| Arts & Leisure | |||||||||||
Harry
Potter and the College Community |
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| By
Danielle Serra Arts & Leisure Editor |
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Would the degnoming at the Burrow be in it? Maybe Peeves, the annoying poltergeist, would make it into this movie; he was missing from the last, causing some disappointment. Then came speculation, as some fans thought of the actors who they felt would be perfect for roles in the third film, set to come out in 2004. Who could replace the late Richard Harris as Dumbledore, who seemed perfect for the role of Hogwarts’ beloved headmaster? Who would play Sirius Black, the prisoner of Azkaban or Professor Lupin, the next in a line of Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers?
Conversation about the movie might have turned to Book Five. The elusive fifth Potter book which has been the topic of mailing lists for fans who wanted to know just when “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” was due to hit bookstores. Finally, on Jan. 15, the release date (June 21, 2003) was announced, making many a Potter fan ecstatic and rushing to pre-order. More speculation as to what Rowling has in store for her famed young wizard with the lightening bolt scar stems from the book’s impending release.
Close to show time, the theater was packed tighter than Harry in his tiny cupboard under the stairs and vacant seats were few and far between. A young woman wandered in with a striped scarf similar to those Hogwarts’ students wear. Some fans sat in Harry Potter shirts overtly displaying their “fandom.” And a lot of these fans contributing to the excitement-filled air and speculative chatter at this late showing of the second Harry Potter film looked at least legal. And though “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” has a surprise in store at the end of its tale, it comes as no surprise that making up a good part of Harry’s fan base are adults, including college students. How did Harry make the journey to college and what’s keeping him there? The answer: the allure of magic and imagination in a well-written story isn’t just for kids in grammar school. Big kids like it too. The college community welcomes Harry Potter and the magic he brings with him. From the Beginning… Rowling’s books are what started it all—this Harry Potter craze that draws long box office and bookstore lines upon every new release. And in some cases the books are all a fan needs to be one and get initiated into the diverse fan base ranging from children to their grandparents; this including the college crowd, in the middle of that range. “I had gotten a set of hard cover books for my birthday. They looked cool and I love to read new things. Basically everyone was saying that these were children’s books that parents wanted to read, and I thought that was a fascinating concept,” said Melissa Steiger, a senior at The College of New Jersey.
For some college kids, it’s a combination of the books and the movies that got them hooked. In some cases, the movie is what first introduced them to Harry’s world of Quidditch and Transfiguration. Michele Chan, a senior at TCNJ, became a fan after “Watching the first movie. After that I started reading the books and just had to read every one.” Chrissy Kosturski, another senior at TCNJ, started on the path to Potter fandom due to curiosity brought on by the craze. “My sister had the four books (my OLDER, 24-year-old sister) and I was bored one day and decided to see what the hubbub was about (this was before the movie ever came out),” said Kosturski. Each of these college fans has a story on how they became a so-called “Potter-Head,” just as every other fan does. Just what is it about Harry that has college students waiting on those box office lines, buying tickets well in advance or reading Rowling in lieu of say…studying for finals? Kosturski, an English major by the way, attributes it to Rowling’s writing style. “I think it is utterly fascinating how J.K. Rowling created an entirely different world completely,” Kosturski said. “The details and the way she writes keeps you hooked into the books, because it’s a subject no one at all knows about except her…everything is a surprise.”
For Vinny Moschetta, a sophomore at Seton Hall University, the Potter series brings him back to a more simplistic time: childhood. “I think I am a fan of Harry because it makes me feel like I am a kid again,” Moschetta said. “I forget about whatever stress I am feeling, or whatever problems are on my mind and just dive into a world where there is a little magic. It’s an escape back to my childhood.” While the books allowed Moschetta a window into his childhood and an escape from stress, the myth that the Potter series is written solely for the lower grade school demographic dissuades others (say the “13th - 16th” graders) from reading them, at least at first. Maria Chrisohoidis, a senior at TCNJ, said, “I had always heard that the books were popular, but I never thought to read them, because I thought they were children’s books.” Now that Chrisohoidis is officially a fan, having gotten past the “they’re kids books phase”, she said, “The Harry Potter book series is probably the best book series I have ever read. They are incredibly imaginative, and if people weren’t so quick to judge them as children’s books, then I think there would be a lot more people reading them.” Was Harry Adopted? Are the Harry Potter books a children’s series adopted by adults? Well, that depends on who you talk to. There are those that think Rowling’s world isn’t just for kids and that an older audience can enjoy the Potter books just as much. Kosturski said that the series “…Is written for everyone…It’s not too juvenile, I think, nor too sophisticated.”
