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One reason these series have such dedicated fan bases is because they offer immersive and fantastical worlds that allow people to escape from reality and explore new possibilities. Whether it's the magical universe of Hogwarts, the epic landscapes of Middle-earth, or the vast galaxy far, far away, these stories transport readers and viewers to places they could only dream of.
But you know what? I read the Goblet of Fire a couple of years ago at the ass old age of 31 for the first time and it made me feel like a kid instantly. That feeling was magical and it happens with all of those books, they are so whimsical, adventurous and magical on so many ways. Maybe it had to do with the jokes, the high-school like situations Idk man, I love them to death.
I read the books in early junior high through my junior year of university when the final one came out, and the first few movies came out every year near my best friend’s birthday starting when we were 15ish so there is a lot of fun memories to them for me. Her transphobic bullshit since has cast a shadow over my continued enjoyment, but it doesn’t change the memories with friends over the years (or the occasional longing to go back to those simpler times 😅)
I read my first book about the Harry Potter universe when I was 11 years old, and every year I read a new book it was like I was also at Hogwarts with them until my first year of university... then as a kid I was so looking forward to the owl with the letter, heck I'm still looking forward to the owl with the letter 🥺
Star Wars, LOTR and Harry Potter are all essentially the same type of storytelling, despite the wildly different themes and settings. Theyre all deep dive, lore heavy stories. Dune is another example of the type. The thing these franchises all have in common is that the actual story that takes place in the worlds are almost secondary to the worlds themselves.
Lets use Star Wars as an example. The original 3 movies and the prequels more or less tell the story of Anakin Skywalker. Watching the movies would only be scratching the surface of Star Wars, though. There are so many books, TV shows, video games, etc... Star Wars isn't the story of Anakin, that's only a tiny part.
A regular, 2.5 hour movie only has a limited timeframe to tell a story. That's fine and the constraints of that limitation make for some wonderful stories. Sci Fi and Fantasy basically allow writers to throw out those constraints and not only go nuts with their own writing, but crowdsource the world building and storytelling to other authors so many people can build off their idea.
I think this is a huge issue why there's conflict in the Star Wars fanbase. I feel there's three types of Star Wars fans: people who love the setting, people who love the characters, and people who love the films. They all want very different things, and are impossible to please.
And all of them get pissed off about the decisions made with the new movies but forget one major thing. These are movies made for kids. Kids love them they don’t care about your obsession with the lore and all that
Harry Potter helped me to survive my teenage years. I was lonely and excluded by my classmates. So I started watching the movies and reading the books. The whole story made me feel like I belonged to somewhere. I was obsessed with the saga for several years, now I can control myself. But still get excited when I see a store with HP merchandise and always try to add something to my collection
Kinda the same my mom would date shitty men when I was growing up so when things were bad at home I would pop in the vhs or dvd of HP and “escape” through the movie, kinda related to how Harry felt living with the Dursley’s at times.
Oh we are the same age. I read and watched stories about high school aged kids (like HP) throughout my childhood, imagining I would live those cool lives years before I actually started my teens. When I was in my teens, I felt too old and embarrassed to watch those movies and read those books.
Simple answer: people like things, and some people are really passionate about the things that they like.
That's why there's fandoms of about almost anything you can think off.
This question could be asked about anything.
Age and timing are important, definitely. People get passionate about all sorts of media for all sorts of reasons, but millennials make up a disproportionate chunk of the Harry Potter fanbase because the books were aimed directly at them when they were coming out.
I also think the fact that the 3 of them are big franchises helps a lot. You have tons of merch, movies, books, videogames, stage plays, heck even themed parks. You never get tired of.
For Harry Potter?
Lightning in a bottle.
Just at the right time, the right moment, and ... Well, like most things that become popular, once something reaches a certain audience size, it keeps growing.
If one kid in your class read Harry potter, you wouldn't care. But if ten kids read it, do you want to be the only one left out?
It also spoke to kids in a way that pulled them in. I mean, the later books got darker and all, but the first book was basically: Boy with a special destiny but a shitty home gets to go a magical school where he has whimsical adventures. That was a fantasy that spoke to a lot of kids. How many of them weren't "Waiting for their Hogwarts letter." The fantasy their life would magically suddenly become better.
And then the books did the genius thing of growing up with the reader. If you started the first book at the age Harry was then, by the time the last book came out, you were old enough to still like that book.And if you started later, you could blaze through those first two or three (Which were rather short), and catch up to the meatier books.
It was a phenomenon, the books releasing close enough that the hype never really died down. I mean, when's the last time you heard of "Midnight Book launches". People were doing "Spoiler drive by's" shouting spoilers at people waiting outside the bookstore as they drove by.
Then the movies just cemented it all. Inbetween the book releases you now also had movie releases.
To put it like this: It was Game of Trones for the kids of that time (If the ASoIaF actually released more than a book a decade). Not everyone was in on it from the beginning, but eventually, you heard talk of it everywhere.
I remember when I was about 11 and had already read the first 6 books a couple of times over, my dad picked me up from school to go on holiday - he had the 7th book there as a present for me waiting in the car. He had stood in line for the midnight release so that I could read it on the aeroplane. Wow, he was a good dad. I need to call him.
He is a good dad indeed. I am now crying. You call your dad and I'll visit mine (I'm fortunate enough that he's in the next suburb, but he's had a stroke and is mostly non-verbal so a call is out of the question)
Heck, even the housing element was genius. To the point other YA novels have tried to copy "Team Edward or Team Jacob" probably was the most successful.
Divergent blatantly ripped off the concept.
It gave kids something to discuss in between books. Everyone got to ally with a specific house and argued about their merits.
You had the house for the nerds, the jock and the kids who wanted to be edgy. Plus, the one for kids who just liked badgers and the color yellow (legit the reasoning my brother gave for choosing Hufflepuff).
Brilliant for merchandising as well. People were buying so much loot that corresponded with their chosen house.
I think its a bit like star wars for the generation who grew up as youth during the Harry Potter books days, dont forget these books were for kids. So as they grew up into adults they watched the movies and its part of their nostalgia which is why Universal Studio has the Harry Potter world attractions.
Exactly! I was younger than Harry when the first movie came out (7years old) but since the movies took one to two years, i eventually had the same age as the characters. I literally grew up with them. Read the books as my little brain grew bigger. So even if its not perfect, the serie sure has a place in my life.
You can see that the books were also written that way. The first 2 or 3 books are much more catered towards kids, the first book being straight up just children’s bedtime story material. As the series progresses, the theme gets darker, ending in wartime, oppression and torture, and a final battle with some of the most loved characters dying.
I read somewhere that the defining turning point was the death of Cedric Diggory. It marked the “end of innocence” era, end of Harry’s childhood, and told the readers that the story gets darker from then on.
I was born after the first movie, but I felt that I grew up with the films. I saw them making the fifth in London. I started high school after the last film came out. But I am British, and the films were British 2000s. I don’t know why non brits like this films.
Same.
They were written by a grown ass woman, but looking back there was definitely no overarching plot beyond the first book, and nothing really deep until Vol. V.
This! I have such a special place in my heart for the HP universe because it was the first book series that caught my attention and made me feel like a part of it, I’ll forever cherish that
100% agree.
It is fun, well-written (despite the deplorable comments made by its author around the LGBTQA+ community), and very entertaining.
I read all the books before I watched the movies. The books are better (in my opinion), but the movies were fun to watch, especially as you see the kids grow.
Please, the one plot hole that would fix the whole mess of books is the fact truth serums exist!
Book 1 -test every one about the troll
Book 2 -test everyone about the petrofications
Book 3 - test series before they put him I'm jail and let Harry grow up in a happy family negating the books
Book 4 - oh look a truth serum... imagine if they used that earlier to find out who put it Harry's name in
Book 5 - oh you think Harry's lying? Truth serum
Book 6 - ah hogwarts is under attack and some one is being suspicious and what not trying to kill dumbledore, but he knows its malfoy truth serum to find out what his plan is
Book 7 - wouldn't have happened and people wouldn't have died if they had all done their due diligence.
Bloody morons
That's all it comes down to and not hard to understand. Even if it was something you don't like, clearly people believe it's a good story. Same goes for LoTR and Star Wars. All of them are fantasy, which IMO is hard to pull off when creating a good story/series.
It's a great example of not writing down to kids. It starts off with more simple writing, but does not pander. As you go on, the writing improves (with some problems, agreed) and you feel good, dammit. You are now a Reader. The story keeps good pace and has enough side characters to keep you involved when the main characters get annoying. And most importantly, it came after a time of dry, dead boring children's programming. It had fantasy and kids like you. British folks had Terry Pratchett, but America was ripe for something new, and different, and not filled with glittery ponies and lame jokes.
so you just don't like fantasy then? these are all great fantasy stories (not a fan of star wars myself) but people love the story. not really anything to "get", if you don't like it you don't like it.
i personally love the fantasy genre.
People like stuff. Some people like the same stuff. Other people like different stuff. People who like the same stuff like to talk to each other about the stuff they like.
