"Millennials Rising" - The HP Generation

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 19907

William Strauss and Neil Howe have written a series of books 
(Generations, The 13th Generation, The Fourth Turning) dealing with 
generational archetypes and inter-generational relationships in 
American history. Their latest book, Millennials Rising: The Next 
Great Generation, deals with the generation born between 1982 and the 
present. 

Their  website gives the following blurb 

http://www.millennialsrising.com

"A decade ago, in Generations, Strauss and Howe predicted many of the 
youth trends America is beginning to see today. Now, in Millennials 
Rising, the authors show how today's teens are recasting the image of 
youth from downbeat and alienated to upbeat and engaged. The authors 
also show how Millennials are held to higher standards than adults 
apply to themselves 
 how they're a lot less violent, vulgar, and 
sexually charged than the teen culture older people are producing for 
them 
 how, over the next decade, they'll entirely recast what it 
means to be young 
 and how, in time, they could emerge as the next 
great generation."

They discuss the numerous factors behind these changes,  One such 
factor they touch on all-too-briefly is, of course, the Harry Potter 
phenomenon.  

[begin quote] In the late '90s, "in a nation distracted by greed  and 
grandeur, by tinsel and technology," wrote The Washington Post's 
Linton Weeks, "Americans are making a mad dash to buy books about a 
gifted boy wizard with a good heart, noble intentions, extraordinary 
powers, and a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead."  These Harry 
Potter books so powerfully pulled upon Millennials (and parents) that 
Edinburgh's J. K. Rowling became the first author ever to hold the 
top three spots, in the same week, on The' New York Times bestseller 
list.

Harry	Potter books are classic boy stories. The hero is a regular 
kid, popular,  courageous, stout-hearted, and full of derring-do. 
Though an orphan, he was spared from death himself (at the hand of an 
evil sorcerer) by the sacrificial love of his dying mother. Blessed 
with magical  powers, wearing his school uniform (including 
protective dragon-hide gloves), Harry excels at real-world exploits. 
He overcomes enemies ranging from bullies and monsters to ruthless 
and spiritually deranged adults and saves the day time after time. 
The happy outcomes hinge on well-applied acts of violence. "It's an 
old story:' wrote Danielle Crittenden in The Wall Street 
Journal, "but  one that, in its various forms, has taught generations 
of boys to grow  up into brave and even heroic men."  The Harry 
Potter stories 'only feel old because tales like these were seldom 
written for Gen-X boys. (end quote - p. 247-48)

Despite their complementary tone, Strauss and Howe, like many 
fundamentalist and feminist critics, unfortunately give little sign 
that they have actually read Harry Potter.  Given their great 
popularity with both sexes, their description as "classic boy 
stories"  seems hardly accurate. An odd prominence is given to 
Harry's dragon-hide gloves, which are mentioned only once, and which 
do not play a role in the narrative.  Perhaps most seriously, they go 
on to compare Harry Potter to  Pokemon, claiming that both Potter and 
Pokemon foster similar values (honor, loyalty, courage, etc.). 
However, it has been my experience (I work with children 
professionally), that Pokemon is pretty much a boys' realm (this 
seems to be the consensus of my coworkers as well).  Few girls have 
much interest in Pokemon, and even those who do are definitely less 
intense about it. Also, I've yet to meet or even read about an adult 
(other than the creator of the series) who could muster much 
enthusiasm for it. 

They also fail to mention that one of Harry Potter's most positive 
effects has been encouraging children to read - surely there are many 
preteens who would have never knocked off a 700-page novel without 
JKR.  And developing such skills early in life is much more likely to 
foster a life-long love of reading.

Despite my cavils, Millennials Risings, like Strauss-Howe's previous 
books, is well worth a look. Their MR website has a cute HP cartoon 
at:

http://www.millennialsrising.com/generations.shtml

   - CMC