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I Imagine that modern culture has had an affinity for fantasy for quite a long while. Harry Potter exemplifies fantasy, magic, the war between good and evil and so much more. Also, Harry certainly isn’t perfect and has his own personal struggles.
We now have a generation of young adults who were hooked by the clever work of J.K. Rowling. I frequently wonder if Harry is still with them or if adult life has taken away all of those aspects and wonderment that kept them anticipating the next book and movie release. To answer this question, I did an online survey during March/April of this year. The reults will be discussed later this year.
My guess is that, if one is a reader of fiction, those who read Harry Potter as a child will be more likely to keep-up with his adventures. Also, those who believe in something bigger than themselves are better candidates for enjoying Harry well into adulthood. Naturally there are those who first read and continued to read the Harry Potter books as adults and they have perhaps gone through less life transitions than those moving from childhood into adulthood. Do you believe that this audience has declined or increased and what do you base your assumption on?
With the many technological advances in animation and special effects, we can only rely on our logic to discern fantasy from reality. However, stories that mix fantasy with real-life dilemmas and struggles often transcend our typical frames-of-reference for solutions and guide us into really thinking through resolutions. Perhaps this is because this mixture involves both sides of the brain.
I have heard many stories about how Star Trek fans extrapolated meanings from plots where the writers had not intended to be quite so deep. Regardless, many plot lines served as moral and ethical guides for at least one generation of fans. Harry Potter fans may find similar benefit.
Whether called enlightenment, spirituality, transformation, quantum physics or whatever one calls experiencing the oneness and connectedness with all that is, the fantasy portrayed in print and in motion pictures can only approach the wonderment that exists. Reliance on what we learn in life from our education and experience can only scratch the surface of what we can access.
For more thoughts on this topic, go to the epistemology page of this site.
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