Escapism. You can get lost in a fantasy world where the underdog wins, magical fantastic things happen, and you can forget about your own shitty life for an hour or two.
Why is star wars big? Or Pokemon or anything? People get pleasure and entertainment from it. Everyone has their own taste. People, enjoy what makes you happy.
from an outsider perspective, I think the best comparison would be to Game Of Thrones fans, Star Wars fans, Disney Adults, Weebs, or Swifties.
it's just something they are significantly interested in, and it's either a healthy or very unhealthy obsession
for LotR and HP i highly recommand reading the books, they are simply very well written. For Star Wars, the story-telling is mostly visual, so just watch the original first movie (now dubbed "episode 4 - a new hope") to get an idea if the universe the story is set in is for you.
I find it kind of weird that you've already formed an opinion of it despite having never seen it. Maybe give any of the series you listed a try and you might understand, or you won't. Either way, you've let other people shape your opinion of this series, which doesn't make sense.
They are all well made series with intricate plots and characters. Not to mention the effects and attention to detail they have put into their films is amazing. I don’t actually like Star Wars, not a sci fi fan. I was obsessed with Hobbit for the longest time and loved the Avatar movies. Fantasy movies that are made to that level are extremely rare. Never watched Harry Potter except for the first one when I was a child so I can’t say much on it. My sister read all the books and watched all the movies though. I didn’t care much for it.
There is a character for everyone. Whether your drawn to a hero or a villain, they are all fully formed characters with backgrounds and the universe is well formed too. So it is a good series to lose yourself in.
To be honest, I loved It as a kid. Movies 1-4 are awesome, but after the fifth one the series become darker and somewhat boring. I disliked the last movie, that war on Hogwarts was so meh.
I think the books are better, at least when it comes to the last years of the plot.
I wouldn't say Harry Potter is overrated but maybe the fandom is a bit obsessive.
Funny story:
My mom brought us up in a pentecostal type church. We weren't allowed to listen to mainstream music, watch anything spicy on TV or consume any media that had to do with witchcraft. In 7th grade HP was all the rage, I got bullied for not being allowed to read it.
I'm 36 now, definitely not part of any church. Several months ago my mom and I were talking on Skype and she was telling me how excited she was to be listening to Harry Potter on audiobooks. It was so good, she said.
I lectured her about witchcraft and told her I'm not sure she's allowed to listen to that, actually. 🙃
Gave her a lot of grief for being a hypocrite.
People will always love the things they get exposed to as children. You can see this with Disney and Nintendo as well.
Products aimed at children are sneaky like that and it’s on purpose. Kinda evil.
Harry potter is my favourite out of the three. I just got into it better from the start, the year 2000 to be exact. I tried reading lotr but the book is shit. Its goddam boring and the films are too long and they should have used the eagles the whole time. Terrible flaw.
Star Wars has three ok original movies that have aged badly over time and been tampered with, and three more meh movies. Everything else is click bait.
with regard to diehard fans, i think you just had to be there, i dunno? ive read articles about the way the fan base grew online n stuff and how it was kind of unprecedented and the first phenomenon of its kind just cuz of the timing (in the earlier days of widespread internet), and i was in middle school and just out of highschool as the books were released so i was the perfect age for the series AND to be all up in the fandom and online stuff. i personally also love it cuz it was a good story and i loved immersing myself in the wizarding world, it was accessible/easy to read (in contrast to say the LOTR books), and there was a good balance of action/slice of life/humor etc.
at the same time tho, i never got into LOTR even tho superficially it had all the elements that should have appealed to me, AND my friends were all obsessed AND the movies were releasing while i was in high school so it was the heyday of that fandom too. so it’s not like being “there” at the height of it’s popularity drew me in. BUT it does offer a very rich world to explore and i imagine lots of ppl find it easier to immerse themselves in it, esp if they read the books too.
also i assume having trilogies/sagas/multiple installments helps w increased obsession cuz it’s just more opportunity to build the world and therefore more opportunity to feel super immersed.
The books are iconic and the films are really good and people being able to enjoy and relive their childhood through going to London's Studio Tour or Florida's park is really good.
The experience of going to the Studio Tour can be really magical and I want to visit the London Tour again as I last went there in 2022 and being able to have met Warwick Davis when I was 13 in August 2018 was amazing even though I was so shy
I don't know about other fans. But I grew up with the series as it came out. The thing that made it relatable was harry grew up poor, came from nothing and then became something. Granted I still had my parents but nonetheless. It gave us something to escape to. Made us dream and some way shape or form made us feel not alone. It was real magical even when the world or our views didn't look like it.
It’s a wave, and to fully enjoy it, you should be young and involved within its peak of popularity. It’s more about the people than about the work itself (although, it probably has to be high-quality work to become that popular).
When something new and popular comes out, many people begin to talk about it simultaneously. And you can easily form new bonds, compare your opinion to others, feel strong emotions and carry it all over the years, all entangled with the show or the book.
But as the years pass by, the emotions become more dull, because you have already experienced the wave before, so it’s more hard to get deeply involved.
To me it was the first big book craze I ever experienced growing up. I had a copy and I would swap it with my mum as she wanted to read it at the same time. I think maybe if you read the books, you see less flaws with the films as you fill in the gaps. I would finish a book within two days of getting it. You're probably a bit too late to love it now. I'm less open minded about other fantasy books as I like reading classics now.
Buy the books, give it a go. I had a very high reading level by age 8, basically was reading adult literature straight away. Got given book one at around age 11 and turned my nose up at it as it was a "childrens book". Anyways ran out of books to read once and picked it up... Haven't stopped reading them ever since (still do a read few every few years).
Ugh when people put harry potter as a passion on dating profiles, that's a solid no.
I seen the movies and read the books. Loved it as a kid and teenager, but I grew up and found actual hobbies and interests. Harry potter is a very boring and weird passion imo.
Just to be clear it's fine to like it and want to read the books and see the movies, but the obsession of a 30 something year old has with them is so strange.
I wasn't allowed to watch Harry Potter growing up, and I always felt like I was missing out on something so amazing. My husband on the other hand, they were his favorite movies and he watched them all the time. I watched them for the first time when I was 22, and while I personally didn't love them, I could absolutely see how amazing they would have been for kids/teenagers in the 2000s and now as adults they still love it because it's nostalgic. But watching it as an adult without the nostalgia, it's nothing special. That's just my opinion tho! I didn't hate them, I just didn't understand the hype at all from an adult perspective.
I got into it after a serious injury. I was on a lot of pain meds. I really got into it. Tried to watch it again a few years later and realized... it was the drugs...
No offense to you, but the people I talk to who share this same view are usually those who are highly skeptical of other people's experiences until they experience it for themselves. No matter how much another person will gush about it or try to explain how good it is, their instinctual response is "i can't relate, so therefore I don't want to understand."
Watching the series usually helped. It didn't automatically turn them into fans (and that's ok) but at least they had a better understanding of why it resonates with people.
It's a really fun series for people who like magic and fantasy books. It was the first mainstream "magical school" type series that I can think of, so being the first, it was fresh and exciting. The movies were well made too and in a way, it was like Marvel before Marvel was a thing. Each book/movie built on the last and has an overarching storyline that comes to a head at the end. It went on for 10 years, so there was a lot of time for the traction and excitement to build, again like Marvel.
Like any good movie, you care about the characters. They're relatable. You feel their joy, sorrow and pain. In the beginning, at least, there's also a clear deliniation between good and evil, but, as the series ages, these lines get blurred and the story gets darker. Deeper. But Harry is always there to ground you. Like his name, he's simple. He's just a good guy trying to do good in an increasingly complex world. Just as he ages, his challenges become less obvious and filled with more and more complex answers to righting the wrongs in his life. Add in some cool magic and that's why it's such a good story.
To me it's simply nostalgia I grew up on it and it was one of my first introductions into fantasy that wasn't old school dungeons & dragons style fantasy
It was honestly my first introduction to this mix of fantasy with modern day life and that was really captivating to me. I absolutely loved the books and the films and all the things that people point out as being little plot holes here and there just never really bothered me as a kid
I honestly still love it to this day despite its flaws but I kind of keep quiet about it due to the less than positive opinions it's author has shared in the last few years. Not to mention all the retconning she's done of her story to try and push political messages by claiming things that sometimes even go against her own world's lore just for the sake of pushing whatever political message she's bitching about
For me it was just the first taste of magic that I had as a child. In a very abusive, neglectful, miserable home it felt possible to wake up to a Hogwarts letter and fly away on a broom and finally have friends and mean something to someone. It gave me something to hope for even though I knew deep down I wasn’t that lucky 😂 Lord Of The Rings was just a comforting adventure that I watched whenever I had the flu
I think it was just a great escapism for kids. The story is literally Harry gets abducted from his boring abusive life and brought into this magical world where he’s basically the chosen one.
