[HPFGU-OTChatter] Urgent email opinions request from journalist in Chile (about Potter adult fans)

[Shaun Hately]

On 3 Mar 2004 at 4:44, marcelocordova2004 wrote:

> Hi:
> 
> My name is Marcelo Cordova and Im a journalist from La Tercera
> newspaper in Chile, South America (www.tercera.cl). I work in the
> Trends section and I send this message because Im writing an article
> for this friday (march 5th) about the phenomenon of adult fans of
> the Harry Potter saga. This because the last book was just released
> here and is already sold out!. Many people who bought it were grownups
> and we would like to get some comments about this trend around the
> globe.
> 
> If any of you have some time could answer these questions? You can
> post your opinions directly here or send them to
> marcelocordova2004 at yahoo.com. Please put your name (or a nick if you
> want), age, occupation and country. Many thanks in advance:
> 
> 1. In an article published by The Orlando Sentinel about Nimbus
> 2003, it says that individuals on that event were "college professors
> and college students, advertising copywriters and unemployed computer
> consultants, substitute teachers and wanna-be teachers. They've come
> from California and New York, Australia and England. Above all else,
> they are Harry Potter fans. And they are adults". First of all:
> Could you tell me how did you get fascinated by the saga of this small
> kid? And how could you explain that many adults feel fascinated by a
> book with a kid as a protagonist? From that point of view: Do you
> agree with miss Rowling when she says that "it is my sense of humour
> in the books, not what I think children will find funny, and I suppose
> that would explain some of the appeal to adults"?

Shaun Hately, 29, Student Teacher, Australia.

Answering this question... I do voluntary work with gifted children 
- and when I first encountered the Harry Potter being discussed, it 
was specifically within the gifted community - I think the books 
caught on there a little earlier than they caught on in the general 
population. The book was being described as being of far higher 
quality than most children's fiction, and having a clearly gifted 
major character (Hermione). Gifted children also commonly have an 
experience of not fitting in with those around them, because they 
are not like other kids and often find great joy when they discover 
others like them - so Harry's story resonated with these children 
as well.

I read the first book basically to see what people were talking 
about - and immediately, as a former gifted child myself, I found 
myself being sucked in in the same way things had been described to 
me. I could really relate to Harry - my own childhood experiences 
of never quite fitting in, and then finally finding a school where 
I did fit in, and could be happy, really resonated. Hermione was 
great as well - seeing a bright child in a book who was a fully 
developed character, not just a caricature of the smart child - 
that impressed as well.

The books were also more subtle than most children's books I've 
read. I do read children's books. I do watch children's TV and 
movies. It fascinates and interests me - and these books were more 
detailed, and required more intelligence than many children's 
books. Kids had to understand quite sophisticated concepts - 
history and mythology as well - to get everything out of the books. 
But could still enjoy them even if they didn't have that knowledge 
yet - in which case it could encourage them to learn more.

The books also didn't pull punches and treat children as 
unsophisticated people who needed a happy ending. There is moral 
ambiguity in the books. And there is evil. Too many kids books 
sugar coat the world - or go too far the other way and make it too 
bleak. J.K. Rowlings acknowledges things like evil, pain, 
suffering, and death - but there is always hope as well.
> 
> 2. From that point of view: Which are the elements of the books that
> you feel as most appealing to you? Stories, characters? Do you think
> that this is a good read for any adult? You think no one should feel
> ashamed of reading these "child" books?

Definitely not.

The Harry Potter books aren't great literature in my opinion - but 
they are certainly good enough to earn adult respect. These aren't 
really childrens books in my opinion. They are novels with children 
as protagonists, and which children can read. But first and 
foremost, they are novels.
 
> 3. Bloomsbury spokeswoman Lucy Chapman said in an article from BBC
> that she "thinks that adults can find another level in the Potter
> books". She said that people can read "into the mythology that runs
> through the novels, they pick up on more, such as the Latin school
> mottos." Do you think that is a key for success between adults? From
> that same point of view: It is possible to think, like mister Joel
> Rickett - news editor of the Bookseller website- says, that the "Harry
> Potter phenomenon also coincided with a time when it became
> fashionable for adults to indulge in children's activities, such as
> computer games"?.

I think Chapman is right - although I think many children pick up 
on many of these levels as well. There is a lot of subtext, the 
books can be read simply as stories, but there is so much more 
there.

As for Rickett - he might be right. I've always indulged in 
children's activities as an adult - in many cases, more than I did 
as a child. I'm not sure if it's more fashionable or not.
 
> 4. Mister Rickett also says that the aura surrounding the author as
> a factor in Harry Potter's appeal to an adult audience. "The books are
> the product of one person which gives them an air of authenticity.
> The romantic image of a single mother writing stories in a café is
> appealing.", he says. What do you think about that?

It is appealing, yes... it's a success story and that does have an 
appeal. But I don't know how major it is. I started reading these 
books before I had a clue who J.K. Rowling was.

> 5. "Families were going into bookshops and buying up multiple copies
> on the first day of sale. Adults could not wait for the paperback
> grown-up version to come out," said a Bloomsbury spokesperson. Have
> you gone to midnight sales and waited for the books like hundreds of
> kids? Do you remember any story or anecdote about those events or
> about being an adult fan of Potter? Have you gone with your family
> to buy the books?

Well, here in Australia, we haven't really had the midnight sale 
phenomena - Order of the Phoenix went on sale here at 9am - and I 
was in a queue of several hundred people who'd preordered. I don't 
think I would have done it at midnight personally though. Previous 
books were released here some time after their UK release.

I do remember with Goblet of Fire, it wound up being released here 
a couple of days before it was meant to be - I believe the local 
bookshops set their own date for that one, agreeing to a 
simultaneous release based on when they expected the books to be 
available - as it was, the books became available a few days early 
and the bookshops all agreed to release.

So I came out of work and suddenly saw Goblet of Fire in a shop 
window as I headed to my train - two or three days before I 
expected it to be available. This was a small science fiction 
bookshop, I thought it might have released by mistake. I had enough 
cash on me to buy two copies - I intended to give one to a friend 
who I knew was also hanging out for it.

I got on the train and started reading. After I was about ten pages 
into it - two stations from my starting point, I could hear or feel 
a presence opposite me. I looked up and there was a boy of about 10 
or 11, sitting with his mother and he was STARING at the book 
cover. Eyes wide, mouth open - he knew the release date wasn't for 
a couple of days either. I think he'd nudged his mother, and that's 
what had attracted my attention.

She asked me where I had got the book and I told her the name of 
the bookshop. He wanted her to get off the train and go back and 
get a copy - mum seemed to be not totally in favour of this idea - 
the kid wanted it though.

I reached into my briefcase and pulled out the second copy and gave 
it to him. His mother insisted on paying for it - but I would have 
given it to him anyway. He was just so eager - and cute. I mean - 
mouth hanging open, eyes as wide as soup plates...
 
> 6. In the Order of Phoenix Harry is much more mature than in the
> first one. How do you react on this progressive growing process? You
> think this could make him loose some appeal?

Maybe to some kids - personally I think it's realistic, although 
personally I didn't like the new Harry at first - he needed a 
serious attitude adjustment. I'm in favour of him growing.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia