Did the Harry Potter phenomenon actually contribute to long-term literacy...

Did the Harry Potter phenomenon actually contribute to long-term literacy? Will we see a generation of literature influenced by the boy wizard?

>literacy
Hardly. I read harry potter in first grade. It doesn't really teach people much about the english language.

It's not the literacy but rather the values and dumbass sentimentality that the book promotes. That quote being a fine example.

>muh choices

pure fuckin ideology

being right is usually easy tho
being evil is fucking hard work
those evil henchmen don't just brainwash themselves ya know

No because it was a dead end. They don't move on to better stuff.

The pulp era didn't, Why should Harry Potter which is even worse?

It's escapist material for pre-teens. Try having a conversation IRL with any of these people, they're typically as smart as a pile of rocks. Harry Potter is for children, and adults referencing Harry Potter in correlation with current events do no more than shout to the world, "I am mentally a child."

As to how the book is written, the writing is mediocre at best, but again - it's intended for children.

Yes and no. Pulps taught incoming immigrants how to speak and read english so at least they had that.

Typical Ravenclaw.

>Will we see a generation of literature influenced by the boy wizard?
If you count bad genre fiction as literature, then probably.

Can someone make a collage of YA books that advertise themselves as being "for Harry Potter fans"?

I doubt it. I know a lot of people who read each new Harry Potter book the day it came out but then never actually read after highschool, or alternatively grew up to only read genre fiction and YA which is "just as adult as literary fiction"

>At least it gets children into reading
The biggest lie ever to defend garbage fiction

Millions of adults, some of them in positions of power, see the Potter series as a sacred religious text.

DRUMPF is FINISHED!

Does watching porn lead to art film ????

>Try having a conversation IRL with any of these people, they're typically as smart as a pile of rocks.
Harvard University (an elite school you are too stupid to enter) has its own 'Dumbledore's Army' that protests Trumpian policies with the backing of J.K. Rowling (a critically acclaimed writer you are not talented or accomplished enough to question).

Objectively speaking, many Harry Potter fans are not just smart people: they are smarter than you

*drops mike*

>J.K. Rowling
>a critically acclaimed writer

...

>Harvard University (an elite school you are too stupid to enter) has its own 'Dumbledore's Army'

The West is finished. GG.

>Some of them in positions of power
And look at the current state of affairs brought about by said people. My point stands.

Guess it's time to convert to Islam.

Allah Vult?

I cannot believe that photo is of a real person - a real person actually protesting a Presidential election with a Harry Potter sign. I simply can't believe it. It must be a meme cooked up with Photoshop, or, or, we're done for lads.

There are too many of them - simply far too many. The plebs. The man-children. Feminazis. The Redpilled. They outnumber us one hundred to one, at least. What will we do, when they shake their rattles in outcry and tear down our hallowed groves of erudition? What will we do when we are cast from the Earth like the last Laputans, yet without a flying fortress, or a Randian Atlantis in which to live?

And what rough beast, it's hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

Fantasy is a new genre that emerged in modern times to replace romances (e.g. Sir Walter). J.K. Rowling is just one of the better fantasy authors, and she likely will be remembered as one.

The plebs have always been here, this isn't the end times... at least not totally. They always do the same thing; the greedy seize power over the virtuous, the plebs recognise this and in their frenzy they elect a king to rule over them.

Then this king unmakes the world as we know it in war and chaos and virtuous men build a new one. The cycle continues ad inifinitum. We're fucked, but we always were, always are, and always will be.

It's to replace mythology. Just like capeshit.

Harvard also has almost 40% of undergrads going into social sciences or humanities. Which, to be honest, isn't as rigorous as actual sciences and engineering.

ADIOS DRUMFLER

Me in the overalls

Harvard undergrads who choose to direct their superior mental energy toward subjects like dildo studies are still smarter than you

>you have to be super smart to get into harvard
>in 2017
Not with all the affirmative action going on. It's only hard if you're not in an affirmative action group and go the scholarship route.

Rowling contributes to literacy the way Dan Brown contributes to history.

Harry Potter is too derivative to really influence literature in a detectable way. A story element that derives from HP could easily be misinterpreted as deriving from the various things that HP derives from.

Funny that even Rowling knows the books are shit as legit fiction. She tried and failed to break out in adult fiction under a pseudonym.

