Disclaimer: This a post about the midnight book release of the new Harry Potter book — if you are of the opinion that Christians shoudn’t engage with contemporary culture, that’s fine, but I’m not going to engage in that debate here… I suggest you skip the post and we can still be friends. (thanks charlie!)A good friend of mine called me the other day and asked if I would go with him to the midnight book release of Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows (book 7). I was super excited to go along and happy to have a good friend for the adventure. The experience left a lasting impression on me that I am still trying to understand and interpret. Here are some observations.
1. At a time when 20 somethings are abandoning the church because of its irrelevance to their lives and in ability to make a difference in them, there were around a thousand of them at the Barnes and Noble I went to.
2. All of this buzz is for a book... a lone superstar piece of print in an increasingly digital age.
3. There were people of all walks of life... all ages groups... differing racial representation... differing political affiliation... the book has a following that is a made up of a shocking cross section of society. Yes there are those who are avid fantasy readers... but I am shocked at its appeal to those who would never have thought of picking up a book about wizards, and witches and magic before this one.
4. The people waiting for the book were really polite and accepting. There were around 1500 people crammed into B& N that night.... that is a lot of people friends. Literally wall to wall on the first floor, and yet people were polite and considerate and excited to reach out to other Potter followers. I spend much of my time talking to Caroline, a local High school student who was in line behind me. The line for Book 7 provided an opportunity for me to realize that she knows my sister johanna, that she wants to be a biologist... that one day she really just wants to make a difference in the world and even considered joining peace corp. I was able to talk to her about my recent trip to mexico to build houses for poor people... What is amazing about this is that at church, I seldom have conversations with people that I do not know in the hallways about anything of meaning... and I am often trampled by the flood of people in a hurry to leave after the service... Its not that they are being rude, its that something about this phenomenon of HP has so captured peoples imaginations that they feel connected in a real way with others who are into it. The extend automatic acceptance to strangers seen carrying the book.
So... yeah... I would love to have help decoding these observation... and I would love to here some of yours as well.
