08.07.07
Harry Potter and the End of an Era
“When I was your age, television was called books…” –Grandpa (Peter Falk, you know, the guy who played Columbo) in “The Princess Bride”
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the other night. I am sad. Not because of anything that happens in the book (though there are many somber moments), but because the saga is over. There will be no more Harry Potter books. For you haters out there (and I know you’re out there), this will come as a welcome relief. But I say you missed out.
After the last movie comes out in a few years, Harry Potter as pop culture phenomenon will cease to exist in the present tense. It will be like, as Jerry Seinfeld lamented at the end of Seinfeld, a yellowed photograph in the bottom of a drawer. A moment. A memory. Captured in time.
And then those of you whom have not read the books can continue on your merry way, oblivious to the fact that you have missed out on the first (only?) major worldwide cultural event of the century. And, more importantly, on a damn good story.
I’m still processing the final book and I’ll have more thoughts in a few days. But for those of you that only know Harry Potter through the movies, or not at all, I strongly encourage you to start reading the books. You won’t be disappointed.