A university degree from any university will get you a job so long as you apply yourself rigorously in any field and have the proper social skills to network. Funny how the real world outside of childhood and University life works.

It still doesn't change the fact you may be intelligent enough to apply skills if you're still an idiot because every life lesson and moral you've read, heard, or was taught is associated with a book that is primarily geared towards children. Grow up and learn to associate what you're trying to say with a quote that resonates with more than your echo chamber.

People are buying fewer books so no.

Harry Potter got me addicted to reading

is this a real photo? holy shit.

what did mike ever do to you

and JKR once did a harvard graduation speech or summat didn't she?
of course she started out like "WOO GRIFFINDOR" and so on
then she started going on about how there are lots of poor people in the world and everyone at harvard is pretty privileged actually and they should consider themselves lucky
you can see the audience's faces change
pretty good stuff actually

Yes, yes, you're right - quite right, in fact. However, it's a bit bleak, isn't it? Would there were an alternative, but I do not see one. Neither did Rand, Schiff, Yeats, Plato, or God - for that matter.

Yes, yes. Fucked. Fucked indeed.

And why shouldn't we be?

...

Watching art films leads to stop watching porn

>Harvard University (an elite school you are too stupid to enter)
which is retarded since plenty of students get low tuition fees

No, but it contributed (indirectly) to the decay of political discourse.

Harry Potter was never meant to be some literary masterpiece or some complex philosophical novel with lots of symbolism, it was always a book for children. It got popular in part thanks to the movie franchise, in part because J.K Rowling was good at crafting a fantasy world and interesting characters.

After reading Harry Potter, these people either stop reading altogether or read more YA/Genre Fiction books.

Said people then will get involved in politics, and this is where the problem begins, because they have a superficial knowledge of politics, they see not only Trump, but any republican/conservative/libertarian as villains that need to be defeated, and Democrats/left-leaning parties as some sort of resistance or band of chosen ones.

Harry Potter, Star Wars and Hunger Games are invoked so often in liberal political discourse, because they literally don't know anything else. They haven't read any meaningful work of literature, philosophy or economics. It's easier for them to watch a 5 minute summary on Youtube than to read the actual works. They're intellectually bankrupt.

What the fuck did Mike do to you?

>drops Mike in a literary thread on a Burmese pet trading site.
>2017
>wewlad

>/mu/ isn't afraid to like immature music (ex: hip-hop and pop)

>/tv/ isn't afraid to like superhero/comic movies and other kid/teen films

>/co/ isn't afraid to like kid's cartoons/Disney shit

>/v/ isn't afraid to like kid's games like Pokemon

but for some reason Veeky Forums flips their shit over YA books, why is that?

That's because these boards see their respective media as a hobby, something to do when they're not working or studying.

Veeky Forums anons view literature not only as a hobby, but also as a tool of personal development. Since reading a book requires a bigger mental investment than watching a movie or playing a video game, Veeky Forums can't afford to waste time reading the YA flavor of the month book.

That's because /mu/ is filled with people who have no taste, /tv/ is full of pedophiles, /co/ is full of landwhales with daddy issues, and /v/ is full of manchildren.

Veeky Forums is full of people who have bad taste, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

One major problem is that we don't discuss literature well.
Conversations are ``What's your favourite book?'' ... ``Oh, cool''.
And then we're satisfied regardless.
I sometimes find myself struggling to talk about the books I like well, since I rarely get a chance to and so my thoughts are disorganized or incomplete or vague.
So I guess I am partially to blame as well.

Didn't /v/ literally ostracize the pokemon players so hard they got their own board?

I honestly just hate the way that HP has all these fucking adults going around like ``The GOP healthcare bill is like the cruciatus curse but then Hillary is like Dumbledore and...''
Like, shut the fuck up, you're not explaining this to a child, think for a few seconds, try to explain things without HP references, flesh out some ideas.
There isn't a HP metaphor for everything and there doesn't need to be.

>implying intelligence has something to do with being admitted to elite schools

You are just making Veeky Forums look good.

>affirmative action
Middle class white boy detected

We have standards.

Nonsense. Excellent grades and test scores are still expected. You're peddling a myth tailored to your ideology.

I've seen it all. I've fucking seen everything. Holy shit.

