When I was eleven or twelve years old, I would say my best TV series was Superman. I liked to see how frightened those "bad eggs" were when they had a glimpse of him. I also loved to see my hero saving people's lives out of great danger. I would imagine that I fly through buildings and houses, casting an expression upon everything I was sick of. I would think that people did need such a hero to maintain peace and censure evil. I would even imagine that Superman would come to stop the fights my parents had.
A few days earlier I happened to see the movie Spiderman on TV. This time such a heroic story disappointed me. I could get nothing more than just quite a few effects. I could not even understand what on earth happened to that green monster and why he had to kill Spiderman. Little did I enjoy the costume or the fighting scenes. The movie left me nothing but a funny, unreasonable story of an impossible hero. No, he is not a hero. A real hero will never, ever fight alone. But back in that time, I would well once again be fascinated because I really wanted a super man to comfort and encourage me when I was scared. Now as a young woman who has got herself ambitious goals, I am able to comfort and encourage myself. My growth has led me to a more reasoning world where imagination seldom runs wild. The movies did not stir up my imagination anymore. But Harry Potter is different. I have not read the books, nor have I understood fully what the characters talked. But I was still intrigued. It felt like a long lost friend who knocked the door of my heart. Later I made a little census and discovered something beyond the movies and the books themselves. It could be divided into three groups of people that I took my census from: People over 30, people between 14 and 30, and people under 14. None of my young friends whom I asked did not like Harry Potter. However, every of my old friends thought they were unable to follow the storyline in either books or movies. One old friend complained, "It was so mixed up and even having read the books I still had trouble understanding what was going on. I don't know how anyone who has not read the books could ever understand the plots. I think most viewers are interested in the young characters and the effects rather than the real story." Another told me that he only remembered the special ball game and the flying brooms. "The movies were fantastic, " a friend my age said, "and the actor Daniel Radcliffe did a very good job at such a young age. Look at his eyes, so charming and owning something deep. And I felt I was like Harry in many ways." "Just fantastic,” said another who is almost 30. My little cousin at age ten shook her head, "No, I don't like it at all. It's too freaky. All those spiders...scary." I think the Harry Potter success only partly accounts for the young wizards and witches in a magical world, but mostly lies in the qualities the characters have that could transfer to the young readers who already have some of the qualities and desire to own the others. In a simple way of saying this: they could identify themselves with the imaginative characters, especially with Harry Potter. Different from Superman and Batman and Spiderman, Harry to viewers and readers is more real. He has weaknesses, difficulties, and calamities. He could be defeated in great fear but rescued by his friends. Most importantly, he is growing with bravery and feeling his way towards his goals. All of these take place in a world in which not much reason exists, where our energetic imaginations are able to run far and fast to experience something new and exciting, just as Harry does. Hardly can writers attract so many readers worldwide with their fifth book when they only rely on young characters and effects. A good story often reveals the characters, not vice versa. The story, however, isn't attractive to older people, who have experienced much so that they can't bring themselves to identification with Harry Potter. Having careers and families, the people have long begun to live relatively steady lives. They became so reasonable that their interest in imagination swings low. To them Harry Potter is a thing of the past. They tend not to share the qualities with which the characters are characterized. Once they lose the inner contact with the characters, the whole story becomes absurd and mixed up. For young children, they are merely spellbound by all those magical tricks and monsters. Neither story nor character would really catch their hearts. One can never negate a book or a movie from all sides when he only stands in one group. Nor can he agree in the same way. I must say that the series of Harry Potter isn't perfect. I did not understand some parts when I tried to figure what was going on. But the movies did arouse my imagination that is fading away, and the most cardinal part is that I see through Harry what I was like in my childhood and what I will encounter in my adulthood. I still need bravery and encouragement in a reflecting way, for now. Jenny P. S., Any different ideas? You are welcome to speak them out loud. :-)
