The Novel of Spiritual Education
Like I mentioned in class, the Harry Potter works, both books and films, are some of my favorite things to read and watch. Unfortunately even with this class I still don't read nearly as much as I should, partially because I don't have a lot of free time here at Ringling but also because I use my free time to do other things, luckily usually still creative things though. Anyways, I have read books 1-6 of the Harry Potter series and seen all the movies multiple times. I still intend to read the 7th book but I think I might go back and reread all the others from the beginning to re-familiarize myself with the books since it's been so long since I've read them.
Every time I watch these films and think about the books, well maybe this is more in the movies since I haven't read the books in so long, but I noticed in the movies that the main two houses they seem to focus on are Gryffindor and Slytherin, they don't really cover or show much of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, which I find a bit odd since all the houses are equal in a sense. I suppose it's just because most of the main characters happen to be in Gryffindor and Slytherin, and of course one of the temporary main characters is Cedric who was Hufflepuff but died. It's almost like we were teased, "Look it's a cool Hufflepuff, NOPE he's dead!" So I always found that pretty funny, well, super sad since he died but the overall teasing there was pretty funny. In all seriousness though, it was cool that when Rowling finally introduced a Hufflepuff he was cool, talented, and brave, which I feel is not the typical mental image most people get when they think of Hufflepuff. It's a real shame that he died, his father crying over him in the movie always kills me, but even though he was only there briefly, Cedric was a neat character.
As for other aspects of these works, similar to how I mentioned in my previous post about LOTR it's really awesome how these stories bring so many people together, almost like some massive magical religion in a way. I think it's safe to say the Harry Potter books and movies are one of if not the most successful and influential works in history. It's incredible the stories were conjured and put together all by one woman, J. K. Rowling really is an amazing woman. If any young girls want a role model, Rowling is a good choice in a woman. I'm very proud of her in that she went from basically dirt poor to being the wealthiest woman in England.
If we could find something to bring people together in other ways of life like how these books and movies have in the literary and film worlds, that would also be incredible. Maybe we can simply end all wars and conflicts if we invite everyone to a massive Harry Potter movie marathon. Oh if only it were that simple, but again in all seriousness if books and movies have this kind of magical power, please excuse my terrible joke there as we discuss this magical series, if books and movies have this power I'm sure we can actually make strides towards more peace with forms of entertainment like this. After all, books and movies are often filled with secret life lessons and try to teach good morals, and I know obviously not everyone defines "good morals" in the same way, but I'm sure we can utilize media in more advantageous ways than we have in the past to try and get humanity on a better path. We've made great strides for sure, but unfortunately we seem to have taken a step backwards, at least in this country, and I would say that's just my opinion but this opinion is actually shared by many around the world. Let's figure out how to use Harry Potter to fix the world, haha.
Every time I watch these films and think about the books, well maybe this is more in the movies since I haven't read the books in so long, but I noticed in the movies that the main two houses they seem to focus on are Gryffindor and Slytherin, they don't really cover or show much of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, which I find a bit odd since all the houses are equal in a sense. I suppose it's just because most of the main characters happen to be in Gryffindor and Slytherin, and of course one of the temporary main characters is Cedric who was Hufflepuff but died. It's almost like we were teased, "Look it's a cool Hufflepuff, NOPE he's dead!" So I always found that pretty funny, well, super sad since he died but the overall teasing there was pretty funny. In all seriousness though, it was cool that when Rowling finally introduced a Hufflepuff he was cool, talented, and brave, which I feel is not the typical mental image most people get when they think of Hufflepuff. It's a real shame that he died, his father crying over him in the movie always kills me, but even though he was only there briefly, Cedric was a neat character.
As for other aspects of these works, similar to how I mentioned in my previous post about LOTR it's really awesome how these stories bring so many people together, almost like some massive magical religion in a way. I think it's safe to say the Harry Potter books and movies are one of if not the most successful and influential works in history. It's incredible the stories were conjured and put together all by one woman, J. K. Rowling really is an amazing woman. If any young girls want a role model, Rowling is a good choice in a woman. I'm very proud of her in that she went from basically dirt poor to being the wealthiest woman in England.
If we could find something to bring people together in other ways of life like how these books and movies have in the literary and film worlds, that would also be incredible. Maybe we can simply end all wars and conflicts if we invite everyone to a massive Harry Potter movie marathon. Oh if only it were that simple, but again in all seriousness if books and movies have this kind of magical power, please excuse my terrible joke there as we discuss this magical series, if books and movies have this power I'm sure we can actually make strides towards more peace with forms of entertainment like this. After all, books and movies are often filled with secret life lessons and try to teach good morals, and I know obviously not everyone defines "good morals" in the same way, but I'm sure we can utilize media in more advantageous ways than we have in the past to try and get humanity on a better path. We've made great strides for sure, but unfortunately we seem to have taken a step backwards, at least in this country, and I would say that's just my opinion but this opinion is actually shared by many around the world. Let's figure out how to use Harry Potter to fix the world, haha.
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