The extraordinary popular success of the Harry

Potter franchise has not always been matched by

critical acclaim, consider one or two of the less than
enthusiastic assessments and weight their merits
against the popular reaction.

Nerea Gonzlez Souto

J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter books have become a must when talking about
childrens books and bestsellers. Its huge popularity is second to none in
recent years, but some groups in our society heartily disapprove of them,
calling them a disastrous influence on children. Although its success is
undeniable, not everyone praises it, as we may have been led to believe by
the media. Is the reason of its popularity the cause of somebodys
displeasure as well? Reading phenomenon or a new cult in the making?
The Harry Potter series became a worldwide phenomenon because of a
compendium of things.
First of all, its popularity with all ages lays in elements through the book that
appeal to both, children and adults. For children, Harry is a character they
can relate with, in the sense that he is more or less the age they had when
they began to read the books (in some cases this does not apply) so they
grew with him as the books progressed from an eleven year old child, lost
and mistreated by its family, to a fine young man that had to endure many
difficult trials to get his final year in Hogwarts. In this same line of though,
every child dreams with someone that makes them special, different from
the rest (this is most true in bullied children, that dream of the day they can
stand up for themselves or someone save them from their suffering), and
the whole thing about receiving the Hogwarts letter gives them hope of
receiving one too.
Moreover, they find the idea of having a wand to do magical spells and
potions very exciting, because that way they the power so to speak. A
magical wand gives them a chance to do whatever they want within some
limits and in a sense they become independent of their parents, who still
have control over them but not so much as a normal children would. Of
course we cannot forget the mystical creatures and the magical books,
candies and the like; they forge a new world full of possibilities where the
young adults can prove themselves (Harrys adventures since first year or
the twins penchant for trouble are good examples of the new possibilities
that await a young witch or wizard regardless of their status-mudblood, halfblood or pureblood- and house).
Another important point is of course the likeable characters. Who has not
compared themselves sometime with poor Ron, who is always in the shadow
of his best-friend popularity but despite of his jealousy continues to be by
his side (most of the time anyway)? Hermione too, for that matter, that
bushy haired girl that is bullied at first by everyone and called a bookworm
because of its intellect, is a very popular character. We can go on and on for
ages describing characters such as the twins, Ginny and her crush on the
Boy-Who-Lived, the gossip queens that are dorm mates of Hermione, the
dragon-tamer Charlie, the Hollywood star represented on the international
Quidditch player Victor Krum, the grandfatherly figure of Albus too-manynames-to-remember Dumbledore and so on. Each and every one of them

are people to whom a normal person can relate and that makes the reading
more interesting, because you actually become (if you try hard enough) one
of the characters for a little while.
Moving on, as I said before, children are not the only ones that have fallen in
love with the books. Adults all over the world have read the series, some
because they were reading it to their children, some others because
everyone had read them and many other reasons that are not of interest.
One can wonder as to why an adult, be young, middle-aged or old, would
read a childrens book and actually like it. It is strange, because the majority
of childrens books do not appeal to their parents; they are too simple for
their taste. So, what makes Harry Potter different? That is a question with
multiple answers and we may never pinpoint it. One of the many reasons is
that J.K. Rowling set the books in an old-fashioned world; the lack of
technology, the ancient castle illuminated with candles because electricity
does not work with magic, the resemblance to the adventure novels they
read as kids, the beginning of the twentieth century clothes and believes,
etc. Another reason is that the nastiness you get through the whole series is
an old-fashioned kind, with school bullies and the ever clich villain that
ends up killed by the protagonist, in this case Harry, that becomes the Hero.
And lastly but not least, Rowling did not put any kind sex scenes nor drugs
or drunk teenagers that are so typical of many books for young adults or
teenagers nowadays, that makes the adults, especially the ones that are
parents, less wary of letting their children read the books at such a young
age.
Summing up, Harry Potter is read not only by its intended public but by
many others and that is what makes the series so especial and unique
compared to the other children books out there.
Of course, that is a good justification of why exactly is the Harry Potter
phenomenon considered a popular text and why it is so popular, but we
cannot forget that behind all the process there is a marketing campaign
worth mentioning because it is one of the most successful campaigns ever.
The Harry Potter brand, as many call it, is composed not only by the books
and films but many other paraphernalia like toys, real Bertie Bott candies
and chocolate frogs, decoration items for bedrooms and bathrooms, real
broomsticks, wands and robes and it goes on and on. Other Brands, like
Warner Brothers, Coca-Cola, Apple, Mattle and Time Warner, have invested
millions of dollars to promote, in one way or another, Harry Potter (Sonali
Patel, 2006).
Without going much into it, it can be said that the Marketing strategy behind
the whole series, consisting on two stages, from 1997 to 2000 (that
displayed all elements necessary for a tip to occur) and from 2000 onward
(where the tip occurred, launching the brand into mass marketing) (Sonali
Patel, 2006), was a key point in the massive success of the books.

