by Ali Siemens (Contributer)
Email: cascade.news@ufvcascade.ca
I remember it like it was yesterday. I got my first Harry Potter book at my elementary school book fair. It was magical. It was one of the first series of books I really started to get into. I was young and impressionable, and the escape from the Muggle world was fun to take.
I now own all of the books, and I have read the whole series. In the past, I have been to see a Harry Potter movie on the opening night; however, I cannot bring myself to do it anymore. I will not be “one of them.” You know the kinds of people I am talking about: the boys and girls, men and women who show up in their “house robes” with homemade Gryffindor crests sewn to their chests, water bottles that contain “butter beer,” and lightning bolts drawn onto foreheads.
What baffles my mind is people’s perseverance on being the first to see this movie. I know I said I previously saw the HP movie on opening night, but my friend purchased the tickets online, we showed up an hour before the show started, and sat shoulder to shoulder with tweens. We didn’t do any hard work. But that isn’t the perseverance I am talking about. I am talking about the people who sit outside, in the cold, for eight hours to see Harry Potter. This isn’t the Boxing Day door crasher event, you aren’t winning anything.
The fan girls and boys are members of a society that I just don’t understand. Where the hell do you all get the time to devote a month of Facebook statuses, a weekend of Harry Potter Marathoning to catch up on the past movies and then the waiting in line to see the newest one?
Let’s not forget all of the other fan boys and girls who are hibernating right now before their big day arrives. Twilight, Star Trek, Batman, Spiderman, and Lord of the Rings all have their merchandise that goes flying off the shelves before their release day. Forget the HP robe, get those Spock ears off.
I understand if you are sixteen and you can’t do anything else aside from being dropped off at the movie theatre by your parents. I am addressing you, the reader of this newspaper who is unlikely sixteen years old. No matter what classes you are in right now, there are papers to be written, tests to be studied for, and reading to be done. Did Dumbledore give you the same time machine he gave Hermione Granger so she could make all eight classes and get her homework done on time?
There was a time people would advocate for political matters, protesting against wars, for women’s rights or gay rights. Today, we join Facebook groups like, “Fuck This I’m Going to Hogwarts” or “I love Edward” fan pages. Where are you exerting your energy people? I’m judging you and your insane amount of love for a fictional character with a wand.