The imaginative world of Hogwarts, house elves and journals that write back is reason enough for so-called “adults” or college students to wander into the children’s section of a bookstore or the New York Times Bestsellers section (because all four Potter books can be found on the list). “I think the books are written for anyone who likes to use their imagination. The characters and situations in the book are fun and you can get lost in them when reading. The book serves as a good escape from the real world to one full of wizards, muggles and Quidditch,” said Moschetta. He believes that “There are things in the book that people of all ages can relate to.” Still, some older fans see the Harry Potter books as a series that mainly targets children, even if they technically aren’t children. After all, Harry, Ron and Hermione are essentially the main characters in Rowling’s books and they are only 11 years old at the beginning of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” If J.K. Rowling continues to write the remaining three volumes, books five through seven, the same way as the first four (each book tells the story of an academic year at Hogwarts), Harry will be only 17 years old, turning 18 by the end. For the most part, the only adult characters (people over 18) found in the books are the Hogwarts teachers, Ministry of Magic officials and the children’s older family members. So did college kids and big kids at heart adopt it, or can they be included in the target audience as well? “In general I think it’s geared toward children. It is evident by the use of characters. But I believe that the story is so beloved that adults have adopted it,” said Chan. And then there are those like Chrisohoidis who disagreed and said, “I don’t think Harry Potter is necessarily a children’s book. I think that it is meant to target an adolescent-and-up kind of audience. Just because the book is about children, does not make it a children’s book.” The Potter Bug
Children’s book or not, college students have been bitten by the Harry Potter bug. On the TCNJ campus in the fall 2002 semester, the college ambassadors used Harry Potter as their movie theme for the Homecoming events. TCNJ students went in what seemed like packs to see “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”; some even cut classes and ordered tickets in advance to be part of the opening night craze mentioned before. With college students and the power of word of mouth, the bug continues to spread and Harry Potter gets introduced to other people on the campus. It may not be for everyone, but fans at one time or another encouraged or at least suggested the books are worth a read. “I definitely have encouraged other people to read the Harry books. Some have given them a try and gotten hooked, others just couldn’t get into it. All I ask is for people to give it a try. Especially those who think it’s weird to read it at an older age. They will probably be surprised,” said Moschetta.
Again, despite the “children’s book” label some put on the Potter books, Moschetta as well as others know they aren’t the only ones on campus with Harry sitting on their shelves beside “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” or an HTML how-to book. “A lot of my friends at college had read the books already and some began to read them because of the praise of others,”said Moschetta. With Harry Potter books circulating around the campuses of post-secondary schools and being toted around by students who have made reading between the lines of classical literature an art form, some college fans have taken to doing the same with Harry. Whether it’s a different perspective, a better perspective or an older slant on something meant for the young, adult fans of Harry Potter feel that they sometimes see things that younger children may not. They can find innuendoes, a clue leading to some major, upcoming plot surprise, or even hints of a budding romance. A popular debate involves the romantic futures of the three main characters—Harry, Hermione and Ron—based on how much fans read into the books. “I think reading the book as an adult gives the reader different opinions and perspectives of the material that a child may not pick up on. Some of the foreshadowing of the Malfoy family in the first book doesn’t surface until the fourth and the connection between Hermione and Ron doesn’t come up until later either. These are some things a child may not see at first,” said Moschetta. As far as reading the books as an adult, Steiger said, “I think it gives you a different outlook. I think we sometimes sympathize with Hermione in book one as adults, and also Harry, because of how kids make fun of him and his home life. However, kids focus more on the action of it all. I don’t think it’s better insight, but a different insight, which makes it so great!”
Looking back at the other four books and taking into consideration the hints Rowling has given about the fifth book, college fans have also sat in dorms speculating as to which beloved character will die in the next installment. Kosturski admitted that she and a fellow English major friend, “…Have definitely had hour-plus long conversations, in an English major way, about foreshadowing and symbolism among other literary techniques on what book five holds and how and why certain things are in the movies. It’s a frequent topic of conversation.” And of course, there’s the typical topic of conversation for adults and/or movie saga fans: perfect casting and who was pictured when each fan read the book. It would seem
Harry Potter has gone to university, as they say, and his grades
aren’t half-bad. And university (or college) fans have no
problem showing their Harry Potter “fandom,” hence the
gaggles and packs of college students sitting amongst the grade
schoolers in the theatre. Or, those college seniors searching for
news about book five’s plot details and the third movie cast
list, when perhaps they should be job searching or applying to graduate
school instead. |
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Danielle
Serra is a senior journalism major at The College of New Jersey
and the arts and leisure editor for unbound. |
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