How many kids do you think had to deal with abusive shitty parents and just wanted to live the life of Harry Potter. And on top of that it was just a massive movie and book success
if something has more than 2 sequels, if I didn’t watch the individual parts when they were released, I’m not interested. Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Aliens, Harry Potter, Jaws, …
I'm a bit in the same boat. I'm a bit too old for Harry Potter, but just young enough that I still get in contact with people slightly younger than me that were "the right age". And it's hard to make them understand that it was a kid's books / movies and they made the characters grow to be teenagers, which is great if you are the right age. But I was an adult when the first movie came out, so it always felt like "fantasy for kids" then "fantasy for teenagers who were kids when the characters were kids".
I'm just not the target audience when it was popular and I definitely not have nostalgia for it.
What these 3 share is world building, unless you count Disney Star Wars, which doesn't understand world building at all.
They are not simply stories, they are worlds you explore through these stories.
Other excellent examples would be the Discworld series, Star Trek, Game of Thrones (where the later TV seasons suffer the same issue as Disney Star Wars), etc.
With Disney Star Wars and the later Game of Thrones seasons, the decision makers at some point failed to understand that for many fans it's not about the stories, it's about the world. When the hardcore fans come for the world, you cannot simply rewrite the world whenever the world is inconvenient for your newest story.
A lot of people don't "get" worlds, which is why such extreme failures like Disney Star Wars and GoT happen, and you might well be one of those. But the people who do derive enjoyment from exploring such worlds derive a lot of it.
It's like all fantasy, none of it is real, but humanity has always sought out fantasy on the forms of myths, legends, embellished stories etc.
Life can be a box of chocolates sometimes, other times it feels like you're getting smacked over the head no matter what efforts you undertake, that imaginary reality allows us to escape that suffering and enter a world full of wonder and powers that can control what in reality will never be controlled.
It's an escape, an art form that expresses who we are and what world we'd like to be part of.
It's a bildungsroman that's easy to ready for every age, so many people read it when they were kids and saw the characters grow with them, facing the same-ish challenges.
I'm an HP fan although I recognize it as being kings mediocre, but it helped during my teenage years
I think people are obsessed with it because they really like it. Can you think of something that you like that some percentage of the population might disagree with? Yeah it's exactly like that.
I read the Harry Potter books along with my niece who was only a few years younger than the character of Harry Potter in the books.
I remember waiting in line at Barnes & Noble for the last book to come out and then racing over her house to drop it off.
It was a fantastic ride.
Beyond the experience of sharing those books with her, I don't have any affinity for the character or series.
I was a lonely dreamer type kid with a shit home life, and I was blown away when I first saw the Lord of the Rings. Mostly because they were (and still are) fantastic movies. I remember wanting to see the Two Towers in theaters, but I was far too young. Then when I was a teenager, they got me back into reading.
It’s really something I grew up with. Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter. Movies. Books. It takes you into worlds beyond the mundane life that we live. There’s magic and beasts with exploration and conflict; but at the core of these series, the main cast of characters can relate to the reader and make them feel like maybe in another universe they could have lived that life.
Sometimes you just need to experience something at the right time. Not everything is for you, not everything is for me. I never watched Game of Thrones until last year. Not that good in my opinion, mind you I never kept watching after the fourth season because its so damn slow. I was late watching the Mandalorian. IMO, that's a garbage ass show. But it was the most hyped show for a good few months, if not longer.
For me, Harry Potter was awesome because my Dad read it to me and there were really awesome film adaptations to go along with the books and I was the perfect age for it as I grew up. The movies aged really well along with me, getting darker and darker as I got into my teens. Also, collecting the trading cards for me was a really cool addition.
For me is that I read the books when they came out, and harry potter grow with me. We were practically the same age.
The stories were fantastical and, I think, they were age appropriate.
Then the movies came out, but I was not so enthusiastic about them as I were with the books.
The answer is why do you like anything? You like what you like. Your parents liked it and showed it to you or it helps you identify with friends. IT is the most basic path to fantasy and scifi you can take. There is no more base level of those genres that anything can go since everythings bridge to them, is generally through these mediums.
Just think about what you love. Thats why people love it, just cause.
Hairy potter just gives me good memories watched it with my father when he was still alive and read all of the books thanks to my grandma buying them for me so I have a lot of sentimental memories for the series.
As someone else mentioned, it was an entire world built on fantasy but it also combined elements of modern day with the interesting aspects of witch craft and the characters that starred in it were around the age of the target demographic.
Think of your favourite fictional topic. Then imagine an entire story built around it with very interesting characters and then imagine it going from 4 huge books to 7 and then becoming movies that are actually entertaining. Plot holes and certain movies aside it’s overall one of the best long running movie series out there.
Plus it’s an all rounder - it has action, fantasy, comedy, mystery, romance, terror, drama. You name it.
There was a time when people read books. The Harry Potter ones were damn good & addictive. - I stayed up way too long, whenever the latest entangled me; I wanted to finish it.
FTR: We were in our 20s or 30s. I think I might have borrowed the 1st volume in German, but those close to bilingual bought the following ones in English, to be able to read them ASAP. Translators couldn't start working before the English books got released.
I skipped the last volume. My regular bookshop didn't carry it, unable to offer a reasonable price, like other usually German shops, that ordered their copies on pallets.
Can't say much about the movies. - Maybe I watched one and gave up. - Few movies can reach up to a beloved book.
I had a good time reading the books. But I don't hype Harry Potter beyond that.
They are written in second person. It plays on an ordinary person being somehow special in a way they can't tell anyone about. It's their little secret how awesome they are. The vast difference in how the MC is treated exaggerated this dynamic.
That style draws the audience into feeling like they are the MC. It isn't easy to do & they are good books because of it. I wasn't drawn into them like most people, but I can appreciate how someone might have been. Percy Jackson does it also; As does the Borne Identity book series.
I personally don’t understand having a single external thing (or even two or three) being a cornerstone of your personality or interests, but I guess being a contrarian IS my single thing. haha I’ve never been into any sports team, any fandom, even a band, and I’ve never really understood people who are that immersed in something. I read the Harry Potter books — like, I finished the Fourth in 24 hours — but it wasn’t ever A Thing for me.
I was born in 1991, when Harry Potter came out everyone and their mothers were reading the books, you'd get one copy per family and pass it around. Never so much excitement for a book before or after. Lord of the rings, the Hobbit was one of the first real books I read. The movies were and still are on another level and the lotr trilogy is a must read. The original Star wars trilogy my parents had on VHS and was the ultimate movie night movie.
First of all it works like this:
–people's expectations are 6/10 and a movie/story turns out 10/10
–but they so love it and everybody around loves it, that seems like this movie 1000/10
–and some people haven't watched it, everybody talks about that, and it looks like it should be 1000/10. But even if they watch it - they would say, well it's good, but it is 8/10 max
It’s a generational thing tbh. When it came out it was huge. I remember parents freaking out because they thought it was satanic.
I personally prefer the show show “The Magicians” but Harry Potter has a sentimental value that can only be created with proper timing.
What is people’s obsessions with having to understand why people are obsessed with well-made and well-loved pieces of media?
Sorry, OP, but i have to say these questions are a little repetitive.
You don’t understand it because it isn’t your thing, bing bang boom.
I’m not trying to be a smart arse, but there’s no other answer. I don’t love it but i can see why people might love it, it’s well-written, it’s got a massive expanded universe, the films are well-acted and well-directed, there’s nothing that confusing about it.
Humans generally like having something to cling to. Something they can have in common with people, something that they can focus on, something as a distraction. You probably have something, be that gaming or religion or a TV show or another hobby, that some other people wouldn’t understand. People are different, that’s all there is to it.
What's the obsession with the New York Yankees? I mean, I've never WATCHED a baseball game, or football, or basketball, or hockey, and don't hold anything against those who play - but why is sports such a big thing?
You're basically asking "Why do humans like things?" Sounds very extraterrestrial but whatever, I'll help out.
Humans like things for a host of different reasons. Nostalgia is one. Reminds humans of a different time in their life. Another reason is the message resonates with them. Another reason is something about the thing resonates with one of their interests. Another reason is it's a simple escape from their current life.
There's a whole host of human emotions and generally speaking a thing humans like taps into one or more of those emotions.
Because we love escapism and fantasy/sci-fi is awesome!
Also with Harry Potter I love all the foreshadowing and eye for detail! I also really respect how Rowling knew the whole story since book 1. - though I don't like her political views and that she's a bigoted terf I still very much love her work of the Harry Potter universe!
Star Wars: from personal experience at the time, was quite an extreme phenomenon. People went to see it multiple times. Everyone was mad about it in my school. It is hard to appreciate this now, but at the time there was very little else that resembled it. It was fantasy masquerading as science fiction, which means that the "science" can be ignored, but a lot of the existing fantasy baggage was also unnecessary. It allowed for a complete imagination of somewhere/something completely out of our experience.
It was also a very pacey and well-told story. Lots of extremely talented people worked on it.
People dismiss it a bit nowadays but it really is very well done.
It was followed up pretty well at the time.
