Harry Potter and the Millennials

  Books and stories are powerful enough to enrich anyone with lessons and lead a
person’s outlook in a completely different direction. It can also change how we think, feel, and
articulate an idea or principle. In light of this ability, Anthony Gierzynski, Ph.D., and Julie Seger
from the University of Vermont have researched Harry Potter, a series of seven fantasy novels,
to prove its effect on the political perspectives of Millennials. The said research is entitled Harry
Potter and the Millennials: The Boy‐Who‐Lived and the Politics of a Muggle
Generation. Gierzynski and Seger argued that these books shaped the intellect of their readers
because it imbued several values and messages relevant to politics. 

           Although J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, had no intentions of conveying these
political lessons, it still happened due to the complexity of its storyline that somehow reflected
the suspected influential topics. As Gierzynski and Seger have stated:

All that is necessary to accept here is that all stories inherently contain lessons
regardless of the intent of the author. As all stories invariably reflect an author’s
perspectives so the telling of Harry Potter grew out of Rowling’s experience and
knowledge and not necessarily from any overt attempt to persuade those who would
read and become captivated by “the‐boy‐who‐lived.”

           The novel was released between 1997 to 2007, the moment where the Generation Y or
Millennials were at the average age of 10 years old, hence, the time where magic, wizardry, and
fantasy-themed plots on stories engrosses their interest. It captivates their entertainment, but
since it was also the point of their formative years, the young minds’ analytical skills can be
highly affected and influenced as well. 

           Harry Potter is indeed, full of characters, plot lines, and relationships that provide
“lessons” connected to politics and therefore, has the potential to have an impact on the
readers’ political perception. The first of these is diversity and acceptance. The researchers
pondered upon the incidents that have occurred where those pure-blooded wizards were
considered superior and powerful whereas those who are not (called “Mudbloods”) were
prejudiced and undermined. They thought that it became an eye-opener that everybody is
different from one another but as the protagonists advocated in the story, having distinctive
attributes are acceptable. In our society, this prevalent concept of dissimilarity is highly
associated considering the sense of inequality that makes up the rationale of diversity. Social
prejudice conveyed on Harry Potter is also rampant whether regarding the color of one's skin,
clothing style, ethnocentrism, and other forms of underlying judgments on another group of
people. 

The second lesson tackled in the novel is political tolerance and equality.  The main
protagonist in the story, Harry Potter, believes that everyone is the same, thus, must have equal
privileges regardless of race or status in life. If it will be connected to a real-life scenario, human
rights can be the perfect example. Everyone has the freedom of expression and has the “right”
to have an “equal” level of protection, benefits, and opportunities. 

On the contrary, the third lesson expounds on the avoidance of being an authoritarian
git, and the character that best manifests this insight is Dolores Umbridge. She is a perfect
object of authoritarianism as she is eager for power, a stickler for rules, and has an unflinching
disposition to whoever is on more authority than her. Moreover, the nature of her being an
antagonist somehow enlightens the readers of Harry Potter that she is not the appropriate
model to be a symbol of inspiration. Her strict and ruthless leadership is less likely to be
acquired concerning real situations. 

Violence and torture as bad courses of action is the fourth one. In the magical world
of Harry Potter, the existence of spells from simple to powerful ones is only typical. It varies in
different ways like some as helpful and beneficial while the others are shown as a dangerous
kind that can even result in excruciating pain to another. Antagonists of the novel use these to
torture people, forcing someone to do something against his/her will whereas the protagonists
did not to avoid causing damage. As these events continuously show the traumatic experience
and its negative impact on various aspects, the novel has imparted a significant reminder that
these two will never be the correct course of action to take for any situation.  

Next is about corruption, incompetence, and fixation on maintaining the power of

the political leaders. The portrayal of government in Harry Potter comes in the form of the
Ministry of Magic who is being paranoid about losing their power as they cover the truth that
Voldemort has returned. It unlocked the unfortunate and dark reality of those with power
wherein some have their self-centered and wicked personalities hiding behind their pretentious
identities. 

The sixth and last political lesson is being skeptical and not cynical. The researchers
have thoroughly elaborated the difference between the two and how Harry Potter has exhibited
the former than the latter. As each scene unfolds in the novel, he and his friends consistently
maintained a healthy level of skepticism through an everyday perspective of doubt, but not
necessarily contradict the truth of generally held assumptions. They try their best to think
critically about various allegations and prevent the urge to obtain it at face value. The
protagonists did their best to confront things as not what they first seem. As the researchers
have stated:

With each new experience—from first learning about Hogwarts to finding out
the true motives of Severus Snape—to each new character—good werewolves, let
alone witches, giants, and goblins—the lesson is, again and again, things are not
always as they first appear.  

           Based on these suspected political values imbued in Harry Potter, Gierzynski and Seger
have devised their hypothesis about it. They have accumulated ten speculations where fans are
compared to nonfans. These are that Harry Potter fans will: exhibit a greater acceptance of
diversity and differences; manifest higher levels of political tolerance; value equality more; less
likely to exhibit the authoritarian predisposition; less supportive of the use of deadly force; less
likely to support the use of torture; have a more negative view of the Bush administration;
participated in politics at a higher rate; have supported Barack Obama for president at a greater
rate; evince a greater level of skepticism and lower level of cynicism.

           It is evident that the researchers have included real-life instances on their hypothesis like
disagreeing with the Bush administration and preferring more to Barack Obama. They proposed
that in the persona of the Ministry of Magic, former president George Bush’s leadership is also
seen as corrupt, incompetent, and overly anxious about losing power, whereas Obama
possesses the converse attributes. At this point of their arguments, the probability of their
hypotheses was given validation and even the Harry Potter readers themselves can assume
that it is highly possible to be influenced politically. The given examples in the American setting
somehow verified how Harry Potter fans have acted according to the political set up displayed in
the novel. 

Besides discussing the aforementioned learnings and proving it one by one, the
research Harry Potter and the Millennials contained formulated reasons that further explains
why fans would be affected politically. Verifications of their hypotheses were also proved
through these insights. Their first proposed reason is political socialization that occurs when
people acquire values related to politics and form their ideas when it is the subject matter
shared within their social circle or culture. As stated earlier, most Harry Potter readers were
millennials who were at that moment, in their formative years. It is the time where they currently
develop their cognitive, social, and emotional skills. Furthermore, maybe they have enjoyed
reading sessions with their peers at that time and influenced each other to broaden their political
perspectives. 

The second reason is the learning theory where comparisons on active and passive

learning are explained. The former refers to studying something that a person wants to know
and using his/her comprehension to perceive it. Meanwhile, the second is from experience. It is
also called incidental learning where obtaining knowledge is not the objective and only a
byproduct of another activity. The latter is more likely to be evident in the formulation of political
values since processing it was not the main goal of the fans. It can be out of curiosity of the
story or entertainment that eventually leads to incidentally acquiring the mentioned political
values. 

The last reason is the effect of reading. This activity comes with the need of
comprehending and pondering ideas from basic to complex ones. Hence, Harry Potter fans
might have encountered the process of procuring an enhanced level of comprehension
throughout the moments of reading the novel. With this, their ability to see things more than
what it seems even in the actual setting and not in the story itself is possible. Moreover, the
research has tracked reading patterns that observed an increase in the frequency of reading
among the millennial generation. It speculated that the Harry Potter series also played a pivotal
role in this.

Reading stories and novels is part of our lives. People often do this for entertainment,
out of boredom, or just keeping up with the trend, and these exact situations can be what Harry
Potter fans have gone through. As they read the books, they have grasped more than just the
storyline of the story. They initially started the novel because of its compelling storyline but
unconsciously gained lessons along the way. They commenced with only being carried away
with the beauty of the imaginary world of magic and wizardry but eventually applied fictional
scenes to realistic situations. Fans have then slowly become more conscious of the reality that
involves their perception of worldview dilemmas and difficulties. Moreover, their opinions have
changed, and they become wiser as they apply lessons acquired from reading to real life.

The researchers have proved that as we dig deeper in books, the mental capacity of a
person is stimulated and stronger analytical thinking skills are acclimated. Since it comprises
useful information and pictures, these can be very beneficial in gaining knowledge, excelling
own skills, and even expanding vocabulary. In the context of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling tackled
different values in every book that she has created. It may be an unrealistic and fantasy-themed
novel, but it does not remove the fact that it possesses lessons that we can determine.
 Harry Potter series may also have affected the millennial generation in a way that ever
since they finished it, they are finding meaningful and creative stories when looking at other
books. It is all the result of J.K Rowling and her excellent output that results in the readers’
better awareness in politics, the behavior of government, and how they abuse their power. In
terms of this vast effect to millennials, The Hobbit written by J.R.R. Tolkien could have the same
outcome. It is a fantasy-themed story as well that encompasses underlying morals and lessons
such as getting out of our comfort zones, having the courage to take risks, and let ourselves
embark into adventures. The said book sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, hence, the
amount of people who witnessed its storyline is quite numerous. As a result, the character of
Bilbo Baggins has a high chance of influencing its readers the same way Harry Potter did to its
fans.

Due to the said immense ability to inspire and affect a person’s perspective, we can
reflect that it is better to equip young people like the millennial generation the appropriate books
that they will surely enjoy and gain knowledge from. If the Harry Potter series made a good
impact on millions of people, the readers also need to analyze more of it especially now we
know that something big is inside it which can be an eye-opener to them. 

In conclusion, the research made us realize that since we grew up immersed in the
world of reading books, we need to consider the role of entertainment media in the progress of
our personal views, especially in the political aspects. According to the stated meanings and
significant pieces of information about J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter Series, books, indeed have a
certain power to influence and inspire. It has the ability to leave a substantial mark in our lives
like what have happened to the millions of people who diligently monitored the releases of Harry
Potter. Also, authors like Rowling have a spectacular chance to equip readers with an eliminate
overview of various lessons. They can unconsciously hide serious societal problems into a
fantasy story that readers can adapt to have a better perspective in life. 

           The readers of Harry Potter did not only become entertained by the fascinating plots of
Harry Potter but, even gained the imparted lessons from it. In a world full of possible hidden
immoralities, they are inspired to believe in principles such as being open to diversity, avoiding
authoritarianism, practicing politically humane actions, declining to the use of bloody violence,
having the sense of skepticism than cynicism, and being more politically active.