So I finished the last book on Thursday night. I have to say she did a good job wrapping things up. I could have done without the epilogue though. And it did have some slow parts. All in all though it was a fitting ending. More so I was wondering about its place in popular culture. I read a piece where the writer questioned how later generations would look at the Harry Potter series. Would it have the same impact on them? I think about how I was lucky enough to see the original Star Wars in the theater. It had such a huge impact on me and popular culture at the time. When George Lucas re-released it years later to a new generation I do not think it was the same thing. You had to be a part of that original generation to really appreciate it. Is that true of all pop culture? Is that the definition of pop culture--what has an impact at that particular moment in time? So does that make any art pop culture? Isn't anything a part of their particular time? It may have universal themes, but is still rooted in the times of the day. We revere Shakespeare today, but weren't his plays really a product of his times? Yes, they may have been better than anything else at the time and still resonate with us today--but they still reflected the current times. Isn't that what Pop Culture is?
I am just glad I was able to read the Harry Potter books as they came out. And I am glad to be back. An existential meltdown? Maybe. Then again maybe not....
""Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.""
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1 comment:
I think pop culture has to be defined more strictly than you suggest. Just because something is produced during a time period doesn't automatically part of the popular culture. There are niche movements and failed/dead memes that you and I might remember but which never make it into pop culture in general. Barbie is pop culture because she's ubiquitous and she's lasted. The Visionaries (Knights of the Magical Light!) aren't. A product of the 80's, a doomed toy line and cartoon, they are part of geek culture.
So what about Harry Potter? Can he make the jump form trend to true popular culture icon? Well, in a way he all ready has because he's jumped the pond. If the Potter books are reflective of the times or a popular culture it's British times and pop culture. But the books are apparently universal enough to appeal to Americans...so maybe they'll stand the test of time.
Personally, I think they'll fade with time. Become children's classic like the Narnia series or Dahl's books.
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