Urgent email opinions request from journalist in Chile (about Potter adult fans)

[sophierom]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "marcelocordova2004" 
<marcelocordova2004 at y...> 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 y... Please put your name (or a nick if you
> want), age, occupation and country. Many thanks in advance:

Hi, I'm Sophie, a 26 year old Ph.D. candidate from the U.S.  

> 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"?

While I certainly think Rowling's sense of humor helps connect 
adults to these stories, I think it has more to do with the fact 
that this is a story about growing up, and that's something we can 
all relate to, no matter how old we are.  So, I see this series less 
as a series for children as a series about growing up, and I think 
that can appeal to just about anyone.  If Harry stayed 11 throughout 
all the books, I would doubtless be less attracted to the series.   


> 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?

I addressed most of this question above. And no, I don't feel anyone 
should be ashamed of reading these books.  Although not the greatest 
literature out there, these books do make me think: about moral 
choices, as well as about the relationship between adults and 
children.  And they're simply fun.  Why it's okay for adults to go 
watch what i would consider "childish movies" (crude comedies, for 
example) but not read books with children as the main characters 
I'll never figure out.  It's thought-provoking entertainment. 



> 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 both Rickett and Chapman have valid points. I think in 
general that my friends and I (people in our 20s) have fewer hang 
ups about experiencing things outside the categories in which we're 
supposed to fit.  As a young female adult, marketing people think 
I'm supposed to be doing certain things: in my early 20s, I 
was "supposed to be" drinking and partying, buying lots of cute 
clothing; now that I'm in my late 20s, I'm supposed to be settling 
down soon and starting a family.  But I don't fit into those 
marketing categories.  I don't think I like the idea of marketing 
people telling me what I should do and what I should like.  


> 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?

I didn't even know this when I started reading the books.  I don't 
think this had much of an impact on me.

> 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?

My husband was actually the first person I knew who started reading 
the books, and initially, I did poke fun at him for reading kids' 
books.  But he convinced me to read the first book, and I was 
enchanted.  There was something quite appealing about the idea of 
discovering a new world; it reminded me of reading C.S. Lewis's 
Narnia series as a child.  I think that's another appeal of the 
Harry Potter series: it coincides with a growing appreciation for 
fanatsy fiction.  But these things alone wouldn't have kept me 
reading the books.  I really did want to find out how Harry would 
grow up, how he would face the problems of being a teenager and a 
young adult.


> 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?

Again, I think this is the best part of the series. In each book, 
Harry and his friends are slightly different people. That makes for 
interesting reading, and I can easily relate to the way that a 
person changes as he or she grows older (and continues to change, 
even after childhood).  
> 
> Thank you very much for your cooperation and sorry if I used some 
of
> your time with these questions.
> 
Hey, we like to talk about this stuff. THat's why we're here!

Best,
Sophierom