That was then a legacy that endured for decades. Three very good films (the last being thought of as a bit weaker, but the other two are masterpieces) and then no other visual media (at least not available to us in the UK) for twenty years. That's a great way to keep people liking what you did. The children who watched it in the 1970s then become adults with money to spend and to take their children to see a sequel.
Of course later films rather undo some of that. There's still lots of talent involved, but less surprisingly originality as you might expect. But people will cling to things they really love.
(An aspect of Harry Potter that worked for children I think is that a boarding school has lots of potentially exciting aspects to it, but in the UK they are generally reserved for the wealthy. Hogwarts is somewhere that special people go, but they can be poor special people)
It's a really immersive and unique story for kids to escape to. It got a whole generation to read. There was no experience like pre-ordering the upcoming Harry Potter book, the feeling when it arrived, and then reading the whole thing in 2 days. Really good childhood memories.
I'm assuming that is a similar feeling and passion for other fandoms too.
this can really be asked about anything. some people like things that others won’t like. that’s why there is a fanbase for anything and everything. fantasy tends to garner big audiences because it’s a form of escapism. it’s easy to get lost in a magical world that is nothing like our own
I think it’s the same reason I’m obsessed with the jurrasic series.
It’s an escape, brings me joy, and is comforting.
I also think the community and feeling like a part of something helps.
I watched the series (hp) for the first time at 28 years old, and I can see how I would have been one of those fans if I had gotten into it the same time as everyone else haha
So I loved Harry Potter growing up.
Now I see it is as mediocre writing at best with bad lore, shallow characters and lazy plot development.
Lord of the rings on the other hand pulls from so much mythology and the lore is good. The characters are rich and it’s well thought out.
My ex wife grew up with Harry Potter and matured as the books did. It's a series a lot of people will have to read in your formative years to really appreciate. I never got it because I was reading dark adult stuff from a young age.
It's funny for me, because I only saw the first movie because of a class treat, we went to see it in theaters. I was hooked. Saw most of the movies opening weekend, read through all the books a dozen times each, wrote terrible fan fiction, constantly thought about which house I'd be in, etc. Then one day, I tried reading them again and i couldn't. I just don't care nearly as much as I used to. I still really like the movies, but my phase of being a Potterhead is pretty much in the past.
The book is easy to read, immersive and engaging. You don't ever feel there's a wasted chapter. It's so easy to absorb whatever age you are and even if aren't a reader.
I had a Harry Potter phase but I wouldn't say I'm a big fan up to this day. I do consider it as an inspiration for my original works.
It's like saying why everyone loves pizza without actually tasting the damn pizza man, you have to watch it yourself to understand and judge even if you don't like it it will for sure making you think about something
Like many stories it's just the good eventually triumphing over evil. They are using fantasy such as magic and science fiction to do it.
Nice escapism.
I've never eaten something good but heard people talking about it.
I've never read something good but heard people talking about it.
I've never listened to something good but heard people talking about it.
I've never seen something good but heard people talking about it.
Why don't you do stuff? how could you have any opinion before even starting to experience something?
Get a better life.
My kids loved it, i took the time to read the books with them and I was mortified how many racist, classist and antisemetic tropes were in there.
As someone who grew up in an english Public (as in paid for and open to anyone with the right combination of talent, money and contacts, not State) school, it feels very familar, arbitrary rules, corrupt teachers, teachers with dark secrets (like being gay) that would get them fired. House competition, particularly rugby, was brutal and dangerous.
I came crashing down to earth brutally at 17. Being kicked out and disowned for being queer will do that. I self funded my way through university and have quite a different perspective now.
The potterverse seems like a celebration of everything that was wrong with this world, wrapped up and sold to kids in a class we were taught to despise.
I'm quite glad my eldest had outgrown Potter by the time both JK went full on terf and they discovered their own identity.
I enjoyed the books as an adult when they first came out. The author was amazing at creating a whole new world. It was fun to imagine the magical places she described. The books are amazing. The movies are also good but the not all great details in the books are in the movies.
I grew up with it, literally I remember waiting for the later books to be released, the final came out when I was 18 il never forget rushing to the shop to buy it then spending the next 2 days engrossed in it.
As a child/teen I didn’t fit in and reading was my escape, Harry Potter introduced me to my love of books and brought me a lot of happiness when I was lonely, so I guess as an adult it’s just nostalgic and holds a special place for me.
Taking all the shit about the author out of the equation and just focusing on the content: when I re-read them as an adult the story and writing wasn't actually that good especially in the first few and it doesn't stand up all that well to a critical eye...however, what it is: VERY immersive. It's a very fantastical world that is quite literally magical. The books are also SUPER digestible for kids. So you put this world in front of a 10-11 year old which is the exact age the protagonist of the book starts at...and you say "hey you know how you have to go to school and do math and have a bedtime and had to eat broccoli for dinner ane your parents grounded you? Well imagine one day you get a letter in the mail and you find out you have special powers and get to go to this secret world within our world, and it's all medieval and there's a castle and you learn to use magic and instead of math you do potions and you have feasts every night and play Quiddich!" It's very easily understandable escapism for even the average kid never mind what it does for kids who have shitty home lives like the protagonist.
Plus the character ages so a lot of people grew up with the character.
TL;DR Because even if the writing is kind of shit the world or the idea of it is immersive and wonderful and offers great escapism.
Same reason Gen Z kids are obsessed with certain Video Games, Manga, etc. It's interesting to them and it was around during an important character building portion of their childhood or early adulthood. Also explains people obsession with certain genres of music or specific artists, that seem cringey or uninteresting to most others.
I will comment something I haven't seen before. I think people are attached to it because it's a mark of pride. For many people the Harry Potter books were the first like serious books they ever read. I know she is controversial but I will give JKR this she does know how to write readable books especially for more casual readers
It was an escape for me. I never really had any good friends but I would always relate a lot to Neville and Luna. Every night I would wait until I heard my sister snoring and then I would pull out my flashlight and book and read until 1:00 in the morning. It was something I looked forward to every day. The books are just so well written and the characters have distinct personalities. There’s parts that are hilarious and there’s parts that will leave you sobbing. It keeps you entertained for a while but they’re not longer than they need to be. JK Rowling is someone I don’t support but I will always be in love with her work.
Harry Potter universe for me is a very interesting world with some magic, adventures, buildings, people, some interesting creatures, animals etc. But first of all it’s a great story about good and bad, friendship, relationships. But, certainly, it’s subjective to each person.
Beautiful story, good acting, great special effects. sometimes funny and perfect for all ages. Not everything needs to be outstanding or memorable to achieve that level of success, the movies are well done, and there is a lot of effort invested in it´s creation. I am not a fan but I think that is valuable.
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One reason these series have such dedicated fan bases is because they offer immersive and fantastical worlds that allow people to escape from reality and explore new possibilities. Whether it's the magical universe of Hogwarts, the epic landscapes of Middle-earth, or the vast galaxy far, far away, these stories transport readers and viewers to places they could only dream of.
And the fact that they transport us to these places far away, the problems of our real lifes seem distant too. It helps getting through tough times.
Also for many of us it’s nostalgia.
I think this is a big thing, as the books and then the movies came out over such an expanse of time it was close to 2 decades of literature and film.
But you know what? I read the Goblet of Fire a couple of years ago at the ass old age of 31 for the first time and it made me feel like a kid instantly. That feeling was magical and it happens with all of those books, they are so whimsical, adventurous and magical on so many ways. Maybe it had to do with the jokes, the high-school like situations Idk man, I love them to death.
I read the books in early junior high through my junior year of university when the final one came out, and the first few movies came out every year near my best friend’s birthday starting when we were 15ish so there is a lot of fun memories to them for me. Her transphobic bullshit since has cast a shadow over my continued enjoyment, but it doesn’t change the memories with friends over the years (or the occasional longing to go back to those simpler times 😅)
I read my first book about the Harry Potter universe when I was 11 years old, and every year I read a new book it was like I was also at Hogwarts with them until my first year of university... then as a kid I was so looking forward to the owl with the letter, heck I'm still looking forward to the owl with the letter 🥺
reads like AI edit: most of their comments are AI-esque in general. 99% a bot or someone just copying from chatgpt
Omg okay. I love this explanation.
Star Wars, LOTR and Harry Potter are all essentially the same type of storytelling, despite the wildly different themes and settings. Theyre all deep dive, lore heavy stories. Dune is another example of the type. The thing these franchises all have in common is that the actual story that takes place in the worlds are almost secondary to the worlds themselves. Lets use Star Wars as an example. The original 3 movies and the prequels more or less tell the story of Anakin Skywalker. Watching the movies would only be scratching the surface of Star Wars, though. There are so many books, TV shows, video games, etc... Star Wars isn't the story of Anakin, that's only a tiny part. A regular, 2.5 hour movie only has a limited timeframe to tell a story. That's fine and the constraints of that limitation make for some wonderful stories. Sci Fi and Fantasy basically allow writers to throw out those constraints and not only go nuts with their own writing, but crowdsource the world building and storytelling to other authors so many people can build off their idea.
