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A Few Thoughts on Harry
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From: Monica Edinger <monicaedinger_at_gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:52:32 -0400
I'm off to Sierra Leone tomorrow so will have to wait to see the final movi e until I get back in a few weeks, but I did write the following today on my blog in response to all the conversations and media going on.
For whatever reason this week’s final Harry Potter movie doesnв Ђ™t feel as major an ending of anything for me as the publication of the seventh book did. That was exciting because I was eager to see how Rowling wrapped up her story. And it did feel like an exciting end of something remarkable — a global obsession with a series of books. The movies feel different to me — something more tied to a broader societal aspect of the Harry Potter phenomena. Don’t get me wrong — I think it is great в Ђ” I had a blast last November at Wizarding World and enjoyed my butterbeer very much.
But what pleases me most of all is something most people don’t se e — the way the books are steadily read, quietly read, by kids who weren’ t alive when the first one was published, who have none of the nostalgia so many have right now. I’d always thought the books would have legs, th at they weren’t a flash in the pan, that kids would continue to enjoy the m as they do the Oz books and so far that has indeed been the case among my fourth grade students. The media mix now is interesting — with many boo ks they have often seen movie versions before reading the books, but that is just fine. They are savvy viewers and know the books will be different.
Monica
Monica Edinger 600 West 111th Street Apt 2A New York NY 10025 educating alice _at_medinger on twitter My Huffington Post Blog
Received on Thu 14 Jul 2011 07:52:32 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:52:32 -0400
I'm off to Sierra Leone tomorrow so will have to wait to see the final movi e until I get back in a few weeks, but I did write the following today on my blog in response to all the conversations and media going on.
For whatever reason this week’s final Harry Potter movie doesnв Ђ™t feel as major an ending of anything for me as the publication of the seventh book did. That was exciting because I was eager to see how Rowling wrapped up her story. And it did feel like an exciting end of something remarkable — a global obsession with a series of books. The movies feel different to me — something more tied to a broader societal aspect of the Harry Potter phenomena. Don’t get me wrong — I think it is great в Ђ” I had a blast last November at Wizarding World and enjoyed my butterbeer very much.
But what pleases me most of all is something most people don’t se e — the way the books are steadily read, quietly read, by kids who weren’ t alive when the first one was published, who have none of the nostalgia so many have right now. I’d always thought the books would have legs, th at they weren’t a flash in the pan, that kids would continue to enjoy the m as they do the Oz books and so far that has indeed been the case among my fourth grade students. The media mix now is interesting — with many boo ks they have often seen movie versions before reading the books, but that is just fine. They are savvy viewers and know the books will be different.
Monica
Monica Edinger 600 West 111th Street Apt 2A New York NY 10025 educating alice _at_medinger on twitter My Huffington Post Blog
Received on Thu 14 Jul 2011 07:52:32 AM CDT
