Why Harry Potter is Good
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**Please note - the pics in this column are avatars from a cosplay message board I I finished the last Harry Potter book yesterday. I could not get it on Friday night as we got home from the concert too late, but I was at the store when it opened Saturday morning to get my copy. There was a line. I am a grown man and I waited in line to get the final Harry Potter book as soon as it came out. Just like I had the previous two. Why? Because I think that Harry Potter is one of the best things to happen to the world in a long time. Not in the sense that it is going to create peace where there had been no peace before, but in a very significant way nonetheless. Forget the fact that it has been a world wide marketing phenomenon. Forget the millions upon millions that have been raked in as a result of the books and the movies. Just think of it from the standpoint of the volume of happiness the books have created, all by themselves.
I turned around to look at the woman who was making all the noise and she looked at me like I agreed with her. "Can you believe this?" she said to me, as if I too were incensed by the slowness of our inconsequential drug store line. I said to the woman,"No, I can't believe you would be such a rude pig to a person trying very hard to do her job well." The guy in front of me chuckled as did the guy in front of him. The clerk looked up all scared, but then went back to the customer she was checking out. The hag goggled at me and shut her face. When I finally got to the counter, the girl thanked me under her breath. And when I was done, I turned around and glared at the woman behind me, who I heard apologize to the clerk as I walked away. The point of the story is that I was happy to be able to improve the net happiness of my line. The bitchy lady was sad, but no one else was. So the net happiness was a plus. And that's what Harry Potter has done. This column being about Harry potter, I thought I should mention that. You may not like fantasy books. You may think they are for kids. You may think (as some people do) that it is unholy and sinful to talk about witchcraft. Knock yourself out if you are one of those people. I submit to you this quote from a Forbes piece on the book's launch:
A 15 year old boy? Shouldn't he be all sullen and saying it's stupid and trying to ruin it for people? Should the people of Portland, Maine have wasted their time recreating Diagon Alley and turning their train into the Hogwarts Express? Should these people be so happy because of a silly kid's book? Harry Potter is something that causes joy. When I was at the bookstore, I saw a kid about 10 years old. He was BEAMING. Everyone there was beaming. The kids, the adults, me. Lots of beaming. Anything with the power to bring that much happiness to so many people is worthwhile. I appreciate what those books have meant to so many people. Think about the net happiness of the world. Think about all the kids who decided to be honest instead of cool and let themselves enjoy the excitement. Think about how that many people were made so happy by something so simple as a kid's book. And if you don't really like fantasy, give it a try anyway. It's a good story told well. If you like books, you will like these. I promise. |
found when I was researching this column. They don't have anything to do with it, but holy shit.**
I truly believe that the net happiness of the world matters and that each person can have an effect on it. This occurred to me while I waited in line at the drug store once. There was a long line and the clerk was new. I was fourth in the line and the clerk was having trouble ringing up the person at the counter. This bitch behind me was sighing and flapping her arms like she was being tortured. Eventually, she got so worked up that she made a rude comment to the girl. This, of course, made the girl more flustered and made the other people in the line uncomfortable. The net happiness of our line was plummeting.