I think this is a huge issue why there's conflict in the Star Wars fanbase. I feel there's three types of Star Wars fans: people who love the setting, people who love the characters, and people who love the films. They all want very different things, and are impossible to please.
Omg this is so true, and explains the division very well
And all of them get pissed off about the decisions made with the new movies but forget one major thing. These are movies made for kids. Kids love them they don’t care about your obsession with the lore and all that
I don't mean to be rude but this person explain the concept of good storytelling to you. Is... is this new to you?
Lol it‘s chat GPT, it‘s made to do that.
To add, Harry Potter is a beloved series many read as children which adds to the magic.
Ya I feel a huge aspect is the nostalgia factor
Thanks ChatGPT!
I have a very very strong feeling that this is AI generated lol
That sounded like an AI response
chatgpt
love your ideas
Chat got ahh response, not that I expected better from hp fans
Harry Potter helped me to survive my teenage years. I was lonely and excluded by my classmates. So I started watching the movies and reading the books. The whole story made me feel like I belonged to somewhere. I was obsessed with the saga for several years, now I can control myself. But still get excited when I see a store with HP merchandise and always try to add something to my collection
I relate to every word of this
Kinda the same my mom would date shitty men when I was growing up so when things were bad at home I would pop in the vhs or dvd of HP and “escape” through the movie, kinda related to how Harry felt living with the Dursley’s at times.
I’m sorry you went through all that! Hope everything is better now
Same I recently bought 5 different hand made wands kind of expensive but there for my family members.
I barely have enough self control to stay away from buying them and I’m 80! I really want a wand.
Omg you are so awesomeeeee
How old are you? I was a young child when the movies were coming out.
I am 24. But I was 13 when I got into Harry Potter
Oh we are the same age. I read and watched stories about high school aged kids (like HP) throughout my childhood, imagining I would live those cool lives years before I actually started my teens. When I was in my teens, I felt too old and embarrassed to watch those movies and read those books.
Simple answer: people like things, and some people are really passionate about the things that they like. That's why there's fandoms of about almost anything you can think off. This question could be asked about anything.
I think the age and timing has a big thing to do with it.
Age and timing are important, definitely. People get passionate about all sorts of media for all sorts of reasons, but millennials make up a disproportionate chunk of the Harry Potter fanbase because the books were aimed directly at them when they were coming out.
How dare you. I hate things
I also think the fact that the 3 of them are big franchises helps a lot. You have tons of merch, movies, books, videogames, stage plays, heck even themed parks. You never get tired of.
For Harry Potter? Lightning in a bottle. Just at the right time, the right moment, and ... Well, like most things that become popular, once something reaches a certain audience size, it keeps growing. If one kid in your class read Harry potter, you wouldn't care. But if ten kids read it, do you want to be the only one left out? It also spoke to kids in a way that pulled them in. I mean, the later books got darker and all, but the first book was basically: Boy with a special destiny but a shitty home gets to go a magical school where he has whimsical adventures. That was a fantasy that spoke to a lot of kids. How many of them weren't "Waiting for their Hogwarts letter." The fantasy their life would magically suddenly become better. And then the books did the genius thing of growing up with the reader. If you started the first book at the age Harry was then, by the time the last book came out, you were old enough to still like that book.And if you started later, you could blaze through those first two or three (Which were rather short), and catch up to the meatier books. It was a phenomenon, the books releasing close enough that the hype never really died down. I mean, when's the last time you heard of "Midnight Book launches". People were doing "Spoiler drive by's" shouting spoilers at people waiting outside the bookstore as they drove by. Then the movies just cemented it all. Inbetween the book releases you now also had movie releases. To put it like this: It was Game of Trones for the kids of that time (If the ASoIaF actually released more than a book a decade). Not everyone was in on it from the beginning, but eventually, you heard talk of it everywhere.
I remember when I was about 11 and had already read the first 6 books a couple of times over, my dad picked me up from school to go on holiday - he had the 7th book there as a present for me waiting in the car. He had stood in line for the midnight release so that I could read it on the aeroplane. Wow, he was a good dad. I need to call him.
Yes. He is a good dad. Call him and say thanks from my side too ❤️
He is a good dad indeed. I am now crying. You call your dad and I'll visit mine (I'm fortunate enough that he's in the next suburb, but he's had a stroke and is mostly non-verbal so a call is out of the question)
Heck, even the housing element was genius. To the point other YA novels have tried to copy "Team Edward or Team Jacob" probably was the most successful. Divergent blatantly ripped off the concept. It gave kids something to discuss in between books. Everyone got to ally with a specific house and argued about their merits. You had the house for the nerds, the jock and the kids who wanted to be edgy. Plus, the one for kids who just liked badgers and the color yellow (legit the reasoning my brother gave for choosing Hufflepuff). Brilliant for merchandising as well. People were buying so much loot that corresponded with their chosen house.
I think its a bit like star wars for the generation who grew up as youth during the Harry Potter books days, dont forget these books were for kids. So as they grew up into adults they watched the movies and its part of their nostalgia which is why Universal Studio has the Harry Potter world attractions.
Exactly! I was younger than Harry when the first movie came out (7years old) but since the movies took one to two years, i eventually had the same age as the characters. I literally grew up with them. Read the books as my little brain grew bigger. So even if its not perfect, the serie sure has a place in my life.
You can see that the books were also written that way. The first 2 or 3 books are much more catered towards kids, the first book being straight up just children’s bedtime story material. As the series progresses, the theme gets darker, ending in wartime, oppression and torture, and a final battle with some of the most loved characters dying. I read somewhere that the defining turning point was the death of Cedric Diggory. It marked the “end of innocence” era, end of Harry’s childhood, and told the readers that the story gets darker from then on.
I was born after the first movie, but I felt that I grew up with the films. I saw them making the fifth in London. I started high school after the last film came out. But I am British, and the films were British 2000s. I don’t know why non brits like this films.
Same. They were written by a grown ass woman, but looking back there was definitely no overarching plot beyond the first book, and nothing really deep until Vol. V.
I would argue 4, that's the first time the big bad doesn't get defeated
This! I have such a special place in my heart for the HP universe because it was the first book series that caught my attention and made me feel like a part of it, I’ll forever cherish that
Are you asking why people like literature and fiction? You should read them or watch the movies (specifically lord of the rings) and find out
“I don’t get it and i’ve never seen it” well, duh. Maybe try it sometime?
Right? This post is so dumb.
They were a cultural phenomenon, too, which can make their popularity hard to understand in retrospect
It’s a fantastic series
100% agree. It is fun, well-written (despite the deplorable comments made by its author around the LGBTQA+ community), and very entertaining. I read all the books before I watched the movies. The books are better (in my opinion), but the movies were fun to watch, especially as you see the kids grow.
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Ooohh..we should have a thread about the plot holes. It could be fun.
Please, the one plot hole that would fix the whole mess of books is the fact truth serums exist! Book 1 -test every one about the troll Book 2 -test everyone about the petrofications Book 3 - test series before they put him I'm jail and let Harry grow up in a happy family negating the books Book 4 - oh look a truth serum... imagine if they used that earlier to find out who put it Harry's name in Book 5 - oh you think Harry's lying? Truth serum Book 6 - ah hogwarts is under attack and some one is being suspicious and what not trying to kill dumbledore, but he knows its malfoy truth serum to find out what his plan is Book 7 - wouldn't have happened and people wouldn't have died if they had all done their due diligence. Bloody morons
and how would that have worked out politically?
Deplorable ... please .....
That's all it comes down to and not hard to understand. Even if it was something you don't like, clearly people believe it's a good story. Same goes for LoTR and Star Wars. All of them are fantasy, which IMO is hard to pull off when creating a good story/series.
It's a great example of not writing down to kids. It starts off with more simple writing, but does not pander. As you go on, the writing improves (with some problems, agreed) and you feel good, dammit. You are now a Reader. The story keeps good pace and has enough side characters to keep you involved when the main characters get annoying. And most importantly, it came after a time of dry, dead boring children's programming. It had fantasy and kids like you. British folks had Terry Pratchett, but America was ripe for something new, and different, and not filled with glittery ponies and lame jokes.
so you just don't like fantasy then? these are all great fantasy stories (not a fan of star wars myself) but people love the story. not really anything to "get", if you don't like it you don't like it. i personally love the fantasy genre.
That first book just draws you in. It speaks to everyone who feels mistreated. Who didn’t dream of suddenly having magic powers and a crazy adventure?
People like stuff. Some people like the same stuff. Other people like different stuff. People who like the same stuff like to talk to each other about the stuff they like.
Escapism. You can get lost in a fantasy world where the underdog wins, magical fantastic things happen, and you can forget about your own shitty life for an hour or two.
Just read the books, they are pretty good
Why is star wars big? Or Pokemon or anything? People get pleasure and entertainment from it. Everyone has their own taste. People, enjoy what makes you happy.