>replying to such obvious b8

A myth? It doesn't take a genius to look at statistics and see that minority groups are expected to have far lower test scores and grades than whites, and on the other end we have asians who are expected to have HIGHER text scores and grades to gain entry. It's not a huge fucking secret. If you are a minority you will a much better chance of being accepted than a white person with the same grades. Everyone knows this.

That isn't what I'm arguing. I'm arguing your claim that it is easy for minority groups to get in.

Which is utter bullshit.

It may be comparatively easier, but it is not easy.

Your critical reading skills need work, go do something about that rather than trying to educate your betters.

>good grades make you smart

wew lad

>it's a fucking childrens book with zero intellectual stimulation
>the books get darker but never any deeper
>as far as fantasy goes it's not good at all asides from the fun setting to immerse yourself in
>people watch the movies more anyway
>nobody, NOBODY learned to read because of it
I think it made no contribution to literacy. There's just a bunch of punters going around thinking they're righteous because they spout fucking HARRY POTTER POLITICAL ANALOGIES.

>Said people then will get involved in politics, and this is where the problem begins, because they have a superficial knowledge of politics, they see not only Trump, but any republican/conservative/libertarian as villains that need to be defeated, and Democrats/left-leaning parties as some sort of resistance or band of chosen ones

But it's true. Right wingers should be hunted and eliminated. They do noy deserve human rights.

...

You're essentially arguing the difference between Sensors and Intuitives at that point.

Everyone works with what they have.

I agree, there is a distinction between having exceptional grades and being truly exceptional, however, the truly exceptional ones have excellent grades as well.

The "intelligent" children who do not may be intelligent in a sense of talent, but are fools, and therefore will amount to precisely jack shit in this world.

Should they amount to anything, it will be through severe toil, which they could have circumvented, had they the sense to simply work diligently and make excellent marks.

It is similar to the "smart but lazy" paradox - there is no such thing as a smart but lazy person. Every lazy man is an idiot.

Hating Trump is literally the easiest thing to do in mainstream urban America.

Despite it being a meme, I still put myself in the 'smart but lazy' category, 'smart' in the sense that the material being taught in school has been beyond easy, and well into university. Until I graduated high school I would barely pass my classes because I would never turn in any work but would get near perfect test scores in every subject. Was considered a truant and never studied, I just couldn't understand how people had to study for tests. Of course I couldn't get into and decent university so I went to my local cc for two years and actually did the work, even if I still waiting to the last second. Transfered to Berkeley and I'm now in my final year in the architecture program and I'm one of the top students. I still find it very easy and I'm still a lazy piece of shit. So yea, I'm 'smart' academically but have no hindsight and constantly repeat the same mistakes to save myself from tackling any problems

People shit on Harry Potter and Game of Thrones but they're what keeps this board going.

Start with the Greeks
I can fucking guarantee you that no one here started with them.

No, plebs who think in political dichotomies should be silenced. You have no claim on the term "human," you are cattle for the herding, and you relish relinquishing your free-thought to your betters.

YA fiction uses its genre as a crutch. By the time you are a teenager, there is no reason why you can't be reading real books.

I hope that years from now Harry Potter replaces the bible as a source of literary allusion and archetype like instead of having Christ figures we have Harry Potter figures in an ever expanding collection of fan fiction about fan fiction crossovered with more fan fiction so then I can be somewhat justified in blowing my brains out.

Smart but lazy is only a meme when you use it as an excuse
If you're aware that you're a lazy piece of shit and should be looked down on for wasting your potential there's nothing wrong with it.

You did learn from your mistakes, and true to form, you had to make up for them in order to be where you are. You may battle your own inadequacies, but you do so successfully - removing you from the fantastic, "smart but lazy" category, in my mind.

However, I understand your meaning. I have a similar story myself. It was not until I saw laziness and indiligence as self-sabotage that anything changed for me.

The point is, imagine two versions of yourself with identical levels of talent, living your life over again side-by-side. They are indistinguishable, save one difference - one is lazy. Now watch their paths, then tell me which one possesses the greater intelligence.

/thread.

