End of an Era

So this is going a little out of the way and should probably go in my Dae Watches Things blog but... This post is not really about having seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. This is about the end of an era.

From what we know, this will be the last big media release for Harry Potter save for maybe an encyclopedia and Pottermore, which I don't really count either of these things. I cried when I read the last book. And I cried while I watched the last movie. It is the end of an era. It is an end to a generation  of those who got to witness Harry Potter as he emerged.

It's so different when you look back on something as oppose to living it. Not too long ago I saw a video that compared Harry Potter to the Beatles. It's the concept of getting swept away by the movement. The power behind a generation of people being united by one thing. It's that one thing that almost anyone from that generation of people can talk about and to which each can relate. Whether you loved it or hated it. Whether it saved you or destroyed you. It's a phenomenon that will forever be in history.

I grew up with Harry Potter. Like many people, I read the first three books after they came out. It was just about the time when the stories were gaining popularity. I got all three of the books for Christmas and got through them rapidly. And my love for all things Harry Potter emerged. I was almost 11 when I first picked up the books.

Like every kid who has read Harry Potter at that age... You wish so hard for your letter, regardless of whether or not it is logical or sensible.  Because you are a kid and you want to go to Hogwarts so bad. You want to be special. I know I felt that way. I know I waited. But even if you don't get a letter, it doesn't ruin the magic of the stories. It doesn't take away your imagination.

I went to midnight release parties for books 4-7. I have seen every Harry Potter movie at midnight. I have felt an array of emotions with Harry Potter: love, loss, heartbreak, hope, fear, happiness, sadness, want, need, and almost every other emotion that comes to mind.

And I'll never understand people who see it as evil. Those people are so focused on the wrong parts of the story to truly appreciate it. They focus on the magic and not the fact that this is the story of a boy. Yes, he can do magic but that's not everything. It makes me think of Catcher in the Rye. People get so riled up over the use of fuck in the story. And I can see people getting upset... If someone just said that the word fuck is in the book and nothing else. With no context, people are quick to judge. And it's funny because Holden condemns the word in the book. He doesn't want children to see that word and lose all innocence. So he erases/gets rid of it.

This series is about a boy. A boy who is just trying to find a home in this world. Like all children at that age, he just wants someone to love him and to love someone in return. He wants to know that he isn't truly alone. And isn't that what we all want in the end?