I participated in a ritual of youth last night. I attended the midnight screening of a highly anticipated new film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I truly felt my age while sitting on the movie theater steps along with hundreds of other eager fans for several hours as the clock ticked us closer to midnight and the teens and young adults in costume swarmed around me. It gave me time to think about what I was witnessing.
Most of the young people in line were college aged. Twelve years ago, when the first book was published (in the UK as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and retitled for the US as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), they must have been barely 7 years old. At about the same time, the Internet began to develop in earnest. This audience is one that has grown up online. And they've truly grown up with the "Potter" series in print, and then in film version. They didn't seem to view the "Potter" experience as a relic of childhood or something "retro" to view cynically. In fact, for the audience I was part of, it was clear that "Harry Potter" is a source of joy, identity and comfort.
First, I noticed the costumes I mentioned earlier. Naturally, there were school girl and cape ensembles with Hogwarts School emblems and flourishes. Interestingly there was an emphasis on sexing up the outfits, since, certainly for the female fans, they are long past puberty. Loads of cleavage topped these prim grey skirts and knee sock fashions. I almost wondered if some, looking to burst from their designs, were recycling Halloween outfits of their childhood. But others were simply in dark wizarding cloaks and other oddball Victoriana, much like that worn by an average member of the wizarding community found on Diagon Alley. And for those who'd failed to arrange even a wand as an accessory, a number of folks were drawing lightning bolt "scars" on the foreheads of eager devotees with Bic and Sharpie pens. Imagine explaining a ballpoint drawing on your face at your office job the next morning? These aren't children by any means but people who are probably just starting out in their professional lives.
Second, I began to witness the community aspects that made this screening so pleasant. One young woman had baked cookies in large batches and was distributing them around the crowd. My group joked that they were probably not "regular" cookies but frankly there was no evidence of any motive other than generosity and sharing. As the frantic hunt for seats went on, people were kind and helpful about shifting seats or helping save for those still arriving or in the snack bar lines. As time began to get closer and our anticipation was rising, two boys, overweight, slightly odd in appearance, took positions on either side of the screen at the front of the theater. One began to chant, "Harry!" while the other offered "Potter". Quickly, the enthusiastic audience took up the chant and gave these two characters a rousing, thunderous rhythm of "Harry! Potter! Harry! Potter!" After a few moments, applause broke out for the effort and the two boys returned to their seats, with not some little pride in what they'd done.
During the actual screening, there were a few moments that even my teen daughter found chilling. We'd both read the book and knew what to expect in one particular scene, so she reached for my hand for some little comfort and to share the thrill of being frightened. When the scene unfolded and the audience shrieked with terror, the stranger sitting on my other side grabbed my arm! I know she didn't intend to but it made me jump a bit too. It was enormously funny, really. I suppose she needed some comfort too and felt safe in that audience to seek it.
Overall the experience left me exhilarated and happy. What I noticed was a mixed audience of young adults, some of whom would be labeled with all kinds of terms in the "real world": Sluts, geeks, nerds, freaks. They were all there in that audience as they are in our online world. Unified by their love for literature, they created, at least for a few hours, a warm environment where I saw no bullying, no stealing, and no ostracizing. I saw kindness, empathy, sharing, support and fun.
Now if we can just port that experience over to the online world, wouldn't that be lovely?