but for the most part it’s just a bunch of kids bonding over a common interest and being goofy. Lighten up.
3. Moody | 11.17.08
Somebody had to do a study for this? The word “fan” comes from “fanatic” for a reason. Pick any topic and the top 10% of the devotees will be around the bend.
4. Nate | 11.17.08
i dont think this is any different than star wars or star trek. besides 10% of any group of fans could be considered addcits. why single out harry potter?
fans of the new york yankees or boston red sox would be like super addicts.
5. Christina | 11.17.08
I agree with the previous comments - fans will be fans, and so much of the Harry Potter fandom is a creative outlet. The books demand creativity! Where else can you find streets called Diagon Alley (diagonally) and magical gadgets called Spectrospecs and foods called Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans? (When they say every flavor, they MEAN every flavor.) It’s a kid’s dream, and I’m an adult who still considers myself a kid.
6. LilyMalfoy | 11.17.08
Proud to be a Potter-Nutter ^_^
Woop to JK, Emerson and all fanficcers!
People who think HP is dangerous needs to be in St Mungo’s…
7. Susan Umpleby | 11.17.08
Why shouldn’t fans celebrate something they love and which has inspired them? Harry Potter fans are no more “dark” or “dangerous” than other fans who like to dress up and attend science fiction conventions. Or people who join the Society for Creative Anachronisms (who give us renaissance fairs among other things). Or people who take part in fantasy football leagues.
I have found that people who decry the Harry Potter books as dark, evil & “satanic” haven’t even read them for themselves. They rely on hearsay…most times from other people who also haven’t read the series.
8. Shlesha | 11.17.08
I’m obsessed but that’s not bad. I mean if you stop studying for HP then okay thats bad but…as long as you stay on task and obsess about it on your free time then I think it’s alright.
10. phoebe | 11.18.08
i’m proud to count myself as one of the addicts. after the books ended i literally went through a period of mourning, not only because of all the sad things in the books, but because i knew it was ending. mugglenet.com is still my homepage and i get antsy if there hasn’t been any news for a while. my favorite jacket is a gryffindor one, and i’m going to twilight for the main purpose of seeing the new trailer in theaters.
what’s life without some passion though? i don’t see any problem with my addiction. everybody has passions and things they throw themselves into, and the potterverse is in no way detrimental to my health. in fact, the books have helped me a lot over the years, not just as a form of escape, but in finding myself and learning to be comfortable with who i am. not only does jo teach this in the books, but you learn to be comfortable in your obsession and let it show, not caring if some people think you are lame. the books teach you about good and evil and the power of friendship, and a million other things.
i grew up with harry, and i couldn’t be prouder to say that. i can’t wait til the day when i have kids and they happen across my books and ask about them and i can tell them just how huge the potter-mania was, or hopefully still is, if it has its’ predicted star wars-like life.
i LOVE harry potter, and i always will, and i’m proud to say it.
11. juden patoc | 11.18.08
well! well! well! i don’t care what all of you want to say but harry potter will always be harry potter for us!!
12. Frederick | 11.19.08
If you were a Harry Potter fan too, you would understand what it means to us. 
13. John | 11.20.08
I would say there is a danger in obsessing over Harry Potter, as I have. But then, I also have a problem with obsession, so who’s to say the fanatics are any different? Harry Potter can be problematic, like any book. For me, there have been two problems. First, there was the difficulty of overcoming the need to constantly think about it. Harry Potter flooded my mind for a very long time. I started to live and act as my own imaginary character in the story. I changed the music I listened to and the clothes I wore. I assumed Harry Potter dressed modestly and enjoyed healthy music (not emo!), so it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. But I wasn’t acting like a child of God, being uncomfortable with who I was and experiencing a kind of identity crisis.
My second problem is less dramatic. I found it a while ago in a portion of Wikipedia’s Harry Potter article:
Jenny Sawyer wrote in the 25 July 2007 Christian Science Monitor that the books represent a “disturbing trend in commercial storytelling and Western society” in that stories “moral center have all but vanished from much of today’s pop culture … after 10 years, 4,195 pages, and over 375 million copies, J. K. Rowling’s towering achievement lacks the cornerstone of almost all great children’s literature: the hero’s moral journey”. Harry Potter, Sawyer argues, neither faces a “moral struggle” nor undergoes any ethical growth, and is thus “no guide in circumstances in which right and wrong are anything less than black and white”.
While there are good messages in Harry Potter (I will go so far as to call it “Christian fantasy”, which is what Rowling sees it as), I think Sawyer’s criticism is accurate. What I get from Harry Potter is a wish that I had been born into the world of Harry Potter (or even born Harry Potter). What I don’t get from Harry Potter is a sense of purpose about who I am and what I should do with my life. The protagonist of Harry Potter cannot help me make right decisions, because he is only ordinary. What makes Harry special is circumstance. I think Harry Potter is a fun ride, but not something to envision your life around.
14. taiba muzammal tahreem | 11.25.08
it is good for fun.we proud to be fan of HP.his chracter is very positive for socitey.we enjoy to watch harry potter,s movies.
15. Muhammad Sarmad | 11.25.08
i dont like HP.i feel jealous with him bcoz my sister and my cousins like him.i think thoes people r crazzy who like HP.
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1. Sarah | 11.17.08
I think that ‘Potter’ fans are not crazy- they just are being creative and want to share the joy they find in the boy wizard. While some love this, others couldn’t care less- and BOTH views are ok. I believe this isn’t something dark or dangerous, just an opinion about a work. ‘We Are Wizards’ was made to celebrate the Harry Potter fandom, and not necessarily represent all fans of the famous series. My main point is, there are two points to everything, and we shouldn’t criticize something without looking at how other people feel about it too. Everyone has their own choice, and with something like the Potter series hurtful opinions are better left unsaid.