Finishing this summary of why did the Potter-mania became what it is today,
I would like to mention briefly the theory of Anne Alton, mentioned in her
book "Generic Fusion and the Mosaic of Harry Potter." Critical Perspectives
on Harry Potter. Basically, she explains that the mixture of genres that
composes the books are one of the main reasons of its success. These
genres would be pulp fiction (i.e. the cover attracts the reader, portraying a
world of myth and adventures), horror (with elements like the violence
murdering, kidnapping- and the whole dark scenery the huge castle with
dungeons, dark corridors, secret passages, a black lake, the forbidden
forest and its dangerous creatures-), mystery (you are in suspense through
the whole book and the scenery gives a dark sense of foreboding) fantasy
(no need to explain that one, magic anyone?) and sports (Quidditch vs.
football, the discussions between Ron and Dean in their shared room). There
are other but these are, I believe, the most relevant.
Moving on to the main topic, I said that Harry Potter is a Popular Text and a
reading phenomenon, but, as it happens with other books, there are groups
of people that believe Harry Potter to be a book about Satanism and J.K.
Rowling nothing short of the devil himself.
As it would be impossible to research what everyone thinks about it I am
simply going to analyse two of the most widespread opinions out there
about the negative impact of the books on children.
Many parents (and no parents too) are concerned about the role model that
Harry represents to the young generation. This concern varies from what are
we doing to do if they start to challenge our authority like Harry does with
his authority figures, always getting into trouble and endangering himself
(not intentionally mind you, trouble always finds him) to the Christian theory
of Magic, black or white, is evil and its practice forbidden. In this last point is
in which I am going to centre myself, as I believe is the most interesting
one. I worked with two texts, articles online by religious people that are very
concerned with the impact Harry Potter is making in society.
The first one is the most shocking, going as far as to say - 'GOD HATES
HARRY POTTER' - LEARN WHY READING HARRY POTTER WILL LEAD TO
DEMON POSSESSION, IS J.K. ROWLING REALLY A WITCH?, WHY READING
POTTER WILL SEND YOUR 6 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER'S SOUL STRAIGHT TO
HELL- It is an article published anonymously in a page full of critics to
everything
that
opposes
Christian
morals
(http://www.godhatesgoths.com/godhatesharrypotter.html).
While this article is the exception because of its savage remarks to both
book and author (and all affiliated parties) and not the norm, it is the
clearest example of the other side of the coin.
The second text, its a much more rational explanation of why some
Christians as themselves think that the books are a bad example. The
concern lays in the exposition of children to Wiccan practices and the occult.

The author says that Rowling, a graduate from Exeter, is very familiar with
the occult, using elements and philosophies behind pagan religions, celtic
religions, the religions of the druids, witchcraft and Satanism (Ken
James,2001/2010).
The magic they practice is forbidden and he cites a paragraph of the bible to
prove so:
There shall not be found among you anyone who practices witchcraft, or
a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who
conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For
all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of
these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.
You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which
you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the
LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
Deut. 18:10-14
He is not the only one to think like that, schools all over the world have
prohibited the reading of Harry Potter in school, citing some of the very
same reasons he mentions. The majority of that schools are, of course,
Christian. Apart from that, there are many books written about this relation
between J.K. Rowlings masterpiece and the occult, some criticising and
some just analysing, but many have the same question in common: Is it
Harry Potter a reading phenomenon or a cult in the making?
This opens, in my opinion, a very interesting point. While some wont agree,
it is partially true that Potter and company have become an obsession to
many. I wouldnt exactly call it a cult in the sense the articles above
mentioned are implying but as the times goes, we can see merchandise
everywhere and people whose whole live revolve around the Harry Potter
world. The cosplay, very popular in Japan, has even reached this mania,
making suits like the school uniforms at Hogwarts with scale brooms to go
with it. Everyone knows who the young wizard is and many writers have
taken Rowlings teachings to heart, resulting in Sagas like Twilight or
Shadow Hunters that thanks to her had a chance in a world already
enamoured with the supernatural because of her books.
To further prove this point of a cult in the making in the more lax meaning
of the term, there are pages online (of course we can talk about Pottermore,
but that was created by Rowling herself not by the fans) that recompile
thousands of Fanfics revolving around the books. What is a fanfic? Well, a
fanfic is basically a story written by someone that for some reason of
another revolves around the world of a book, film, cartoon, serie,
videogame, etc. already created and borrows some things from it. Coming
back to Potter, we can put a few examples: a story that borrows just the
characters and creates a new world around them is an AU story, meaning
Alternative Universe; a story that borrows the world and some of the

characters but introduces new ones created by him or her, is an OC story,

Original Characters. These are just two examples of the multiple possibilities
you can find on the net, but serves to prove that Harry Potter is not just a
series of books and films but a whole industry.
In conclusion, while Harry Potter is loved by many, there is still some bad
opinions out there in spite of what the media usually makes us believe, their
idea is not true in all its points in my opinion, but It is certainly true that
Harry Potter, for good or not, has become a role model for children all over
the world and not only for children, but for young adults and teenagers as
well. It is truly that far off the mark the statement about Harry Potter is a
cult in the making? If the industry continues to grow, will it become a classic
in the future? Will our grandchildren study Harry Potter as we study
Shakespeare today or will the phenomenon disappear after a few decades?
I only know that being as it may, J.K. Rowling created not only a book, but a
whole world that will continue to influence children all over the world for
many years to come.

Bibliography

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Perspectives on Harry Potter. Ed. Elizabeth Heilman. New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis Group, 2003. 141-62. Print.
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