I liked this essay, and it reminded me of what I think is the central storytelling problem in Harry Potter: the books need Voldemort to be both the second coming of Wizard Hitler, and a Scooby Doo villain. He is, after all, a terrifying monster of ferocious power whose plans are foiled again and again by a group of teenagers. “I would have subjugated all inferior races, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Needless to say, the tone can be a bit of a mess!
Ha! True. I grew up on the series so it's very nostalgic for me and I think Rowling is a symbolic genius. But the tone switch from children's book to YA is a bit funny sometimes.
I’ve spent most of my morning reading through these essays. Brilliant and insightful and compelling. Thanks so much James!
Question for you: What would you say were some of the “cultural ragnoroks” for previous centuries? It would be an exciting thought experiment to dive into the mind of let’s say an 18th century colonial with the understanding that they were exploring a certain cultural mythos.
"an attitude of total faith in Truth beyond the historical circumstances." Very true. I believe all great leaders sat above historical linear time and rather than react like everyone else in the fog, could act from that higher vantage point knowing it was only a moment in a much larger process.
I liked this essay, and it reminded me of what I think is the central storytelling problem in Harry Potter: the books need Voldemort to be both the second coming of Wizard Hitler, and a Scooby Doo villain. He is, after all, a terrifying monster of ferocious power whose plans are foiled again and again by a group of teenagers. “I would have subjugated all inferior races, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Needless to say, the tone can be a bit of a mess!
Ha! True. I grew up on the series so it's very nostalgic for me and I think Rowling is a symbolic genius. But the tone switch from children's book to YA is a bit funny sometimes.
From my perspective, there seems to come a time when lyrics from songs I used to love no longer speak to me and i find a new lyric in instrumentals…
That happens to me, too.
I think no one actually “hates” Harry Potter. I don’t believe it. Posturing only.
New paradigm?
https://youtu.be/sPzJjNQaYEA?feature=shared
This is a start I guess
I liked this a ton, it’s very true that Hitler for everyone in our modern culture is the ultimate symbol of evil, so much so that comparison to
worse or more accurate examples in history of the political opposition are really never used, just Hitler it seems.
I’ve spent most of my morning reading through these essays. Brilliant and insightful and compelling. Thanks so much James!
Question for you: What would you say were some of the “cultural ragnoroks” for previous centuries? It would be an exciting thought experiment to dive into the mind of let’s say an 18th century colonial with the understanding that they were exploring a certain cultural mythos.
"an attitude of total faith in Truth beyond the historical circumstances." Very true. I believe all great leaders sat above historical linear time and rather than react like everyone else in the fog, could act from that higher vantage point knowing it was only a moment in a much larger process.