The Boy Who Lived: What We Can Learn From Harry Potter - Part II
Picking up where we left off last time, the second article that I assigned for the last week of my Popular Culture class this year looked at the place of celebrity culture inside and outside of Harry Potter.
Parry-Giles (2011) argues that the Harry Potter franchise (and character) represents a critique of celebrity culture while simultaneously relying on the consumption of celebrity culture to gain popularity. He identifies three dichotomies present within and around the series - celebrity and hero, image and reality, and fake and authentic - and notes that the series’ author J.K. Rowling has frequently expressed her discomfort with being a celebrity and the struggle of maintaining a private life.
Celebrity and hero
Baby Harry Potter looks at Lord Voldemort’s wand
Boorstin (1982) defined as a celebrity as “a person who is well-known for his well-knowness” (p.57). There is little doubt that Harry Potter was destined to be a celebrity. We learn in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that from the moment his parents were murdered by Lord Voldemort and he survived, Harry became known as “The Boy Who Lived” across the Wizarding World. When Harry arrived at Hogwarts, he was already well-known there - and easily identifiable by the scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. His fame and recognizability impacts how others react to him, usually falling somewhere on a spectrum of awe and amazement on one hand, and disdain and dismay on the other.
Rather than embrace this fame, throughout the novels Harry strives to be ordinary and, when necessary, brave and heroic rather than merely well-known. This is juxtaposed in the series against characters like Gilderoy Lockhart.
image vs reality
The “famous” Gilderoy Lockhart
image vs reality
In the series, characters can become famous for a variety of reasons: their wisdom (like Albus Dumbledore), their evil deeds (Lord Voldemort), and their adventures (Gilderoy Lockhart). Harry Potter, as discussed above, starts out as a celebrity because of things that happened to him - surviving his parents’ death at the hands of Lord Voldemort. He struggles with his recognizability and this form of celebrity through the novels, becoming increasing known for his feats of courage and bravery.
Similarly, Gilderoy Lockhart is known early on in the series (he appears first in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) for his adventures around the world fighting demons and other dangerous magical creatures, which he published in a series of books. In The Chamber of Secrets, Lockhart is hired on at Hogwarts as the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. In addition to his exciting tales of adventure, he’s also depicted as young and handsome. In reality, we learn that he’s publicity-hungry, taking advantage of opportunities to seem heroic in the media, as well as money-hungry, commodifying his own celebrity by punishing Harry and forcing him to sign autographs in detention.
When the Chamber of Secrets is opened and a monster is set loose at Hogwarts, Lockhart is called upon to use his experience and skill in defence against the Dark Arts to save the day. He admits to Harry and Harry’s best friend, Ron Weasley, that he lied and stole his stories from other people whose memories he subsequently wiped with a Memory Charm. Lockhart’s own memory spell backfires against him and he forgets who he is at the end of the novel. In essence, it is the real hero - Harry - who succeeds at defeating the Basilisk, while the mere image of one - Lockhart - is erased.
fake vs authentic
Rita Skeeter, celebrity journalist for the Daily Prophet, talking to Harry Potter
fake vs authentic
In the Harry Potter series, mass media is rarely mentioned once Harry reaches the Wizarding World. There’s no television, computers, or email; all mail is handwritten, and sent via Owls. There’s some music and singing, but the radio only gains prominence as a tool of the rebellion against Lord Voldemort. In terms of sports, Quidditch and the Quidditch World Cup are must-see events, but there’s no hockey, soccer, or football. What remains in the world of Harry Potter is a small book publishing industry, one newspaper - The Daily Prophet - and two magazines - The Quibbler and Witch Weekly.
Rita Skeeter, gossip columnist for The Daily Prophet, is portrayed as a stereotypical celebrity journalist. She’s prone to exaggeration and hyperbole, and known for using unscrupulous reporting methods. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, she’s exposed for using illegal magic to collect information - she’s caught transforming into a beetle to eavesdrop on and literally bug private conversations. In addition, she publishes inaccurate and embellished stories, causing embarrassment and reputational harm to several of the main characters including Harry Potter, Hagrid, Hermoine Granger, and Albus Dumbledore.
A problematic critique
The role of Rita Skeeter and The Daily Prophet suggest that (celebrity) journalists and book publishers (like those that published Lockhart’s books discussed above) are just in the business of making money and aren’t concerned with what is real, authentic or true. Similarly, the superficial nature of Gilderoy Lockhart’s celebrity status presents a critique of celebrity culture. And yet, the very success of the Harry Potter franchise hinges on celebrity culture, book published and celebrity journalism.
The character of Harry Potter is what Rojek (2001) refers to as a celeactor, a fictional figure who is transformed into a celebrity and becomes an institutionalized figure in popular culture. Arguably, the name Harry Potter is as well-known, if not more well-known, than that of Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who portrayed him on-screen. Similarly, the success of the book series, and the resulting films, hinges on the book publishing industry that published, printed, translated, promoted, and distributed the novels. Finally, gossip and celebrity columnists generated countless stories about J.K. Rowling, the books and the actors involved in the films that drew audiences to the franchise. Parry-Giles (2011) asks us to consider if this reliance on celebrity culture undermines any potential critique found in the novels.