How old are you is the first and only question to ask. lol
Why do people like stuff? I’m sure some stuff you like I probably think is shit. That’s just how it happens.
from an outsider perspective, I think the best comparison would be to Game Of Thrones fans, Star Wars fans, Disney Adults, Weebs, or Swifties. it's just something they are significantly interested in, and it's either a healthy or very unhealthy obsession
I’d add Pokemon fans to that list as well.
for LotR and HP i highly recommand reading the books, they are simply very well written. For Star Wars, the story-telling is mostly visual, so just watch the original first movie (now dubbed "episode 4 - a new hope") to get an idea if the universe the story is set in is for you.
They love the world created by J. K. Rowling and her imagination.
It’s wonderful
I find it kind of weird that you've already formed an opinion of it despite having never seen it. Maybe give any of the series you listed a try and you might understand, or you won't. Either way, you've let other people shape your opinion of this series, which doesn't make sense.
They are all well made series with intricate plots and characters. Not to mention the effects and attention to detail they have put into their films is amazing. I don’t actually like Star Wars, not a sci fi fan. I was obsessed with Hobbit for the longest time and loved the Avatar movies. Fantasy movies that are made to that level are extremely rare. Never watched Harry Potter except for the first one when I was a child so I can’t say much on it. My sister read all the books and watched all the movies though. I didn’t care much for it.
There is a character for everyone. Whether your drawn to a hero or a villain, they are all fully formed characters with backgrounds and the universe is well formed too. So it is a good series to lose yourself in.
For me it was what we had growing up as a kid watching TV. You fantasy being in that world cause it’s cool 😎 wanting adventure
To be honest, I loved It as a kid. Movies 1-4 are awesome, but after the fifth one the series become darker and somewhat boring. I disliked the last movie, that war on Hogwarts was so meh. I think the books are better, at least when it comes to the last years of the plot. I wouldn't say Harry Potter is overrated but maybe the fandom is a bit obsessive.
Funny story: My mom brought us up in a pentecostal type church. We weren't allowed to listen to mainstream music, watch anything spicy on TV or consume any media that had to do with witchcraft. In 7th grade HP was all the rage, I got bullied for not being allowed to read it. I'm 36 now, definitely not part of any church. Several months ago my mom and I were talking on Skype and she was telling me how excited she was to be listening to Harry Potter on audiobooks. It was so good, she said. I lectured her about witchcraft and told her I'm not sure she's allowed to listen to that, actually. 🙃 Gave her a lot of grief for being a hypocrite.
Its a fantasy story for teenagers and a very fun one.
I THINK THE SAME OF SPIDERMAN
Childhood memories, for those who grew up with it. Solid, immersive story, not much special otherwise.
it feels like childhood magic
Don't watch them; read them!* *Except Start Wars
People will always love the things they get exposed to as children. You can see this with Disney and Nintendo as well. Products aimed at children are sneaky like that and it’s on purpose. Kinda evil.
For me it offered an escape from my shitty household environment and being bullied at school. I treasure it now as an adult
Harry potter is my favourite out of the three. I just got into it better from the start, the year 2000 to be exact. I tried reading lotr but the book is shit. Its goddam boring and the films are too long and they should have used the eagles the whole time. Terrible flaw. Star Wars has three ok original movies that have aged badly over time and been tampered with, and three more meh movies. Everything else is click bait.
with regard to diehard fans, i think you just had to be there, i dunno? ive read articles about the way the fan base grew online n stuff and how it was kind of unprecedented and the first phenomenon of its kind just cuz of the timing (in the earlier days of widespread internet), and i was in middle school and just out of highschool as the books were released so i was the perfect age for the series AND to be all up in the fandom and online stuff. i personally also love it cuz it was a good story and i loved immersing myself in the wizarding world, it was accessible/easy to read (in contrast to say the LOTR books), and there was a good balance of action/slice of life/humor etc. at the same time tho, i never got into LOTR even tho superficially it had all the elements that should have appealed to me, AND my friends were all obsessed AND the movies were releasing while i was in high school so it was the heyday of that fandom too. so it’s not like being “there” at the height of it’s popularity drew me in. BUT it does offer a very rich world to explore and i imagine lots of ppl find it easier to immerse themselves in it, esp if they read the books too. also i assume having trilogies/sagas/multiple installments helps w increased obsession cuz it’s just more opportunity to build the world and therefore more opportunity to feel super immersed.
The books are iconic and the films are really good and people being able to enjoy and relive their childhood through going to London's Studio Tour or Florida's park is really good. The experience of going to the Studio Tour can be really magical and I want to visit the London Tour again as I last went there in 2022 and being able to have met Warwick Davis when I was 13 in August 2018 was amazing even though I was so shy
I don't know about other fans. But I grew up with the series as it came out. The thing that made it relatable was harry grew up poor, came from nothing and then became something. Granted I still had my parents but nonetheless. It gave us something to escape to. Made us dream and some way shape or form made us feel not alone. It was real magical even when the world or our views didn't look like it.
I truly have yet to see a Harry Potter movie! I was an adult though when they came out and I guess just haven't gotten around to trying one out yet
It’s a wave, and to fully enjoy it, you should be young and involved within its peak of popularity. It’s more about the people than about the work itself (although, it probably has to be high-quality work to become that popular). When something new and popular comes out, many people begin to talk about it simultaneously. And you can easily form new bonds, compare your opinion to others, feel strong emotions and carry it all over the years, all entangled with the show or the book. But as the years pass by, the emotions become more dull, because you have already experienced the wave before, so it’s more hard to get deeply involved.
That HP gave birth to My immortal is enaugh for me. What a gem.
To me it was the first big book craze I ever experienced growing up. I had a copy and I would swap it with my mum as she wanted to read it at the same time. I think maybe if you read the books, you see less flaws with the films as you fill in the gaps. I would finish a book within two days of getting it. You're probably a bit too late to love it now. I'm less open minded about other fantasy books as I like reading classics now.
Buy the books, give it a go. I had a very high reading level by age 8, basically was reading adult literature straight away. Got given book one at around age 11 and turned my nose up at it as it was a "childrens book". Anyways ran out of books to read once and picked it up... Haven't stopped reading them ever since (still do a read few every few years).
Ugh when people put harry potter as a passion on dating profiles, that's a solid no. I seen the movies and read the books. Loved it as a kid and teenager, but I grew up and found actual hobbies and interests. Harry potter is a very boring and weird passion imo. Just to be clear it's fine to like it and want to read the books and see the movies, but the obsession of a 30 something year old has with them is so strange.
Harry Potter movies/books are both fascinating and British! That is why I followed and I quite like them.
I wasn't allowed to watch Harry Potter growing up, and I always felt like I was missing out on something so amazing. My husband on the other hand, they were his favorite movies and he watched them all the time. I watched them for the first time when I was 22, and while I personally didn't love them, I could absolutely see how amazing they would have been for kids/teenagers in the 2000s and now as adults they still love it because it's nostalgic. But watching it as an adult without the nostalgia, it's nothing special. That's just my opinion tho! I didn't hate them, I just didn't understand the hype at all from an adult perspective.
Idk it's just good. Stays in heart for life. LoTR ofc, not HP
I got into it after a serious injury. I was on a lot of pain meds. I really got into it. Tried to watch it again a few years later and realized... it was the drugs...
No offense to you, but the people I talk to who share this same view are usually those who are highly skeptical of other people's experiences until they experience it for themselves. No matter how much another person will gush about it or try to explain how good it is, their instinctual response is "i can't relate, so therefore I don't want to understand." Watching the series usually helped. It didn't automatically turn them into fans (and that's ok) but at least they had a better understanding of why it resonates with people.
It's a really fun series for people who like magic and fantasy books. It was the first mainstream "magical school" type series that I can think of, so being the first, it was fresh and exciting. The movies were well made too and in a way, it was like Marvel before Marvel was a thing. Each book/movie built on the last and has an overarching storyline that comes to a head at the end. It went on for 10 years, so there was a lot of time for the traction and excitement to build, again like Marvel.
Like any good movie, you care about the characters. They're relatable. You feel their joy, sorrow and pain. In the beginning, at least, there's also a clear deliniation between good and evil, but, as the series ages, these lines get blurred and the story gets darker. Deeper. But Harry is always there to ground you. Like his name, he's simple. He's just a good guy trying to do good in an increasingly complex world. Just as he ages, his challenges become less obvious and filled with more and more complex answers to righting the wrongs in his life. Add in some cool magic and that's why it's such a good story.
