Whether you’re a Potter head or not, you most probably know of the Harry Potter Books/movies. Many people who read the books or watched the movies will understand why Harry potter is such a big deal in the entertainment industry, but those who aren’t very familiar with Harry Potter might not get it. So here are 10 reasons as to why Harry Potter is so popular.
10. Harry Potter is a childhood favorite to many people.
A kid casting spells.
Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone (the first book) was published in 1997 .It would’ve been difficult to not know anything about Harry Potter as a child because the franchise is about children who discover the world of magic. The kids would’ve been itching to know more and talk about it with their friends, and maybe even try to cast spells at each other.
People who took a lot of interest in Harry Potter in their childhood are more than likely to recommend it to whoever they can when given the chance. This childhood connection that many people have, has made Harry Potter popular a long time ago.
9. The movies popularized Harry Potter.
Movie poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone.
The first movie of Harry Potter was released in 2001. So those who were interested in Harry Potter but were not willing to read the book got the chance to see what all the hype was about. Harry Potter gained so much popularity, that in 2002 “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” had a total gross of $261,988,482 according to www.boxofficemojo.com .
The 200+ pages of the book was probably discouraging to think about when reading it, so when non-readers had the chance to watch it instead, they took it.
8. Harry Potter has many relatable characters.
Members of Dumbledore's Army (DA) from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
From victims of bullying and abuse, to the main character being an orphan. There is bound to be a character that you can relate to. There is a plethora of characters with very different backgrounds, although there aren’t many characters of different races, some representation is still present.
People who relate to characters in the books or the movies can learn something from them. This allows readers to enjoy the book or movie more and makes us connect to it on a deeper and personal level. The diversity of characters in Harry Potter allow people to feel represented and this gives the book/movie more points for being somewhat inclusive.
7. Harry Potter gives us the chance to escape into an exciting and magical world.
Cartoon representation of Voldemort and Harry Potter fighting/dueling.
This may be a little different for non-readers, but the same still applies. When you’re reading the book, you feel as though the world you live in is replaced by the one that you are reading. So you can imagine what it feels like when you’ve been bored, with little to no interesting events happening in your life, and then you open up a book and suddenly find yourself in a world where people are chasing after you while they cast curses at you and you’re on a flying broom desperately trying to escape them at exhilarating speeds with your clothes billowing in the cold wind.
The wizarding world is one of different people, situations, rules and much more, accompanied by drama and mystery. We all need to escape our reality sometimes and Harry Potter provides us with that chance.
6. The writing style in the books is simple, yet vivid and captivating.
Hermione Granger holding some books.
Relating this back to reason #10 you can imagine how the book is so easy to read considering that young teens and children read it and enjoyed it. Reading the books isn’t as challenging when comparing Harry Potter to other fantasy books with hundreds of characters with difficult to pronounce names, maps and locations you need to understand, and many new words and expressions you aren’t familiar with.
When we are given books that feel light to read but manifest detailed pictures in our minds, we are bound to fall in love with the book, especially when the story line is as good and simple as Harry Potter’s.
5. The moral lessons within Harry Potter.
Albus Dumbledore defending Harry in court.
Harry Potter is iconic for its interesting dialogs, spells that are fun to say, and all of the mystery and magic in it, but if there’s one more thing about Harry potter, it’s the lessons from it that touched so many of our hearts. The lessons in the movies/books aren’t explicitly said but we can learn from the situations that the characters are put in, but when characters give Deep advice, it is sure to be stored in our hearts. One good line from Harry potter is when the character, Luna Lovegood said: “Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re brave enough to be yourself.”
When a book/movie pushes your to really think about yourself, and offers you advice that strikes a string in your heart, it becomes hard dislike to the book.
4. The controversy that surrounds the book.
Image of when Voldemort regained his power.
Although there are millions of people who love harry potter there are people who strongly stand against the book and the author. There have been wild claims set on the books and movies. Just to name a few:
“Harry Potter is evil because it promotes devil worship”; “It promotes racism”; “There is anti-Semitism” and much more. This kind of controversy is sure to grab a lot of attention and creates a bad image for Harry Potter. And if there’s one thing that can make something go viral, it’s controversy.
3. The non-magical conflicts that characters face.
Ron and Hermione grieving together.
This is one of the main reasons why Potter heads love Harry Potter.
There are many instances where we as the audience sympathize with characters. Like when Harry loses his parents when he was a baby. When Neville Longbottom is frequently bullied. When people don’t take Hermione Granger seriously because she is a girl who was born into a non-wizarding family.
Once again, this allows us to sympathize with characters and make us curios as to how they deal with their issues.
2. There is exceptional character development.
Image of Sirius and Harry moments before Sirius' death.
Characters in the books/movies never stay the same and this is a reminder to all of us. Characters that you may have loved in the first scene may become someone you hate by the end of the book or movie. There are many character arcs in Harry Potter and it is always interesting to see how characters and places change.
Seeing how characters face certain situations is very fascinating when we realize how those events shaped the character for the better, or for the worse.
1. Harry Potter himself never had it easy.
Compilation of Harry losing people in his life.
Harry has always been put in situations and with people that didn’t favor him at all and somehow never gave up. He survived being attacked as a baby but lost his parents. He was adopted by the only relatives that he had and was treated like garbage. He was a target for bullies at Hogwarts and even had a teacher against him. He fought terrifying beasts and creatures. BUT. He never gave up.
Harry Potter’s will to succeed was stronger than any challenge he faced and proves to be an inspirational character.
That’s the end of the list.
For the muggles (non-magical folk) who didn’t understand why there are so many die-hard fans of Harry Potter. I hoped this helped to clear things up.
