Pretty much any person you talk to knows about Harry Potter
and the story he holds, but do they also know how it contributes to the “Public
Sphere”. For those of you who don’t know, a public sphere is a basically a common
social standing where people can discuss the problems going on in society
today. In Hodkinson’s book he talks about how media can encourage public
engagement through an inclusive discussion forum. While talking about this he
Hodkinson states that “Media should set themselves up as virtual spaces, then,
in which members of society directly interact and engage with one another.
Letters pages, phone-in shows and comment facilities on news websites all
constitute examples of this, though, in practice, they are often rather limited
ones.” [176]. Lucky for all of you Harry Potter fans, these very movies do just
that. In Universal Studios, a theme park in Orlando, Florida, they happen to
have a ride in their park just for Harry Potter. In this ride you get to tour
Hogwarts and experience their world as if you are standing right next to the
characters themselves. This ride contributes to the public sphere by allowing
people that have the same interest in Harry Potter to enjoy the world they have
grown to love together.
Another way that Harry Potter contributes to the public
sphere is the values that it teaches. Granted we don’t particularly know Harry
Potter for his friendship advice but if you really watch these movies you learn
a thing or two about what it means to be a friend. In these movies, the battles
can get really rough but luckily for Harry he always has his two best friends
by his side and ready to help. In these movies Ron and Hermoine are Harry’s
best friends and serve those titles well; no matter what task they are always
there to back Harry up. Through thick or thin he can count on them and by
allowing kids to watch this it can teach them just that. Kids are able to learn
valuable lessons in friendship and loyalty from these movies and in turn use
what they learn in real life towards a sense of community. Being the complex
story that it is, the Harry Potter saga also teaches people that revenge and
anger is not something that should be valued. It portrays these two concepts in
such a negative manor by having them represented by the villain (Voldemort) in
the story line. Throughout the story Voldemort is known for wanting his revenge
on Harry for outstanding his power and in the end Voldemort loses. This shows
kids that revenge and anger aren't two things that you want in your life and
could ultimately end in your defeat.
The movie does do an excellent job of showing the importance of friendship, and how having good friends can change the outcome of even the most terrible situations.
ReplyDeleteThe plot line of Ron and Harry almost loosing there friendship was very unnerving. It really made you wonder what would happen if Ron wash;t there to help Harry through his hardships throughout the rest of the series.
ReplyDeleteHarry Potter, like you said, teaches a lot of great lessons for all people, especially children. I read about a woman who attempted to ban Harry Potter books from all elementary school libraries because she felt it promoted witchcraft, which I totally disagree with. This series is clearly intended to instill values, such as loyalty, and ultimately unite people as a public sphere.
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