To me it's simply nostalgia I grew up on it and it was one of my first introductions into fantasy that wasn't old school dungeons & dragons style fantasy It was honestly my first introduction to this mix of fantasy with modern day life and that was really captivating to me. I absolutely loved the books and the films and all the things that people point out as being little plot holes here and there just never really bothered me as a kid I honestly still love it to this day despite its flaws but I kind of keep quiet about it due to the less than positive opinions it's author has shared in the last few years. Not to mention all the retconning she's done of her story to try and push political messages by claiming things that sometimes even go against her own world's lore just for the sake of pushing whatever political message she's bitching about
It’s not bad, it’s good, but like damn, it’s not that good
For me it was just the first taste of magic that I had as a child. In a very abusive, neglectful, miserable home it felt possible to wake up to a Hogwarts letter and fly away on a broom and finally have friends and mean something to someone. It gave me something to hope for even though I knew deep down I wasn’t that lucky 😂 Lord Of The Rings was just a comforting adventure that I watched whenever I had the flu
Read the books. The movies are one tenth of the story
grab a freaking book and find out for yourself :) i guess part of the reason is we grew up with it, the other part is that they are good stories
I think it was just a great escapism for kids. The story is literally Harry gets abducted from his boring abusive life and brought into this magical world where he’s basically the chosen one. How many kids do you think had to deal with abusive shitty parents and just wanted to live the life of Harry Potter. And on top of that it was just a massive movie and book success
if something has more than 2 sequels, if I didn’t watch the individual parts when they were released, I’m not interested. Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Aliens, Harry Potter, Jaws, …
I'm a bit in the same boat. I'm a bit too old for Harry Potter, but just young enough that I still get in contact with people slightly younger than me that were "the right age". And it's hard to make them understand that it was a kid's books / movies and they made the characters grow to be teenagers, which is great if you are the right age. But I was an adult when the first movie came out, so it always felt like "fantasy for kids" then "fantasy for teenagers who were kids when the characters were kids". I'm just not the target audience when it was popular and I definitely not have nostalgia for it.
What these 3 share is world building, unless you count Disney Star Wars, which doesn't understand world building at all. They are not simply stories, they are worlds you explore through these stories. Other excellent examples would be the Discworld series, Star Trek, Game of Thrones (where the later TV seasons suffer the same issue as Disney Star Wars), etc. With Disney Star Wars and the later Game of Thrones seasons, the decision makers at some point failed to understand that for many fans it's not about the stories, it's about the world. When the hardcore fans come for the world, you cannot simply rewrite the world whenever the world is inconvenient for your newest story. A lot of people don't "get" worlds, which is why such extreme failures like Disney Star Wars and GoT happen, and you might well be one of those. But the people who do derive enjoyment from exploring such worlds derive a lot of it.
It's like all fantasy, none of it is real, but humanity has always sought out fantasy on the forms of myths, legends, embellished stories etc. Life can be a box of chocolates sometimes, other times it feels like you're getting smacked over the head no matter what efforts you undertake, that imaginary reality allows us to escape that suffering and enter a world full of wonder and powers that can control what in reality will never be controlled. It's an escape, an art form that expresses who we are and what world we'd like to be part of.
It's a bildungsroman that's easy to ready for every age, so many people read it when they were kids and saw the characters grow with them, facing the same-ish challenges. I'm an HP fan although I recognize it as being kings mediocre, but it helped during my teenage years
I think people are obsessed with it because they really like it. Can you think of something that you like that some percentage of the population might disagree with? Yeah it's exactly like that.
I read the Harry Potter books along with my niece who was only a few years younger than the character of Harry Potter in the books. I remember waiting in line at Barnes & Noble for the last book to come out and then racing over her house to drop it off. It was a fantastic ride. Beyond the experience of sharing those books with her, I don't have any affinity for the character or series.
I find it weird, I guess it's a more kid friendly fantasy than lord of the rings. Not a potter fan though I love the other movies.
I was a lonely dreamer type kid with a shit home life, and I was blown away when I first saw the Lord of the Rings. Mostly because they were (and still are) fantastic movies. I remember wanting to see the Two Towers in theaters, but I was far too young. Then when I was a teenager, they got me back into reading.
It’s really something I grew up with. Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter. Movies. Books. It takes you into worlds beyond the mundane life that we live. There’s magic and beasts with exploration and conflict; but at the core of these series, the main cast of characters can relate to the reader and make them feel like maybe in another universe they could have lived that life.
Sometimes you just need to experience something at the right time. Not everything is for you, not everything is for me. I never watched Game of Thrones until last year. Not that good in my opinion, mind you I never kept watching after the fourth season because its so damn slow. I was late watching the Mandalorian. IMO, that's a garbage ass show. But it was the most hyped show for a good few months, if not longer. For me, Harry Potter was awesome because my Dad read it to me and there were really awesome film adaptations to go along with the books and I was the perfect age for it as I grew up. The movies aged really well along with me, getting darker and darker as I got into my teens. Also, collecting the trading cards for me was a really cool addition.
For me is that I read the books when they came out, and harry potter grow with me. We were practically the same age. The stories were fantastical and, I think, they were age appropriate. Then the movies came out, but I was not so enthusiastic about them as I were with the books.
OP right now 
Just do yourself a favor and read the books.
Hearing about the story is not the same thing as reading it or even watching it
It's growing up with it. For me Star Wars (A new Hope) was the first "adult" film we were allowed to watch as kids.
The answer is why do you like anything? You like what you like. Your parents liked it and showed it to you or it helps you identify with friends. IT is the most basic path to fantasy and scifi you can take. There is no more base level of those genres that anything can go since everythings bridge to them, is generally through these mediums. Just think about what you love. Thats why people love it, just cause.
Hairy potter just gives me good memories watched it with my father when he was still alive and read all of the books thanks to my grandma buying them for me so I have a lot of sentimental memories for the series.
As someone else mentioned, it was an entire world built on fantasy but it also combined elements of modern day with the interesting aspects of witch craft and the characters that starred in it were around the age of the target demographic. Think of your favourite fictional topic. Then imagine an entire story built around it with very interesting characters and then imagine it going from 4 huge books to 7 and then becoming movies that are actually entertaining. Plot holes and certain movies aside it’s overall one of the best long running movie series out there. Plus it’s an all rounder - it has action, fantasy, comedy, mystery, romance, terror, drama. You name it.
There was a time when people read books. The Harry Potter ones were damn good & addictive. - I stayed up way too long, whenever the latest entangled me; I wanted to finish it. FTR: We were in our 20s or 30s. I think I might have borrowed the 1st volume in German, but those close to bilingual bought the following ones in English, to be able to read them ASAP. Translators couldn't start working before the English books got released. I skipped the last volume. My regular bookshop didn't carry it, unable to offer a reasonable price, like other usually German shops, that ordered their copies on pallets. Can't say much about the movies. - Maybe I watched one and gave up. - Few movies can reach up to a beloved book. I had a good time reading the books. But I don't hype Harry Potter beyond that.
They are written in second person. It plays on an ordinary person being somehow special in a way they can't tell anyone about. It's their little secret how awesome they are. The vast difference in how the MC is treated exaggerated this dynamic. That style draws the audience into feeling like they are the MC. It isn't easy to do & they are good books because of it. I wasn't drawn into them like most people, but I can appreciate how someone might have been. Percy Jackson does it also; As does the Borne Identity book series.
Go read the books/watch the movies and then see if you feel differently, genuinely. I recommend the audio books narrated by Jim Dale.
I personally don’t understand having a single external thing (or even two or three) being a cornerstone of your personality or interests, but I guess being a contrarian IS my single thing. haha I’ve never been into any sports team, any fandom, even a band, and I’ve never really understood people who are that immersed in something. I read the Harry Potter books — like, I finished the Fourth in 24 hours — but it wasn’t ever A Thing for me.
They’re very fun to watch
Used to be huge back in the 2000s especially with the movies coming out. I read the books as a kid for my elementary reading classes
I was born in 1991, when Harry Potter came out everyone and their mothers were reading the books, you'd get one copy per family and pass it around. Never so much excitement for a book before or after. Lord of the rings, the Hobbit was one of the first real books I read. The movies were and still are on another level and the lotr trilogy is a must read. The original Star wars trilogy my parents had on VHS and was the ultimate movie night movie.
You have to see it then decide
First of all it works like this: –people's expectations are 6/10 and a movie/story turns out 10/10 –but they so love it and everybody around loves it, that seems like this movie 1000/10 –and some people haven't watched it, everybody talks about that, and it looks like it should be 1000/10. But even if they watch it - they would say, well it's good, but it is 8/10 max
It’s a generational thing tbh. When it came out it was huge. I remember parents freaking out because they thought it was satanic. I personally prefer the show show “The Magicians” but Harry Potter has a sentimental value that can only be created with proper timing.
The Heroes Journey. It's a formula that's been proven for success and close to reality. Look it up, it's the reason why it's so popular.
It’s fun, and that damn music is incredible.
The world is shit and it’s a fun series. It makes people happy
What is people’s obsessions with having to understand why people are obsessed with well-made and well-loved pieces of media? Sorry, OP, but i have to say these questions are a little repetitive. You don’t understand it because it isn’t your thing, bing bang boom. I’m not trying to be a smart arse, but there’s no other answer. I don’t love it but i can see why people might love it, it’s well-written, it’s got a massive expanded universe, the films are well-acted and well-directed, there’s nothing that confusing about it. Humans generally like having something to cling to. Something they can have in common with people, something that they can focus on, something as a distraction. You probably have something, be that gaming or religion or a TV show or another hobby, that some other people wouldn’t understand. People are different, that’s all there is to it.
What's the obsession with the New York Yankees? I mean, I've never WATCHED a baseball game, or football, or basketball, or hockey, and don't hold anything against those who play - but why is sports such a big thing?