>The point is, imagine two versions of yourself with identical levels of talent, living your life over again side-by-side. They are indistinguishable, save one difference - one is lazy. Now watch their paths, then tell me which one possesses the greater intelligence

You don't know how many times this thought has run through my head, I wasted so much time in my teen years doing jack shit, at least half of junior and senior year was spent playing shogun 2. It wasn't until I traveled a little after high school and a couple of years of unemployment, weed, and aimless community college classes that I put all of my choices into question. I've dug myself out of that hole but the damage has been done, productive habits that should have been formed in those years never appeared, now I'm left picking up the pieces. The worst was my piano playing, before HS I would spend hours everyday playing the piano, composing and mastering others songs to the point where I could play multiple songs backwards. I stopped after I bought an Xbox. At 21 I'm recreating my learning process but I know that time I lost will always hold me back...

The word capeshit exists for a reason

We already have a generation of genre fiction influenced by Harry Potter. All those "dystopian" YA novels about girls who happen to be the chosen one follow the same pattern as the harry potter novels, while the plot setting tries to make a hopeless atmosphere in contrast with the main characters life and desitions. I.e. all those shitty books are a direct consequense of the harry potter novels, of course this consequence in literature is more economical than anything. These are works designed to be movies, to sell millions to teenagers who exagerate their own personal problems in the struggle of the character.

>not knowing Burma doesn't exist anymore
>wewlad

Yes, I know what you mean, but you have corrected early - still in your prime with your brain still developing. Work hard and you'll turn out well. In fact, you're young enough that at least a portion of the time lost can be made up for by redoubling your efforts.

I wish you great success.

I don't even know someone that has read hp, not more than 1 book at least.
Knowledge and education isn't related to true art.


Glad that noone has said anything in defense of hp.

An imitation of reddit this salient takes years of practice. I tip my hat to you, good sir.

Yes and Veeky Forums is filled to the brim with pseuds.

Every generation has a Harry Potter of its own.

This.

I have excellent grades. Aced my HSC and all the units i've done at uni so far.

But, i'm still an absolute dumbfuck.

What was the Harry Potter of gen-X?

underrated

>Harry Potter
Just let him die already.

>he doesn't know that both the terms Burma and Myanmar are acceptable

The funny thing about this is that Trump literally being in situation like in 5 (I think) book, with fake news, politicians, and ordinary folks witch hunt him for everything and Russia in particular.

Kurt Cobain duh

The best place to go for a higher education in the humanities or politics in America is The University of Chicago.

yes and all of those boards also revile and ostracize those groups

> pop and hip-hop fans on /mu/ are castigated as poptimists or nu-males

> /tv/ invented the word 'capeshit' to disparage superhero movies

idk about /co/ but /v/ bullied pokemon/nintendo fans so hard they got their own board

Rowling writes some of the tightest stories you'll ever read, hands down. She is a master of the craft. The language may not be flowery and may seem jarring at times, but it was meticulously and purposefully executed. If you stumbled over something, chances are good that she meant for you to. I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was definitely brilliant.

I can't even tell if this is bait.

>the generation that was raised on these books will be the generation that's drafted into WW3

it makes me so happy to think of the inevitable deaths of billions of my 'peers' across the globe

...

Harry Potter was easily one of the dullest franchise in the history of movie franchises. Each episode following the boy wizard and his pals from Hogwarts Academy as they fight assorted villains has been indistinguishable from the others. Aside from the gloomy imagery, the seriesüf only consistency has been its lack of excitement and ineffective use of special effects, all to make magic unmagical, to make action seem inert.

Perhaps the die was cast when Rowling vetoed the idea of Spielberg directing the series; she made sure the series would never be mistaken for a work of art that meant anything to anybody?just ridiculously profitable cross-promotion for her books. The Harry Potter series might be anti-Christian (or not), but itüfs certainly the anti-James Bond series in its refusal of wonder, beauty and excitement. No one wants to face that fact. Now, thankfully, they no longer have to.

>a-at least the books are g-g-good though
"No!"
The writing is dreadful; the book was terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character went for a walk, the author wrote instead that the character "stretched his legs."

I began marking on the back of an envelope every time that phrase was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Rowling's mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing. Later I read a lavish, loving review of Harry Potter by the same Stephen King. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are reading Harry Potter at 11 or 12, then when they get older they will go on to read Stephen King." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you read "Harry Potter" you are, in fact, trained to read Stephen King