Saturday, July 23, 2011
Harry Potter and Cultural Malaise
Apparently the last of the countless Harry Potter films is soon to be released, meaning maybe I will finally get a break from a sad cultural trend that has turned the art of fiction into more pop culture mindless fluff. I will tell unabashedly up-front that I haven't read the books or seen the films and will criticize them anyway. Here is my reason: the real measure of fiction--as well as art and music--is not the subjective reaction of the mediocre majority, but the zeitgeist out of which they come and to which they contribute. These are dreary times we live in. People are obviously uninspired, feel hopeless and helpless, and are incapable of organizing and intervening in their own lives and communities to make things better. And what does Harry Potter afford? The chance to turn reading fiction into a day-after-Thanksgiving stampede to get the latest book? To watch Daniel Radcliff turn into another overpaid alcoholic actor? These are boring times we live in, hardly magical or adventureous. Go ahead and criticize me for criticizing books and films I haven't read or seen. It may make you feel better but it will not improve your life, just like going along with the mindless herd behind this ridiculous craze of idol worship. I don't plan to anytime soon either--like between now and when I die. I want to re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the poetry of Whitman, Keats, and Plath, the proverbs of Blake. I want to re-read John Ashbery's Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. For people who really like to read, and appreciate literature as an art form rather zealously obsessing on one series of books like a religious fanatic, that is the kind of material they read. Literature is supposed to challenge people intellectually and emotionally, not just entertain and serve as a mindless, momentary escape from the malaise in which we know we live. Having caved in and joined the world of Facebook and been as understanding of my fellow humans and their frailty as I can, I know there are people out there who agree with me, I know I'm not alone in my convictions . . . but I am alone in my lack of complacency and disdain for conformity.
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What a dreary world you suggest, where all ones time is spent studying difficult texts. To suggest one cannot escape into a well constructed other universe and enjoyable story with humor and suspense, action and mystery is to suggest one become a complete bore.
ReplyDeleteSo explain to me how watching a James Bond movie is any different from reading Harry Potter. They're both fantasy. The Bond movies are made up tales that are only about the story telling and action, not any grand, overarching theme. The Harry Potter series at least explores the vagaries of right and wrong, development of attachments and interpersonal relationships over time, etc. The deepest Bond goes is "They killed my woman and now I'm going to kill them." But you spend time watching Bond.
How about Tolkien? Are his books a waste of time? I'll be the first to admit that Rawlings's prose is not on par with Tolkien's but her books are very well written, especially for a children's series. Both have written fantasy, however, fantasy in invented universes with their own laws.
There are thousands of excellent fantasy novels out there, but you are saying one should not read them? One should only read those things which academia agrees are GREAT WORKS? If the movies are anything like the books at all (and I've heard they are) then they'll be very good movies (which I've also heard).
And your disaproval of the stardom of the actor involved seems disingenuous. For every child actor from a huge movie you can name that came out OK I can name you a dozen that didn't. Are you saying then all movies with child actors that might be hits should not be produced?
Sometimes (actually usually) your stance against things seem arbitrary and poorly thought out. You've decided that this thing that is popular now when you're becoming a pissy old man muttering about how those stupid kids are worthless cannot possibly be any good. That's exactly what men becoming pissy and old thought about Star Wars when it came out. I'm even going to post a cartoon about it.
The difference is that James Bond is awesome and Harry Potter sucks. And you are one of few people familiar with Harry Potter who has actually read the other works I mentioned in the piece. You interpret my stances as poorly thought out because you ignore the essence of my position. If you were a parent, or a college professor, who would you rather people be reading, Whitman, Blake, and Plath--or this pop culture stuff. As usual, you're wrong, because you disagree with me!
ReplyDeleteBut why is there an either/or in your argument? I think it's better that people be reading Harry Potter than nothing at all. They might never read the great classics and the like but at least they read for entertainment. I see good writing as being a good thing whether it tells a fantasy story or reveals a new understanding of being. The majority of people that read the Harry Potter books are very young. At that age I had read mostly mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy. Lots of encyclopedias and the like, but early teenagers literally don't have the mental capacity to deal with the super heavy stuff, and they shouldn't have to. And if you don't have time to read an easy book to see what it's about that says more about you than the quality of that book.
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