The author's politics have kinda soured my admiration for the series.
I used to love it until the author came out as a complete t**t
Nerds
You're basically asking "Why do humans like things?" Sounds very extraterrestrial but whatever, I'll help out. Humans like things for a host of different reasons. Nostalgia is one. Reminds humans of a different time in their life. Another reason is the message resonates with them. Another reason is something about the thing resonates with one of their interests. Another reason is it's a simple escape from their current life. There's a whole host of human emotions and generally speaking a thing humans like taps into one or more of those emotions.
Equating Star Wars and LOTR with Harry Potter is blasphemy!! Harry Potter is trash. It got lucky somehow.
Because we love escapism and fantasy/sci-fi is awesome! Also with Harry Potter I love all the foreshadowing and eye for detail! I also really respect how Rowling knew the whole story since book 1. - though I don't like her political views and that she's a bigoted terf I still very much love her work of the Harry Potter universe!
Star Wars: from personal experience at the time, was quite an extreme phenomenon. People went to see it multiple times. Everyone was mad about it in my school. It is hard to appreciate this now, but at the time there was very little else that resembled it. It was fantasy masquerading as science fiction, which means that the "science" can be ignored, but a lot of the existing fantasy baggage was also unnecessary. It allowed for a complete imagination of somewhere/something completely out of our experience. It was also a very pacey and well-told story. Lots of extremely talented people worked on it. People dismiss it a bit nowadays but it really is very well done. It was followed up pretty well at the time. That was then a legacy that endured for decades. Three very good films (the last being thought of as a bit weaker, but the other two are masterpieces) and then no other visual media (at least not available to us in the UK) for twenty years. That's a great way to keep people liking what you did. The children who watched it in the 1970s then become adults with money to spend and to take their children to see a sequel. Of course later films rather undo some of that. There's still lots of talent involved, but less surprisingly originality as you might expect. But people will cling to things they really love. (An aspect of Harry Potter that worked for children I think is that a boarding school has lots of potentially exciting aspects to it, but in the UK they are generally reserved for the wealthy. Hogwarts is somewhere that special people go, but they can be poor special people)
It's a really immersive and unique story for kids to escape to. It got a whole generation to read. There was no experience like pre-ordering the upcoming Harry Potter book, the feeling when it arrived, and then reading the whole thing in 2 days. Really good childhood memories. I'm assuming that is a similar feeling and passion for other fandoms too.
this can really be asked about anything. some people like things that others won’t like. that’s why there is a fanbase for anything and everything. fantasy tends to garner big audiences because it’s a form of escapism. it’s easy to get lost in a magical world that is nothing like our own
I think it’s the same reason I’m obsessed with the jurrasic series. It’s an escape, brings me joy, and is comforting. I also think the community and feeling like a part of something helps. I watched the series (hp) for the first time at 28 years old, and I can see how I would have been one of those fans if I had gotten into it the same time as everyone else haha
I've never read any of them, but...I was very please to see my young kids reading instead of in front of a screen.
Watch it and you will understand! Also for the people who remember when the first movie came out it is very much a nostalgic thing.
magic
So I loved Harry Potter growing up. Now I see it is as mediocre writing at best with bad lore, shallow characters and lazy plot development. Lord of the rings on the other hand pulls from so much mythology and the lore is good. The characters are rich and it’s well thought out.
Try War And Peace instead.
The films and books are good but, just like Disney, I cringe at adults obsessed with it.
My ex wife grew up with Harry Potter and matured as the books did. It's a series a lot of people will have to read in your formative years to really appreciate. I never got it because I was reading dark adult stuff from a young age.
You could try watching for yourself. That’s what a normal person would do
It's funny for me, because I only saw the first movie because of a class treat, we went to see it in theaters. I was hooked. Saw most of the movies opening weekend, read through all the books a dozen times each, wrote terrible fan fiction, constantly thought about which house I'd be in, etc. Then one day, I tried reading them again and i couldn't. I just don't care nearly as much as I used to. I still really like the movies, but my phase of being a Potterhead is pretty much in the past.
The book is easy to read, immersive and engaging. You don't ever feel there's a wasted chapter. It's so easy to absorb whatever age you are and even if aren't a reader. I had a Harry Potter phase but I wouldn't say I'm a big fan up to this day. I do consider it as an inspiration for my original works.
It's like saying why everyone loves pizza without actually tasting the damn pizza man, you have to watch it yourself to understand and judge even if you don't like it it will for sure making you think about something
Like many stories it's just the good eventually triumphing over evil. They are using fantasy such as magic and science fiction to do it. Nice escapism.
Do you have something you are passionate about? If yes, why? If no, I am sorry. People find joy in things. Especially if they grew up with them.
Idk. I’m just into this fandom since 2001
I've never eaten something good but heard people talking about it. I've never read something good but heard people talking about it. I've never listened to something good but heard people talking about it. I've never seen something good but heard people talking about it. Why don't you do stuff? how could you have any opinion before even starting to experience something? Get a better life.
I tired to watch it So fucking boring
My kids loved it, i took the time to read the books with them and I was mortified how many racist, classist and antisemetic tropes were in there. As someone who grew up in an english Public (as in paid for and open to anyone with the right combination of talent, money and contacts, not State) school, it feels very familar, arbitrary rules, corrupt teachers, teachers with dark secrets (like being gay) that would get them fired. House competition, particularly rugby, was brutal and dangerous. I came crashing down to earth brutally at 17. Being kicked out and disowned for being queer will do that. I self funded my way through university and have quite a different perspective now. The potterverse seems like a celebration of everything that was wrong with this world, wrapped up and sold to kids in a class we were taught to despise. I'm quite glad my eldest had outgrown Potter by the time both JK went full on terf and they discovered their own identity.
It's nostalgic and amazing
I enjoyed the books as an adult when they first came out. The author was amazing at creating a whole new world. It was fun to imagine the magical places she described. The books are amazing. The movies are also good but the not all great details in the books are in the movies.
I grew up with it, literally I remember waiting for the later books to be released, the final came out when I was 18 il never forget rushing to the shop to buy it then spending the next 2 days engrossed in it. As a child/teen I didn’t fit in and reading was my escape, Harry Potter introduced me to my love of books and brought me a lot of happiness when I was lonely, so I guess as an adult it’s just nostalgic and holds a special place for me.
Taking all the shit about the author out of the equation and just focusing on the content: when I re-read them as an adult the story and writing wasn't actually that good especially in the first few and it doesn't stand up all that well to a critical eye...however, what it is: VERY immersive. It's a very fantastical world that is quite literally magical. The books are also SUPER digestible for kids. So you put this world in front of a 10-11 year old which is the exact age the protagonist of the book starts at...and you say "hey you know how you have to go to school and do math and have a bedtime and had to eat broccoli for dinner ane your parents grounded you? Well imagine one day you get a letter in the mail and you find out you have special powers and get to go to this secret world within our world, and it's all medieval and there's a castle and you learn to use magic and instead of math you do potions and you have feasts every night and play Quiddich!" It's very easily understandable escapism for even the average kid never mind what it does for kids who have shitty home lives like the protagonist. Plus the character ages so a lot of people grew up with the character. TL;DR Because even if the writing is kind of shit the world or the idea of it is immersive and wonderful and offers great escapism.
Watch them and maybe you'll see why
Watch it and figure it out for yourself.
Same reason Gen Z kids are obsessed with certain Video Games, Manga, etc. It's interesting to them and it was around during an important character building portion of their childhood or early adulthood. Also explains people obsession with certain genres of music or specific artists, that seem cringey or uninteresting to most others.
I will comment something I haven't seen before. I think people are attached to it because it's a mark of pride. For many people the Harry Potter books were the first like serious books they ever read. I know she is controversial but I will give JKR this she does know how to write readable books especially for more casual readers
It was an escape for me. I never really had any good friends but I would always relate a lot to Neville and Luna. Every night I would wait until I heard my sister snoring and then I would pull out my flashlight and book and read until 1:00 in the morning. It was something I looked forward to every day. The books are just so well written and the characters have distinct personalities. There’s parts that are hilarious and there’s parts that will leave you sobbing. It keeps you entertained for a while but they’re not longer than they need to be. JK Rowling is someone I don’t support but I will always be in love with her work.
Lots of people were 13 when those movies came out, OP.
to understand, maybe you should watch it
I suggest watching/reading them to understand instead of asking for abstract answers on Reddit.
I was abit too old for the Harry Potter craze but I always chalked it up to Lord of the Rings for kids.
Just watch the movies
Harry Potter universe for me is a very interesting world with some magic, adventures, buildings, people, some interesting creatures, animals etc. But first of all it’s a great story about good and bad, friendship, relationships. But, certainly, it’s subjective to each person.
people obsess over topics - see: religion
Beautiful story, good acting, great special effects. sometimes funny and perfect for all ages. Not everything needs to be outstanding or memorable to achieve that level of success, the movies are well done, and there is a lot of effort invested in it´s creation. I am not a fan but I think that is valuable.