Harry Potter
JK Rowling’s
well known book series, Harry Potter, has been a pop culture phenomenon for
many reasons. Most of us have grown up reading the books and watching the
movies at the midnight premiere. From a functionalist approach, the book series
and movies have generated a shared sense of social solidarity and social
cohesion within the fans. Harry Potter had such a high demand that Universal
Studies added the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” to their park in 2010. Apart
from the Harry Potter fandom, the actual content of the book holds many of the
sociological terms we have discussed in class. Each book illustrates the social
uses of space, division of social class, conspicuous consumption, institutions,
deviance, and the list goes on…
The video connected is actually in three parts, but I thought the one I provided could possibly trigger some sociological thoughts that could explain why the movies differentiate from the books and our understanding of the Harry Potter series. 1:18 Harry Potter video
I never got into the series but it is fascinating to see how a book made a movie then became a theme park attraction, pretty cool-- William Gandia III
ReplyDeleteI agree with Harry Potter being part of the functionalist approach. I grew up with the books and movies and find this phenomenon culturally significant. There is a collective effervescence, social solidarity, and social cohesion to one of the largest subculture groups in the world. The theme park is also a perfect example of landscaping of cultural consumption and increased stylization. ~Catriona Freeman
ReplyDeleteExploring the Harry Potter fanbase would be interesting. I've noticed that Potter fans tend to be very hardcore about it. Harry Potter has one of if the not the largest online fan fiction communities.--- Paul Perry
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ReplyDeleteI grew up absolutely adoring the Harry Potter book series. It was one of the first chapter books I read as a child. It is very interesting and exciting to see how much its fan based has developed over the past 15 years. Especially considering how much JK Rowling struggled to get anyone to even publish it.
ReplyDeleteKaley McElhannon